Dec. 29, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern wrestling junior John Giacche (Flemington, N.J./Blair Academy) advanced to the second round of the Midlands Championships, which conclude Sunday. Day One saw action through four championship and six consolation rounds.
Giacche, the No. 7 seed in the 141-pound group, defeated Mark DiSalvo of the Virginia Military Institute in a 6-4 decision to open up the competition. He then fell to Ohio State's Josh Daugherty and moved to the consolation bracket, where he defeated Juan Venturi of Princeton. Giacche then fell to Casey Horn of Oregon State in a 4-3 decision.
Sophomore Ryan Kane (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley), competing in the 165-pound division, lost a 9-3 decision to Hofstra's John Garriques in the first round, but wrestled back to win two in a row in the consolation bracket, defeating Tony Morgan and the No. 6 seed, Anton Hall of Michigan State, before dropping an 8-4 decision to Jed Pennell of Oregon State.
Brothers Andrew and Brendan Curran (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) each lost in the first round but advanced with wins in the consolation bracket and ended up competing simultaneously on two of the eight mats available. Andrew lost his match to J.D. Oliva of Northern Illinois, while Brendan fell to Emmett Willson of Montana State Northern.
Freshman Robert Maldonado (East Chicago, Ind./East Chicago) was defeated in the first round of the 133-pound class, but won an 18-7 decision over Alejandro Alvarez of Cornell to advance in the consolation bracket. He then lost to Jordan Webster of Central Michigan.
In the heavyweight class, sophomore Mike Little (El Reno, Okla./El Reno) fell in the first round to ninth-seeded Kellan Fluckinger of Arizona State, but defeated Randy Fulsaas of Iowa in the consolation bracket by a 5-0 decision. Little then was pinned by Brian Keck of the Wildcat Wrestling Club.