Iowa posted 47.5 team points to advance to Session II of the Ken Kraft Midlands Tournament.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Iowa closed out the first session of the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands in first place with 47.5 team points on Monday. The Hawkeyes posted a 27-5 individual record and advanced 11 wrestlers to the quarterfinal matches.
Twenty-one of Iowa's 27 wins were by bonus points. Third-seeded Sammy Brooks recorded two of Iowa's six falls and advanced to the quarterfinals at 184 pounds for the third time in his career. Brooks has never advanced to the Midlands semifinals. He'll face Brown's Ophir Bernstein in the quarters.
Defending champion at 125, Thomas Gilman, collected an 11-1 major decision victory against Isaac Andrade of South Dakota State and finished the session with another major decision (14-5) against Columbia's Johnson Mai. Gilman entered the Midlands seeded first, initially seeded second behind Jesse Delgado (Illinois), who is not competing.
Third-seeded Cory Clark gained momentum after his major decision victory against Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan) at 10-2. He went on to beat Illinois's Jered Cortez, wrestling unattached 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.
Josh Dziewa started the session with a tech fall win versus Nick Tighe (Binghampton) 17-1, and went on to record a 12-0 major decision victory against Columbia's Ryan Ponte. He finished the afternoon overcoming Jake Danishek (Indiana) 4-0. Dziewa is the No. 3 seed at 141 pounds.
Brody Grothus, seeded fourth at 149, advances to the quarterfinals after a tech. fall to Cole Weaver, wrestling Indiana-unattached (15-0) and a major decision against Jake Williams of Cumber-unattached (12-4).
Also advancing at 149, No. 6 seed Brandon Sorenson defeated North Dakota's Mitchell Friedman by major decision 14-5 and Gustavo Martinez (Grand View) 5-1.
Fifth-seeded Mike Kelly recorded a pair of decisions to ensure he advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Justin Alexander (Maryland) and Jake Danishek (Indiana) 4-1 and 5-2, respectively.
Nick Moore will make a quarterfinal appearance after a tech. fall 18-3 against Nate Stadeker of Grand View, and pinning Mark Mabry of Adams State at 4:18. Moore is the second seed at 165 pounds.
Hawkeye senior Mike Evans and junior Nathan Burak, both seeded No.1 at their respective weights, found success during the first session. Evans won by decision 10-3 against David Kocer of South Dakota, and went on to pin Nick Ferraro (Chicago) at 1:36. Burak, wrestling unattached, pinned his first opponent Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland) at 6:39. He then took on Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan) and collected an 8-4 decision to advance.
Senior Bobby Telford, the No. 2 seed at heavyweight, began the day with a fall verses Northern Illinois' Jake Cochran at 2:26. He finished the first session with a decision against Dan Garwood of Virginia Tech to clinch a space in the quarterfinals.
Session II of the Midlands Championships begins at 8 p.m. Monday night.
