Rutgers moves eight to semifinals, atop team standings after day one at Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Joesph Oliveri of Rutgers hand raise after a quarterfinal victory at 141 pounds.
HOFMANN ESTATES, Ill. – Rutgers holds the early lead after day one of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, the 60th edition of the prestigious holiday college wrestling tournament, with eight semifinalists and 87.5 team points.
NCAA All-Americans Dylan Shawver (133), John Poznanski (197) and Yaraslau Slavikouski (285) led the way for the Scarlett Knights on Sunday at NOW Arena.
Shawver, a returning Midlands finalist, picked up a pair of solid wins at 133 pounds to set up a premier semifinal showdown against Ohio State’s undefeated true freshman Ben Davino. Davino was a U17 World Team member in men’s freestyle for Team USA in 2023.
After opening with a dominant technical fall, Poznanski edged West Virginia’s Rune Lawrence, 10-9, in the 197-pound quarterfinals. The top seed in the weight class will see No. 5 seed Gabe Sollars of Indiana in the semis.
Slavikouski, a three-time age-group World Team member for Belarus, went 3-0 at heavyweight to live up to his No. 1 seed. He took a 15-0 technical fall win in the quarters against Nick Pavlechko of Indiana. No. 4 seed Jacob Bullock, also representing Indiana, is next up for Slavikouski.
Others finding a place in tomorrow morning’s semifinal round for Rutgers were Dean Peterson (125), Joesph Oliveri (141), Andrew Clark (149), Brian Soldano (184) and Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184).
Keystone State rivals Penn and Pittsburgh each hold five semifinalists after the first day of action, tied for the second most behind Rutgers. Stanford and Indiana are squarely in the mix with four semifinalists apiece. All told, 15 teams pushed at least one wrestler to the semifinal round in what is shaping up to be an exciting race to the finish.
The No. 1 seed at 141 pounds, CJ Composto of Penn, joined Shawver as the only other entrant still in the running for a repeat finals berth. Both Composto and Shawver were runners-up last year. No 2023 champion returned to defend his title.
Past age-group U.S. World Team members Hunter Garvin of Stanford (165) and Max Gallagher of Penn (125) also booked spots in the semifinals. Garvin posted three nice wins on Sunday, one by technical fall and one by major decision. Gallagher went 4-0 with a fall, two major decisions and a sudden victory win to advance.
Penn’s Jude Swisher was the only No. 1 seed ousted from the championship side on day one of competition. He dropped a 4-1 match to unseeded Logan Rozynski of Lehigh in the 157-pound quarterfinals.
Four semifinalists emerged from unseeded positions and are still in the running for top prize—Rozynski, Danny Martinez of SIU Edwardsville (141), Kade Brown of Pittsburgh (149) and Logan Shephard of Bucknell (285).
The 174-pound bracket was the only to go chalk with the top four seeds advancing to the semifinal round.
The Ken Kraft Midlands Championships will resume at 10:30 a.m. (CT) on Monday with the men’s championship semifinals and consolations, plus the start of the women’s tournament. The championship finals are set for 3 p.m. (CT).
Real-time results and updated brackets of the event are available on Trackwrestling.com. The action can be viewed live online with a Big Ten Plus subscription.
2024 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships #
At Hoffman Estates, Ill., Dec. 29-30 #
Team Standings #
1. Rutgers, 87.5
2. Stanford, 76.5
3. Penn, 71.5
4. Pittsburgh, 65
5. Indiana, 62
6. Central Michigan, 49
7. Bucknell, 42
8. Northwestern, 39.5
9. Northern Illinois, 36.5
10. SIU Edwardsville, 26.5
Semifinal Matchups #
125 pounds #
No. 1 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Jacob Moran (Indiana)
No. 3 Blake West (Northern Illinois) vs. No. 2 Max Gallagher (Penn)
133 pounds #
No. 1 Tyler Knox (Stanford) vs. No. 5 Ryan Miller (Penn)
No. 3 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) vs. No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State)
141 pounds #
No. 1 CJ Composto (Penn) vs. Danny Martinez (SIU Edwardsville)
No. 3 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) vs. No. 2 Joesph Oliveri (Rutgers)
149 pounds #
No. 1 Jaden Abas (Stanford) vs. Kade Brown (Pittsburgh)
No. 6 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) vs. No. 2 Cross Wasilewski (Penn)
157 pounds #
Logan Rozynski (Lehigh) vs. No. 5 DJ McGee (George Mason)
No. 6 Dylan Evans (Pittsburgh) vs. No. 2 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan)
165 pounds #
No. 1 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) vs. No. 5 Tyler Lillard (Indiana)
No. 3 Evan Maag (George Mason) vs. No. 2 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)
174 pounds #
No. 1 Nick Incontrera (Penn) vs. No. 4 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
No. 3 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) vs. No. 2 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford)
184 pounds #
No. 1 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) vs. No. 5 Brian Soldano (Rutgers)
No. 6 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) vs. No. 7 Nathan Haas (California Baptist)
197 pounds #
No. 1 John Poznanski (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Gabe Sollars (Indiana)
No. 6 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell) vs. No. 2 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh)
285 pounds #
No. 1 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) vs. No. 4 Jacob Bullock (Indiana)
Logan Shephard (Bucknell) vs. No. 2 Josh Heindselman (Michigan)
Quarterfinal Results #
125 pounds #
No. 1 Dean Peterson (Rutgers) tech. fall No. 8 Dedrick Navarro (Northwestern), 19-4
No. 5 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. No. 4 Diego Sotelo (Harvard), 6-3
No. 3 Blake West (Northern Illinois) dec. No. 6 Ethan Rivera (Princeton), 7-1
No. 2 Max Gallagher (Penn) dec. No. 7 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 4-1 SV-1
133 pounds #
No. 1 Tyler Knox (Stanford) maj. dec. No. 8 Tristan Lujan (Michigan State), 9-0
No. 5 Ryan Miller (Penn) dec. Sean Spidle (Central Michigan), 4-0
No. 3 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec. No. 6 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell), 3-2
No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Colton Camacho (Edinboro), 7-3
141 pounds #
No. 1 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. Briar Priest (Pittsburgh), 5-2
Danny Martinez (SIU Edwardsville) maj. dec. No. 5 Jacob Brya (Northern Illinois), 10-2
No. 3 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) dec. Eligh Rivera (Princeton), 8-6
No. 2 Joesph Oliveri (Rutgers) fall No. 7 Evan Mougalian (Penn), 0:41
149 pounds #
No. 1 Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec. No. 8 Sam Cartella (Northwestern), 4-0
Kade Brown (Pittsburgh) dec. Dylan Gilcher (Michigan), 14-8
No. 6 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) dec. No. 3 Finn Solomon (Pittsburgh), 5-3
No. 2 Cross Wasilewski (Penn) dec. Mason Shrader (Central Michigan), 4-1 SV-1
157 pounds #
Logan Rozynski (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Jude Swisher (Penn), 4-1
No. 5 DJ McGee (George Mason) dec. No. 4 James Harrington (Harvard), 8-6
No. 6 Dylan Evans (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 3 Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford), 11-8 SV-1
No. 2 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) maj. dec. JT Chance (George Mason), 17-5
165 pounds #
No. 1 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) dec. No. 8 Andrew Barbosa (Rutgers), 6-3
No. 5 Tyler Lillard (Indiana) dec. No. 4 Anthony White (Rutgers), 2-1 SV-1
No. 3 Evan Maag (George Mason) maj. dec. No. 6 Drayden Morton (California Baptist), 14-5
No. 2 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) tech. fall Cash Stewart (Cal Poly), 21-6
174 pounds #
No. 1 Nick Incontrera (Penn) dec. Collin Guffey (Stanford), 4-0
No. 4 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 5 Jackson Turley (Rutgers), 8-5 SV-1
No. 3 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) dec. No. 6 Myles Takats (Bucknell), 6-4
No. 2 Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) tech. fall Marty Larkin (Michigan State), 18-3
184 pounds #
No. 1 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) maj. dec. Sam Goin (Indiana), 15-2
No. 5 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 4 Michael Squires (Princeton), 8-0
No. 6 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) dec. Abraham Wojcikiewicz (Stanford), 7-3
No. 7 Nathan Haas (California Baptist) dec. No. 2 Donnell Washington (Indiana), 8-7
197 pounds #
No. 1 John Poznanski (Rutgers) dec. Rune Lawrence (West Virginia), 10-9
No. 5 Gabe Sollars (Indiana) tech. fall No. 4 Nick Stemmet (Stanford), 16-0
No. 6 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell) dec. No. 3 Evan Bates (Northwestern), 7-5
No. 2 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) dec. Luke Cochran (Central Michigan), 15-8
285 pounds #
No. 1 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) tech. fall No. 8 Nick Pavlechko (Indiana), 15-0
No. 4 Jacob Bullock (Indiana) tech. fall No. 5 Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton), 19-3
Logan Shephard (Bucknell) dec. No. 3 Bryan Caves (Central Michigan), 9-3
No. 2 Josh Heindselman (Michigan) tech. fall No. 7 Peter Ming (Stanford), 24-6
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