Champions Knox, Abas, Norman lift Stanford to first Ken Kraft Midlands Championships team title
HOFMANN ESTATES, Ill. – Stanford staged a remarkable day two effort on the strength of three individual champions and 10 top-eight finishers to emerge with the program’s first team title in the history of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. It’s the 60th year of the prestigious holiday event.
Collecting the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler Award was 133-pound champion Tyler Knox, who was the first Stanford athlete of the day to grab a win in the finals. The redshirt freshman finished with a 5-0 record for the weekend, including an impressive 10-3 decision over Rutgers All-American Dylan Shawver in the championship bout.
Knox improved to 14-2 on the season with some major bullets already on his resume. He finished in fifth place at the tough CKLV Invitational and owns a win over NCAA finalist Drake Ayala of Iowa. Now with a Midlands title in tow, he his building momentum for a deep run in March.
Also earning top prize for Stanford were All-American Jaden Abas at 149 pounds and redshirt freshman Lorenzo Norman at 174 pounds. Abas outlasted Cross Wasilewski of Penn, 10-9, in a finals battle of the top two seeds at 149. He finished with a 5-0 record on the weekend, pushing his season record to 16-4. Abas was third at the CKLV Invitational earlier this year.
Norman was presented the Jack Leese Champion of Champions Award following his decisive run at NOW Arena that culminated with an 11-5 win over No. 1 seed Nick Incontrera of Penn in the finals. Norman’s 5-0 mark at the Midlands increases his season tally to 14-1 with his only loss coming in the CKLV Invitational finals to Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti, 4-3. Hamiti was the Midlands champion at 165 pounds last year, as well as the Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions recipient.
Stanford, led by second-year head coach Chris Ayres, was the only program to earn three individual titles, which catapulted them atop the team podium with 157 team points. Rutgers, who held the lead after day one with eight semifinalists, finished in second place with 147 team points. Penn, Indiana and Pittsburgh rounded out the top five teams.
Rutgers grabbed the first champion of the day … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/30/champions-knox-abas-norman-lift-stanford-to-first-ken-kraft-midlands-championships-team-title
Iowa women win Soldier Salute with five champions, runner-up Life has three champions
CORALVILLE, Iowa – The Soldier Salute women’s division featured the No. 1 ranked teams in the NCAA and the NAIA, and both teams had excellent performances.
Led by five individual champions, NCAA No. 1 Iowa finished with 215.5 points. NAIA No. 1 Life was second with 199 points, led by three champions. NAIA No. 7 Indiana Tech was third with 71.5 points. Individual champions for Iowa included Brianna Gonzalez (117), Cadence Diduch (138), Macey Kilty (145), Kennedy Blades (160) and Kylie Welker (180).
Two of the finals were all-Iowa battles, both won by World-level stars. At 145 pounds, two-time Senior World medalist Macey Kilty defeated 2024 NCWWC national champion Reese Larramendy, 8-1. At 180 pounds, 2024 World bronze medalist Kylie Welker, who was also a 2024 NCWWC champion, stopped freshman Naomi Simon in a 10-0 technical fall.
The Outstanding Wrestler in the women’s division was 2024 Olympic silver medalist Blades, who scored a 13-3 technical fall over Latifah McBryde of Life, a two-time NAIA Nationals runner-up. Gonzalez, a 2024 NCWWC runner-up, defeated Life’s Salyna Shotwell in the finals, 6-0. Diduch, a freshman, stopped Texas Wesleyan’s Samantha Baragan, 8-6.
Champions for Life were Anaya Falcon (110), Sarah Savidge (131) and Savannah Isaac (207). Savidge was a 2024 NAIA runner-up, while Falcon and Isaac are freshmen. Falcon defeated 2024 NCWWC nationals champion Ava Bayless of Iowa in the finals, scoring a stunning 16-5 technical fall. Savidge was equally dominant in her finals, blitzing Iowa’s Emily Frost in a 10-0 technical fall. Isaac stopped 2024 NCWWC runner-up Jaycee Foeller of Iowa, 2-1.
The other two champions were not affiliated with a college program. Unattached Jaclyn Bouzakis, a high school star who attends Wyoming Seminary, scored a 10-0 technical fall over Katherine Hernandez of Life at 103 pounds. Mateah Roehl, who competes for the Askren Wrestling Academy and was an All-American at North Central, won the 124-pound title … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/30/iowa-women-win-soldier-salute-with-five-champions-runner-up-life-has-three-champions
Keegan O’Toole Earns Big 12 Wrestler of the Week Honors
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri wrestler Keegan O’Toole earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the league announced Friday, Dec. 27. The senior has collected the honor four times since Mizzou rejoined the Big 12 and marks the Tiger’s second weekly honor this season.
At Journeymen Collegiate Duals, Dec. 22, O’Toole was a perfect 3-0, taking on three ranked opponents in a row at 174 pounds. The senior started with a technical fall of No. 33 Tyler Brennan of Little Rock, before earning a 28-8 major decision over No. 12 Brevin Cassella of Binghamton. The two-time National Champion and No. 1 ranked wrestler at 174 pounds finished the day against No. 2 Levi Haines of Penn State, taking the match to sudden victory. O’Toole earned the match’s only takedown to secure the overtime win, 4-1.
O’Toole is 11-0 this season and boasts a 91 percent bonus rate since moving up to 174 pounds. The Hartland, Wisconsin native has totaled 98 career wins, just two shy of joining the decorated 100-Wins Club.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will come home to host Cornell at the Beauty and the Beast event along with Gymnastics on Jan. 3, 2025. The event will occur at Mizzou Arena, with action starting … more at … https://mutigers.com/news/2024/12/27/wrestling-keegan-o-toole-earns-big-12-wrestler-of-the-week-honors.aspx
No. 16 Rutgers Finishes Second at Midlands behind Peterson’s Individual Title
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Behind an individual title from No. 18 Dean Peterson (125) and a program-record nine placewinners, No. 16 Rutgers wrestling finished second at the 2024 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Monday in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
Peterson was one of four individual finalists at Midlands, along with No. 16 Dylan Shawver (133), No. 20 Joseph Olivieri (141) and No. 29 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184). No. 5 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) wrestled back to a bronze medal, while No. 33 Andrew Clark (149) and Brian Soldano (184) both finished fourth. No. 22 Jackson Turley (174) placed fifth, and No. 14 John Poznanski (197) finished sixth.
With their nine placewinners and 147 team points, the Scarlet Knights finished only behind Stanford, who claimed the team trophy with 157 points. Penn finished third with 131. It marked the most team points scored at the championships in school history and matched its best team result recorded in 2017.
2024 Midlands Championships Placewinners
1st: No. 18 Dean Peterson (125)
2nd: No. 16 Dylan Shawver (133)
2nd: No. 20 Joseph Olivieri (141)
2nd: No. 29 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184)
4th: No. 33 Andrew Clark (149) … more at … https://scarletknights.com/news/2024/12/30/no-16-wrestling-finishes-second-at-midlands-behind-petersons-individual-title.aspx
Cuyler Captures Fourth Championship of Freshman Year at Midlands
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Freshman phenom May Cuyler of the seventh-ranked Presbyterian College women’s wrestling team continued an immaculate start to her Blue Hose career on Monday night, winning a first-place crown at the famed Midlands Championships just outside of Chicago.
Eight PC grapplers represented head coach Brian Vutianitis at the NOW Arena for the 60th edition of the Midlands bracket, where Cuyler (160) boosted her outstanding personal record to 16-1. Fellow newbie Carina Giangeruso earned a bronze trinket on Monday by winning back-to-back consolation-round matches, allowing Presbyterian to tally 18 individual W’s in all.
Cuyler’s first three victories came by either technical fall or pin, snatching the gold prize in a highly-competitive decision over North Central’s Tiera Jimerson (10-7). In fact, there were 13 matches between PC and a North Central opponent in the Windy City. Both programs have become a mainstay in the NWCA national top ten. … more at … https://gobluehose.com/news/2024/12/30/womens-wrestling-cuyler-captures-fourth-championship-of-freshman-year-at-midlands.aspx
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
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