Dec. 29, 2011
Midlands Championships Day One Brackets
EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Rob Jillard advanced into the second day of competition at the 49th annual Midlands Championships as the Northern Illinois wrestling team wrapped up day one at the meet.
As a team, the Huskies currently sit in 22nd place with 17.5 points. The No.1-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes lead the team scoring with 79.5 points after the first day of competition
"Today we found out more about where we need to go as a team," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "We were exposed in a couple of areas and we will work hard to develop more intensity in those situations."
Jillard's day in the 133-pound bracket began with an opening round victory by default against CSU-Bakersfield's Frank Lomas. The Franklinville, N.J., native followed that up with a second period pin of Oklahoma's Derek Geiges, advancing to the next round, where he would face third-seeded A.J. Schopp of Edinboro. The nationally-ranked Schopp, though, would score a 9-2 decision against Jillard to send the Huskie to wrestlebacks.
Jillard would end the day on a positive note when he defeated Eastern Michigan's Andrew Novak by a narrow 6-4 margin, then pinned 11th-seeded Thomas Kelliher of Wisconsin early in the second period to move on. Jillard's opening match on Friday will come against Northern Iowa's Joe Colon.
"Jillard competed hard and I am proud of his effort and focus," Ludwig said.
Three other Huskies would win multiple matches on the day, but eventually bowed out during the second session. At 141, Shawn Fayette shrugged off a early loss to Oklahoma's Kendric Maple to run off two straight wins in the wrestlebacks, defeating Harper's Josh Tardy and Purdue's Danny Sabatello before bowing out against Maryland's Frank Goodwin.
Jared Torrence also made an impressive run after an early setback, nearly making it into Friday's competition at heavyweight. After falling to Wisconsin's Connor Medbery, Torrence would defeat Dan Hopkins of Rutgers and Dan Scherer of Stanford to move one match from Friday's final rounds. However, the Norwalk, Ohio, native would get pinned by Edinboro's Ernest James to end his run at Midlands. Matt Smith (149) also took multiple wins on day one.
The tournament wraps up tomorrow afternoon and evening beginning at noon.
