Dec. 29, 2001
Evanston, Ill. -
* There are 356 participants wrestling in the 39th annual Midlands Championships. The tournament noted its 7,500th entrant this year, awarding unattached wrestler Troy Letters, 165-pounds, a Midlands t-shirt to mark the occasion.
*There have been 43 falls recorded in the first three rounds of action. 125-pounder Matt Shankey (Iowa) registered the fastest fall of the tournament so far, pinning Andy Gleixner (MacMur) in 35 seconds. Eric Larkin (Arizona State), Cael Sanderson (Iowa State), Jerold Limongelli (Rider) and Jared Lawrence (Minnesota) each have two pins.
* 174-pounder Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) picked up two wins in the first session of competition to bring him one step closer to his eighth straight Midlands title, which will tie him with Bruce Baumgartner. Baumgartner set the record back in 1987. Williams, who finished 5th in his first appearance, could also tie John Fisher's mark by placing in nine straight Midlands Championships.
*Williams' 42 Midlands wins is third on the Midlands career wins list. With one more victory this weekend he will move into a tie for second with Baumgartner. Mike Schmidlin holds the record with 47 wins. Williams could also catch Baumgartner in the consecutive Midlands wins category. Coming into the evening session, Williams needs two more wins to tie the record of 40.
*Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) remains undefeated in his college (133-0) and Midlands (18-0) career with two wins in the morning session. He is one of three wrestlers who could enter the elite "20 in 4" club this tournament-20 wins in their first four Midlands. Sanderson has won 18 matches in his four years at the Midlands.
* Mitch Clark (Ohio Int. Club) at 19-5, and Yoshi Nakamura (Penn) at 19-3, are each one win away from entering the "20 in 4" club.
* Olympic Gold Medallist Rulon Gardner will be named as an Honorary Champion at the beginning of session two. The only other wrestler to receive this honor is Iowa State Midlands Champion Dan Gable. Gardner will be on hand for the rest of the day to sign autographs.