Dec. 30, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill.--John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) fell to Cal State-Bakersfield's Efren Ceballos 14-6 in the 125-pound consolation title match to take fourth place in the 41st Midlands Wrestling Championships at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Velez, seeded eighth, started the day with three wins in Session 3, including a 7-4 decision over Penn's No. 2 seed Matt Velenti, to reach the third-place match. Ceballos was the fourth seed and dropped to the consolation bracket after losing to top-seeded Luke Eustice of Iowa, who also beat Velez.
Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop Martin McNamara) was the only other NU wrestler to make it to Session 3, where he fell to Travis Koppenhafer of Adams 8-5. Kimberlin compiled a 4-2 Midlands record, while Velez went 5-2.
As a team, Northwestern improved upon last year's standings by climbing eight spots to 17th with 31.5 points. Illinois scored 107.5 points to unseat two-time defending champion Iowa, which scored 80.5 for fifth place. Iowa State (102.0), Penn State (92.0) and Hofstra (87.5) rounded out the top five.
The Wildcats (6-1) will resume action at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9 in Ypsilanti, Mich. when they face Eastern Michigan (1-1).