Dec. 31, 1999

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Illinois wrestling team finished second at the Midlands Wrestling Championships held on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. A school wrestling record was set as 10 Illini placed in their weight classes.

"It was a very deep, balanced performance," said Head Coach Mark Johnson.

Illinois had two second place finishers. Nate Patrick (Jr. Naperville, Ill.) was defeated 7-2 by Cael Sanderson of Iowa State in the 184 pound weight class. Teammate Pat Quirk (Jr. Hinsdale, Ill.) was second in the 197 pound class after being defeated 8-0 by Nebraska's Brad Vering.

Adam Tirapelle (Jr. Clovis, Calif.) finished third in the 149 pound weight class with a 7-6 decisionover Roger Chandler of the Dave Schultz WC. The Illini also had one fourth place finisher. Newcomer Ryan Escobar (Jr. El Dorado, Calif.) worked his way through the consolation bracket in the 125 pound class. He lost to Tim Dernlan (Ohio Int.) on a technical fall. Carl Perry (Sr. Chesapeake, Va.) took fifth place in the 141 pound class by defeating Dwight Hinson of the Sunkist Kids WC in a medical forfeit.

Three Illini had seventh place finishes. Chad Hay (So. Sandwich, Ill.) won a tie breaker (1-1) over 125 ponder Claudell Ruffin of Eastern Michigan. Heavyweight John Lockhart (So. Mahomet, Ill.) defeated Northern Illinois' Jon Lovrich by medical forfeit. It was an all-Illini match-up in the 133 pound weight class.David Stoltz (So. Arlington Heights, Ill.) took seventh place with a 3-2 decision over eighth place finisher Kelly Madden (Fr. Pekin, Ill.). Matt Lackey (Fr. Moline, Ill.) also finished eighth. He lost a 4-1 decision to Michigan State's Greg DeGrand.

The defending national champion Iowa Hawkeyes won the competition with 151 points. The Illini finished second with 98.

Top 10 Team Scores

 1. Iowa              151    
 2. ILLINOIS           98    
 3. Hawkeye WC         88.5  
 4. Penn               70    
 5. Sunkist Kids WC    65    
 6. Iowa State         54    
    Edinboro           54    
 8. Michigan           51    
 9. Dave Scultz WC     46.5  
10. Central Michigan   45

ILLINOIS Individual Results

125 -Third Place: Tim Dernlan (Ohio Int.) tech. fall Ryan Escobar, Seventh Place: Chad Hay dec. Claudell Ruffin (Eastern Michigan 1-1 TB

133 - Seventh Place: David Stoltz dec. Kelly Madden 3-2

141 - Fifth Place: Carl Perry dec. Dwight Hinson (Sunkist Kids WC) medical forfeit

149 - Third Place: Adam Tirapelle dec. Roger Chandler (Dave Schultz WC) 7-6

165 - Seventh Place: Greg DeGrand (Michigan State) dec. Matt Lackey 4-1

184 - First Place: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) dec. Nate Patrick 7-2

197 - First Place: Brad Vering (Nebraska) dec. Pat Quirk 8-0

Hwt - Seventh Place: John Lockhart dec. Jon Lovrich (Northern Illinois) medical forfeit