Kokesh Advances to Semifinals at Midlands

Evanston, Ill. - Sophomore Robert Kokesh (174) won all four of his matches in dominating fashion on Saturday at the 50th Ken Kraft Midlands Invitational to advance to Sunday's semifinals.

The Nebraska wrestling team ended the day in 17th place with 27 points. Big Ten foe Illinois leads all teams at 61.5 points and Virginia Tech is close behind at 61.

Kokesh pinned two of his four opponents on Saturday and added a major decision and technical fall. His pin of Clarion's Ryan Darch in the first round was in 5:55 and his third-round pin of Penn's Harrison Cook was in 2:52. Kokesh outscored Oregon State's Austin Morehead and CSU Bakersfield's Bryce Hammond 28-1 in the second round and quarterfinals.

His victory over Hammond marked the 50th of Kokesh's collegiate career as he extended his winning streak to 15. Kokesh will face Northwestern's Lee Munster in Sunday's semifinals.

Redshirt freshman Austin Wilson is still alive in the wrestleback bracket at 165 pounds following a 4-1 performance on Saturday. Wilson lost a 14-3 major decision to Virginia Tech's Pete Yates in the first round, but responded with a major decision of his own in the wrestleback bracket over Utah Valley's Curtis Cook. Wilson added three decisions to earn a spot against Rider's Ramon Santiago on Sunday.

Freshman Collin Jensen (unattached) opened his tournament with two consecutive victories at heavyweight. Following a first-round 6-2 decision over Maryland's Carl Buchholz, Jensen pinned Penn's Steven Graziano in 2:32. However the freshman suffered a loss in the third round to Northwestern's Michael McMullan, 7-0, before falling in the wrestleback bracket to Michigan's Justin Dozier, 10-6.

At 197 pounds, junior Caleb Kolb also went 2-2. Kolb lost a 3-1 decision to Lions WC's Hudson Taylor before reeling off two victories in the wrestleback bracket. His tournament came to an end with a 2-1 loss to Purdue's Braden Atwood.

Freshmen Tim Lambert (unattached) and Eric Coufal each won their first-round matches but suffered back-to-back losses at 125 pounds. At 141 pounds, senior Ridge Kiley and sophomore Skylar Galloway lost their first-round matches before each winning a match in the wrestleback brackets. However they each lost in the following round. Sophomore Brandon Wilbourn (157) went 1-2 on Saturday and Shawn Nagel (133) went 0-2.

Sunday's competition begins at noon with the semifinals, consolation and seventh place matches. The final session, which includes the first, third and fifth place matches, will start at 7 p.m.

Midlands Invitational Day 1 Results
125 pounds
First Round
Tim Lambert (Nebraska) by major dec. over Derek Elmore (Northern Illinois), 12-0
Eric Coufal (Nebraska) by dec. over Jake Papke (UW Park), 6-1
Second Round
Jesse Delgado (Illinois) by major dec. over Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 12-4
Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) by pin over Eric Coufal (Nebraska), 3:50
Wrestleback
Miguel Comparan (CSU Bakersfield) by dec. over Eric Coufal (Nebraska), 9-5
Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) by dec. over Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 8-1

133 pounds
First Round
Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) by major dec. over Shawn Nagel (Nebraska), 11-1
Wrestleback
Shelton Mack (Pittsburgh) by dec. over Shawn Nagel (Nebraska), 6-2

141 pounds
First Round
Frank Goodwin (Maryland) by pin over Ridge Kiley (Nebraska), 5:50
Mark Erickson (North Dakota State) by dec. over Skylar Galloway (Nebraska), 9-3
Wrestleback
Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) by dec. over Jameson Oster (Northwestern), 12-5
Skylar Galloway (Nebraska) by dec. over Timmy Box (CSU Bakersfield), 10-5
Travis Shaffer (Pittsburgh) by major dec. over Ridge Kiley (Nebraska), 8-0
Ryan Lubeck (Wisconsin) by dec. over Skylar Galloway (Nebraska), 3-2

157 pounds
First Round
Taylor Walsh (Indiana) by pin over Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska), 6:36
Wrestleback
Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska) by med. forfeit over Zac Cibula (Rider)
Jake Crawford (North Carolina) by dec. over Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska), 8-4

165 pounds
First Round
Taylor Massa (Michigan) by dec. over Tyler Koehn (Nebraska), 11-8
Pete Yates (Virginia Tech) by major dec. over Austin Wilson (Nebraska), 14-3
Wrestleback
Austin Wilson (Nebraska) by major dec. over Curtis Cook (Utah Valley), 12-0
Frank Cousins (Wisconsin) by default over Tyler Koehn (Nebraska)
Austin Wilson (Nebraska) by dec. over Doug Welch (Purdue), 6-1
Austin Wilson (Nebraska) by dec. over Mike Ottinger (Central Michigan), 9-4
Austin Wilson (Nebraska) by dec. over Casey Kent (Penn), 6-3

174 pounds
First Round
Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) by pin over Ryan Darch (Clarion), 5:55
Second Round
Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) by major dec. over Austin Morehead (Oregon State), 13-1
Third Round
Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) by pin over Harrison Cook (Penn), 2:52
Quarterfinals
Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) by tech. fall over Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield), 15-0

197 pounds
First Round
Hudson Taylor (Lions WC) by dec. over Caleb Kolb (Nebraska), 3-1
Wrestleback
Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) by dec. over Brad Johnson (Oklahoma), 3-2
Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) by dec. over Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan), 7-2
Braden Atwood (Purdue) by dec. over Caleb Kolb (Nebraska), 2-1

Heavyweight
First Round
Collin Jensen (Nebraska) by dec. over Carl Buchholz (Maryland), 6-2
Second Round
Collin Jensen (Nebraska) by pin over Steven Graziano (Penn), 2:32
Third Round
Michael McMullan (Northwestern) by dec. over Collin Jensen (Nebraska), 7-0
Wrestleback
Justin Dozier (Michigan) by dec. over Collin Jensen (Nebraska), 10-6