Dec. 29, 2004

Evanston, Ill. - Cleveland State stands in 15th place out of 59 teams after the first two sessions of the 42nd Midlands Championship in Evanston, Ill. Freshman Mike Hurley was the lone Viking to advance to the final day of the tournament, tallying a pair of decisions in the 141 consolation bracket. He will face No. 11 Michael Simpson of Indiana beginning at 12:00 noon Thursday (Dec. 30).

Hurley defeated 18th-ranked Donnie Fisch of Rider in his opening round of the 141 championship, scoring a 7-3 decision before being sent to the consolation bracket by 19th-ranked Ryan Lang of Northwestern. He then recorded an 8-4 decision over Zack Flake of Lassen College and a 16-13 win over Central Michigan's Brandon Carter to advance to the quarterfinals of the third-place bracket.

CSU put together several other hard-fought performances against ranked opponents. Senior Matt Klinger opened up with a 5-4 decision over Jason Carrasco of Cal State-Bakersfield at 174, but fell by a 9-4 count to fifth-ranked Pete Friedl of Illinois before being eliminated in a close 4-3 match to Friedl's teammate Matt Winterhalter. Freshman Joe Wornoff opened the 125 match with a 3-2 win over Nathan Costello of Ohio State before falling to No. 9 Efren Ceballos of Cal State Bakersfield, while junior Ron Howard tallied a pair of decisions in the 184 consolation bracket before falling in a 15-9 battle to No. 13 Alex Rios of Indiana.

Senior Joe Phillips put up a strong 12-3 major decision showing over Major Ennen of Iowa at 197, while freshman Joe Dennis posted three wins, including a pin of Daren Murphy of San Francisco State, before bowing out of the heavyweight competition.

Freshman Marcus Effner pinned Justin Mora of Michigan State at 3:08 of the 157 opener, but lost a close 6-4 decision in the first tie-breaker to Nathan Galloway of Penn State before being eliminated in the consolation round. After dropping his opening match, sophomore David Gilkey scored a 39-second pin of Iowa's Joe Uker in the first consolation match at 165.

No. 14 Central Michigan leads all teams with 74.5 points.

CSU Results (Through Sessions 1 & 2)
125
Joe Wornoff dec. Nathan Costello (Ohio State), 3-2
No. 9 Efren Ceballos (Cal State-Bakersfield) dec. Joe Wornoff, 9-2
Joe Wornoff dec. Ben Hanisch (Iowa State), 2-1
Chris Helgeson (Northern Iowa) dec. Joe Wornoff, 10-6

133
Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh) fall David Armstrong, 0:58
Tim Harner (Rider) dec. David Armstrong, 8-2

141
Mike Hurley dec. No. 18 Donnie Fisch (Rider), 7-3
No. 19 Ryan Lang (Northwestern) dec. Mike Hurley, 4-2
Mike Hurley dec. Zack Flake (Lassen College), 8-4
Mike Hurley dec Brandon Carter (Central Michigan), 16-13

149
Ryan Hurley dec. Greg Hagel (Northwestern), 6-3
Jason Knipp (Iowa State) fall Ryan Hurley, 1:45
Josh Peterson (Air Force) dec. Ryan Hurley, 6-5

157
Marcus Effner fall Justin Mora (Michigan State), 3:08
Nathan Galloway (Penn State) dec. Marcus Effner, 6-4 TB1
Chad Rousch (Eastern Michigan) dec. Marcus Effner, 7-3

165
Dwayne Coward (UNC-Pembroke) dec. David Gilkey, 12-5
David Gilkey fall Joe Uker (Iowa), 0:39
Zach Craiglow (Ohio State) dec. David Gilkey, 11-4

174
Matt Klinger dec. Jason Carrasco (Cal State-Bakersfield), 5-4
No. 5 Pete Friedl (Illinois) dec. Matt Klinger, 9-4
Matt Winterhalter (Illinois) dec. Matt Klinger, 4-3

184
Russ Vanderheyden (Central Michigan) fall Ron Howard, 2:42
Ron Howard dec Ryan Hagen (Stanford), 5-4
Ron Howard dec. Alex Dolly (Northern Iowa), 8-7
No. 13 Alex Rios (Indiana) dec. Ron Howard, 15-9

197
Joe Phillips maj. dec. Major Ennen (Iowa), 12-3
No. 9 Sean Stender (Northern Iowa) fall Joe Phillips, 0:37
Winn Michalak (Central Michigan) dec. Joe Phillips, 10-4

285
Joe Dennis dec. Chris Little (Illinois), 3-1
No. 14 Bode Ogunwole (Harvard) dec. Joe Dennis, 5-2
Joe Dennis fall Daren Murphy (San Francisco State), 3:18
Joe Dennis dec. Marcus Adelman (Ohio), 3-2
Paul Weibel (Lehigh) dec. Joe Dennis, 15-10