Dec. 30, 2011
Final Midlands Team Standings and Brackets 
Evanston, Ill. -Three Illini placed at the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Friday night as Jesse Delgado (125), B.J. Futrell (133) and Jordan Blanton(174) all finished in third place. Illinois finished in sixth place with 73 team points as top-ranked Iowa took the team title. This is the highest the Illini have finished since the Orange and Blue won the Midlands title in 2005-06.
Futrell, ranked fourth at the Midlands, started Illinois' day in the championship bracket with a close loss against top-seeded Tony Ramos of Iowa, 6-2. In the wrestleback semifinal round, the junior faced seventh-seed Ryan Mango of Stanford and took down the Cardinal with an 8-3 decision to move on. Futrell picked up his second-highest finish at the Midlands after he defeated Iowa's Tyler Clark in an 8-2 decision to take third place.
In the 174 championship semifinal, Blanton gave Iowa's Ethen Lofthouse all he could handle, but came up short with an 8-6 decision. However, the third-seeded junior then fought back and defeated Iowa State's Tanner Weatherman (unattached) by a 15-7 major decision, his fifth major of the year. The Richmond, Ill., native took third place by moving past seventh-seed John Cannon (unattached) of Buffalo by a 5-4 decision, marking the highest finish at the Midlands in Blanton's career.
No. 1 seeded Delgado performed with ease during the wrestleback bracket after defeating Tyler Iwamura of Cal-State Bakersfield with a 11-7 decision before moving past fifth-seeded Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State with another decision, 7-2, to move into the wrestleback semifinals. Against Jarrod Patterson, ranked fifth in the nation at 125, the Illinois freshman recorded his first of two pins of the night, in a time of 6:47. Delgado captured third place after defeating No. 4 seed Levi Mele of Northwestern by a fall in 3:44. Delgado now has three pins on the season.
Eric Terrazas and Mario Gonzalez both lost their bouts on the second day of the championships with Terrazas dropping a close match in a 1-0 decision. Gonzalez wrestled hard for the first seven minutes against Northwestern's John Schoen, but extra time was needed. The junior was edged by Schoen by a 7-4 sudden victory decision. Tony Dallago (184) and Caleb Ervin(149) were also eliminated after reaching the wrestleback sixth round in their respective weight classes.
The Illini return to action on Friday, Jan. 6, when they compete at Purdue before returning home on Saturday to take on Lock Haven at Huff Hall. The Orange and Blue are back on the road Jan. 8 when they face Michigan at 1 pm CT.
125: Jesse Delgado (No. 1 seed), Fr., Gilroy, Calif.
1st round: Dec. Cruse Aarhus (Northern Iowa), 11-6
2nd round: Dec. Aaron Pickrel (South Dakota St.), 7-2
Quarterfinals: Pinned by No. 8 Jarrod Garnett (unt-Virginia Tech) 6:35
Consolation round of 8: Dec. No. 10 Tyler Iwamura (Cal-State Baker), 11-7
Consolation quarterfinals: Dec. No. 5 Trent Sprenkle (N. Dakota St.), 7-2
Consolation semifinals: Pinned No. 3 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 6:47
Third place: Pinned No. 4 Levi Mele (Northwestern), 3:44
Delgado - 3rd place
133: B.J. Futrell (No. 4 seed), R-Jr., Park Forest, Ill.
1st round: Pinned Shawn Armato (Bucknell), 0:46
2nd round: Major dec. Jameson Oster (Northwestern). 15-5
Quarterfinals: Major dec. Joe Colon (Northern Iowa), 10-1
Semifinals: Dec. by No. 1 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 6-2
Consolation round of 4: Dec. No. 7 Ryan Mango (Stanford), 8-3
Third place: Dec. No. 9 Tyler Clark (Iowa), 8-2
Futrell - 3rd place
149: Eric Terrazas (No. 3 seed), Sr., Wheaton, Ill.
1st round: Tech fall Colby Kloetzer (unt-North Dakota St.), 17-0, 2:19
2nd round: Major dec. Kyle Rosser (Lehigh), 10-0
Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 6 David Habat (Edinboro), 3-2
Consolation round of 8: Dec. by Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin), 1-0
Terrazas eliminated
149: Caleb Ervin (unattached), Fr., Morganfield, Ky.
1st round: Pinned No. 9 Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern) 4:17
2nd round: Dec. No. 8 Steve Robertson (Penn), 3-2
Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 1 Mario Mason (Rutgers), 4-1
Consolation round of 8: Dec. by Mike Kelly (Iowa), 9-3
Ervin eliminated
174: Jordan Blanton (No. 3 seed), R-Jr., Richmond, Ill.
1st round: Pinned Ian Korb (Penn), 2:42
2nd round: Tech fall Nolan McBryde (Oklahoma), 27-12, 6:19
Quarterfinals: Dec. No. 6 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 5-4
Semifinals: Dec. by No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 8-6
Consolation semifinals: Major dec. Tanner Weatherman (unt-Iowa State) 15-7
Third place: Dec. No. 7 John Cannon (unt-Buffalo) 5-4
Blanton - 3rd place
184: Tony Dallago (No. 6 seed), R-So., Harrisburg, Pa.
1st round: Dec. by Erich Smith (Penn), 8-5
Consolation round of 16: Major dec. Steven Cressley (Clarion), 10-1
Consolation round of 8: Dec. Mike Curby (Eastern Michigan), 7-4
Consolation round of 8: Dec. by Vinnie Wagner (Iowa), 9-5
Dallago eliminated
197: Mario Gonzalez (No. 8 seed), R-So., Aurora, Ill.
1st round: Major dec. John Gusewelle (North Dakota St.), 15-5
2nd round: Dec. No. 9 Alex Thomas (Clarion), 14-9
Quarterfinals: Dec. by No. 1 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro), 5-2
Consolation round of 8: Dec. by John Schoen (Northwestern), 7-5 (SV)
Gonzalez eliminated
