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2000 Midlands Championship Final Results

 

Dec. 30, 2000 - Evanston, IL

GOPHER JARED LAWRENCE WINS 149-POUND TITLE

Sophomore Jared Lawrence captured the 149-pound championship at the Midlands Wrestling Championships this weekend, leading the top-ranked Golden Gopher grapplers to the 2000 team title in Evanston, Ill. Lawrence, seeded fourth in the tournament, defeated No. 2 Dave Esposito of Lehigh 6-3 in the title match. For the event, Lawrence, ranked fourth in the nation, went 5-0 with two major decisions and a fall.

The Golden Gophers took the team title with 144 points with Iowa State in second with 133 points. The Maroon and Gold cruised to the team championship as four Minnesota grapplers advanced to their respective title matches. At 125 pounds, junior Leroy Vega went 4-1, losing to 2000 NCAA Champion Jody Strittmatter of Iowa 12-4 in the title match. No. 5 seed Brett Lawrence defeated top-seeded Teague Moore 2-1 en route to the 133-pound championship match, where he fell to Cody Sanderson 2-1. At 165 pounds, third-seeded Brad Pike lost to top-seed Joe Heskett of Iowa State 4-0 in the title match. Pike, ranked third in the nation, went 5-1 in the tournament with a major decision and pin.

The Golden Gophers also were helped to the team title as Luke Becker, Matt Kraft and Damion Hahn placed in the top eight. Becker, seeded fourth at 157 pounds, took third place, defeating Cole Sanderson of Iowa State 9-4 in the third-place match. With the win, Becker avenged a 6-5 loss to Sanderson in the quarterfinals. At 174 pounds, Kraft captured fifth place, going 4-2 with a pin at 1:56 of Princeton's Greg Parker in the fifth-place match. Hahn, seeded third, took third place at 184 pounds, going 3-2 for the event. Hahn defeated Victor Sveda of Indiana in a 5-3 sudden victory decision in the third-place match.

Former Golden Gopher Tim Hartung, a two-time NCAA champion, captured second place at 197 pounds, forfeiting to Lee Fullhart in the title match.

The top-ranked Minnesota wrestling team, 5-0 on the season, takes on No. 2 Oklahoma State Sunday, Jan. 7 at 3:00 p.m. at Williams Arena. Tickets are available by calling 612-624-8080 or 1-800-UGOPHER or online at www.gophersports.com.

 

(# = tournament seed)

 

Complete results and brackets - TheMat.com

 

125 Pounds

1st: #1 Jody Strittmatter (Iowa-Un) dec. #2 Leroy Vega (Minn.), 12-4

3rd: #6 Nathan Navaro (Oregon St.) dec. #5 Chris Williams (Mich. St.), 9-3

5th: Luke Eustice (Iowa-UN) dec. Tom Noto (Hofstra), 8-3

7th: #8 Ahmad Sanders (Central Mich.) dec. #3 Ryan Escobar (Illinois), 4-2

 

133 Pounds

1st: #6 Cody Sanderson (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. #5 Brett. Lawrence (Minn.), 2-1

3rd: #3 Roman Fleszar (Hofstra) dec. #2 Pat McNamara (Mich. St.), 7-4

5th: #4 Matt Azevedo (Iowa St.) med def. #1 Teague Moore (Sunkist Kids WC)

7th: #9 Jeff Ratliff (Ohio St.) dec. Chad Hay (Illinois-UN), 4-0

 

141 Pounds

1st: #1 Doug Schwab (Iowa-Un) dec. #6 Donnie DeFilippis (George Mason), 16-6

3rd: #5 Jason DeBruin (Hofstra) dec. #7 Matt Goldstein (Lehigh-UN), 2-1 TB

5th: Robert Sessley (Ohio St.) dec. #3 Mike Castillo (Mich. St.), 5-3

7th: Darek Phillips (Central Mich.) dec. #2 Florean Ghinea (Montclair St.), 2-1

 

149 Pounds

1st: #4 Jared Lawrence (Minn,) dec. #2 Dave Esposito (Lehigh), 6-3

3rd: #3 Eric Schmiesing (Hofstra) dec. #7 Billy Maldonado (Iowa St.), 7-5

5th: Mike Mendoza (Schultz WC) med def. Malik Elliot (Boston Univ.)

7th: Ty Morgan (Central Mich.) dec. Jon Forster (Rutgers), 6-3

 

157 Pounds

1st: #1 Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids WC) dec. #3 Yoshi Nakamura (Penn), 3-1

3rd: #4 Luke Becker (Minn.) dec. #5 Cole Sanderson (Iowa St.), 9-4

5th: #10 Leo Urbanelli (Cornell) med def. #2 Gerry Abas (Fresno St.)

7th: #6 Eric Jorgensen (Oregon St.) dec. Griff Powell (Illinois), 3-1

 

165 Pounds

1st: #1 Joe Heskett (Iowa St.) dec. #3 Brad Pike (Minn.), 4-0

3rd: #2 Steve Blackford (Ariz. St.) dec. Matt Anderson (Iowa-UN), 6-0

5th: #10 Ben Shirk (Iowa-UN) dec. #4 Matt Lackey (Illinois), 5-3

7th: #9 Clint Wattenberg (Cornell) dec. #6 Chris Vitale (Lehigh), 6-5

 

174 Pounds

1st: #1 Joe Williams (Hawkeye WC) TF. Michael Feeney (Eastern Mich.), 25-9

3rd: #3 Nathan Coy (Oregon St.) dec. #2 Perry Parks (Iowa St.), 10-8

5th: #4 Matt Kraft (Minn.) WBF. Greg Parker (Princeton), 1:56

7th: Ryan Lange (Purdue) dec. Ryan Hieber (Ohio St.), 3-2

 

184 Pounds

1st: #1 Cael Sanderson (Iowa St.) dec. #2 Nate Patrick (Illinois), 14-7

3rd: #3 Damion Hahn (Minn.) dec. #5 Victor Sveda (Indiana), 5-3

5th: #6 Doug Lee (Oregon) dec. RD Purcell (Ariz. St.), 9-2

7th: #7 Rob Rohn (Lehigh) dec. #8 Francis Volpe (Harvard), 6-2

 

197 Pounds

1st: #3 Lee Fullhart (Hawkeye WC) default #1 Tim Hartung (Minn. Storm)

3rd: #7 Chael Sonnen (Oregon) dec. #5 Zach Thompson (Iowa St.), 4-2

5th: #6 Jon Trenge (Lehigh) dec. #4 Nick Preston (Ohio St.), 3-1

7th: #2 Pat Quirk (Illinois) dec. Richard Paulikonis (Lassen College), 3-1

 

Heavyweight

1st: #1 Steve Neal (Schultz WC) WBF #7 Chad Lamer (Hawkeye WC), 3:25

3rd: #3 Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) med def. #2 Mitch Clark (Ohio Int. WC UN)

5th: Billy Blunt (Fresno St.) default #5 Ryan Kehlar (West Virginia)

7th: Eric Webb (Oregon) dec. #8 Jason Cooley (Oregon State), 4-3

 

Team Standings

1. Minnesota -- 144.0

2. Iowa State -- 133.0

3. Hawkeye WC -- 74.0

4. Hofstra -- 71.0

5. Ohio State -- 66.0

6. Illinois -- 61.0

7. Sunkist Kids WC -- 58.0

8. Michigan State -- 56.0

9. Oregon State -- 55.5

10. Arizona State -- 53.0

Oregon -- 53.0

12. Schultz WC -- 52.5

13. Central Michigan -- 43.5

14. West Virginia -- 39.5

15. Indiana -- 38.5

Pennsylvania -- 38.5

17. Fresno State -- 25.0

George Mason -- 25.0

19. Cornell -- 24.5

Princeton -- 24.5

 

Others: Purdue 24.0; Montclair St. 22.5; Cal. St.-Bakersfield 20.0; Minnesota Storm WC 20.0; Eastern Mich. 19.0; Northwestern 19.0; Northern Illinois 17.5; Lassen College 17.0; Boston University 13.5; Harvard 10.5; Rutgers 10.5; Wildcat WC 8.5; Chicago 8.0; Cleveland State 8.0; Pittsburgh 7.5; VMI 6.0; San Francisco State 5.5; Navy 5.0; Old Dominion 4.0; Citadel 3.5; Eastern Illinois 3.5; Slippery Rock 3.5; Ultimate WC 3.5; Stanford 3.0; Air Force 2.0; Rider 2.0; Augustana 1.5; UNC-Greensboro 1.5; American 1.0; Anderson College 1.0; Lincoln 0.0; MacMurray 0.0; Maranatha 0.0; Triton 0.0