Ihnen, Burroughs Advance to Semifinals at Midlands Championships

Evanston, Ill.- The No. 14 Nebraska wrestling will have two wrestlers in the semifinal round of the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., as the Huskers competed in the first two sessions of the annual tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 29. Senior Jordan Burroughs and sophomore Josh Ihnen both won the first three matches at their respective weight classes to advance to the semifinals, and helped the Huskers climb to No. 9 in the team-standings after two sessions.

Burroughs (NU), who is the 2nd-ranked wrestler at 165-pounds in the country, won his first two matches by technical fall over Luke Miller (Ohio Northern) and Robert Nash (Michigan State) to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Burroughs improved his season record to 16-0 by defeating No. 15 Ryan DesRoches (Cal Poly), 20-8. Burroughs will wrestle Chris Spangler (Iowa St.) in the semifinals.

Ihnen (NU) reached the semifinals after collecting three straight decisions to open the tournament at 184-pounds. Ihnen defeated over Kadeem Samuels (Lehigh) and Joe Barczack (Illinois) in the first two rounds, before taking down over Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers) in a tight 3-2 decision. 10th-ranked Ihnen will take on 4th-rated Grant Gambrall (Iowa) in the semifinals.

Mike Koehnlein (NU) and Andy Johnson (NU) were the other Huskers who were able to reach the quarterfinals before being knocked to the wrestleback bracket. Koehnlein was most impressive after defeating his first two opponents by major decision in the 141-pound bracket, including an upset of No. 20 Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern). In the quarterfinals, the senior fell No. 4 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) in a tough 3-1 decision.

Johnson's run to the quarterfinals also included an upset of a nationally-ranked opponent after he defeated No. 20 Brent Haynes (Missouri) , 6-3, in the second round, but wasn't able to pull the upset off in the quarterfinals falling to No. 13 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh), 6-2, in the 197-pound bracket.

Along with Koehnlein and Johnson, Nebraska will have Ridge Kiley (NU) and James Nakashima (NU) competing in the wrestleback bracket during session III on Thursday.

Session III of the Midlands Championships will begin at Noon on Thursday, Dec. 30. Championship, third and fifth-place matches will start at 7:15 p.m. Championship matches will be aired on the Big Ten Network on tape delay on Jan. 8, at 3 p.m. Full results and next round's opponents are listed below.

2010 Midlands Championships Results
Dec. 29-30, Evanston, Ill.
*Intermat Individual Rankings

125
First round
#10 Ryan Mango (Stanford) by fall over David Klingsheim (Neb.), 6:40
Wrestleback
Eduardo Dominguez (Harper) by dec. over David Klingsheim (Neb.), 10-8

133
First round
Ridge Kiley (Neb.) by dec. over Kevin Fanta (Northern Ill.), 6-1
Ty Clark (Iowa) by major dec. over Keith Surber (Neb.), 10-2
Second round
#8 Tony Ramos (Iowa) by dec. over Ridge Kiley (Neb.), 7-4
Wrestleback
Keith Surber (Neb.) by fall over Dustin Reed (Oklahoma), 3:36
Ridge Kiley (Neb.) by fall over Nathan Fitzenreider (North Central), 6:29
Ridge Kiley (Neb.) by fall over Levi Mele (Northwestern), 6:35
Kevin Tao (American) by dec. over Keith Surber (Neb.), 10-5
Ridge Kiley (Neb.) vs. Jimmy Kirchner (Rider)

141
First round
Mike Koehnlein (Neb.) by major dec. over Aaron Nestor (Rider), 9-1
Second round
Mike Koehnlein (Neb.) by major dec. over #20 Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern), 9-0
Quarterfinals
#4 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) by dec. over Mike Koehnlein (Neb.), 3-1
Wrestlebacks
Mike Koehnlein (Neb.) vs. Steve Dutton (Lehigh)

149
Second round
Ross Grande (Neb.) by dec. over Dan Osterman (Michigan), 6-3
Third round
#18 Cole Schmitt (Wisc.) by dec. over Ross Gande (Neb.), 8-2
Wrestleback
Ross Grande (Neb.) by dec. over Matt Mauseth (UW Lacrosse), 3-2
Donnie Corby (C. Michigan) by dec. over Ross Grande (Neb.), 6-0　

157
First round
#13 James Fleming (Clarion) by major dec. Cody Compton (Neb.), 12-3
Wrestleback
#8 Derek St. John (Iowa) by dec. over Cody Compton (Neb.), 4-3

165
First round
#2 Jordan Burroughs (Neb.) by tech. fall over Luke Miller (Ohio Northern), 22-6 (7:00)
Second round
#2 Jordan Burroughs (Neb) by tech. fall over Robert Nash (Michigan State), 23-7 (5:00)
Quarterfinals
#2 Jordan Burroughs (Neb.) by major dec. over #15 Ryan DesRoches (Cal Poly), 20-8
Semifinals
#2 Jordan Burroughs (Neb.) vs. Chris Spangler (Iowa St.)

174
Second round
Brice Wolf (Northern Iowa) by dec. over Caleb Kolb (Neb.), 8-4
Wrestleback
Ben Friedl (Illinois) by sudden-victory dec. over Caleb Kolb (Neb.), 3-1

184
First round
#10 Josh Ihnen (Neb.) by dec. over Kadeem Samuels (Lehigh), 12-6
Mike Larson (Missouri) by dec. over James Nakashima (Neb.), 9-5
Wrestlebacks
James Nakashima (Neb.) by dec. over #13 Tony Dallago (Illinois), 3-2
James Nakashima (Neb.) by dec. over Corey Peltier (Maryland), 5-4
James Nakashima (Neb.) by dec. over Spence Patrick (Stanford), 4-2
James Nakashima (Neb.) vs. Max Thomusseit (Pitt)
Second round
#10 Josh Ihnen (Neb.) by dec. Joe Barczack (Illinois), 8-1
Quarterfinals
#10 Josh Ihnen (Neb.) by dec. over Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers), 3-2
Semifinals
#10 Josh Ihnen (Neb.) vs. #4 Grant Gambrall (Iowa)

197
First round
Andy Johnson (Neb.) by dec. over Caleb Gerl (Cal Baptist), 5-4
Second round
Andy Johnson (Neb.) by dec. over #20 Brent Haynes (Missouri), 6-3
Quarterfinals
#13 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) by dec. over Andy Johnson (Neb.), 6-2
Wrestlebacks
Andy Johnson (Neb.) vs. #8 Zac Thomusseit (Pitt)

HWT
First round
#10 Tucker Lane (Neb.) by dec. over Atticus Disney (Cal Poly), 4-3
Second round
John Helgerson (Wartburg) by dec. over #10 Tucker Lane (Neb.), 4-3
Wrestleback
Michael Hawkins (Arizona State) by forfeit over #10 Tucker Lane (Neb.)