HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Four Panthers advanced to semifinals, four Panthers remain in the consolation brackets and the Panthers are in second place at the Midlands Championships at Sears Centre Arena in the Chicagoland Arena.
Taylor Lujan picked up a pair of wins in the first two rounds at 184 before advancing to the semifinal with a 7-3 win over Wisconsin’s Johnny Sebastian in the quarters. He will face fifth-seeded Andrew Morgan from Campbell in the semifinal bout.
At 149, Max Thomsen picked up the technical fall in his first bout 16-0. He won his round of 16 bout 9-2 before earning the 4-3 win over SIUE’s Tyshawn Williams in the quarters. He will face Iowa’s Pat Lugo in the semifinal.
At 174, Bryce Steiert allowed just two points in three matches so far. He picked up a tech fall win 16-1 in his first match, before earning a 9-1 major decision in the round of 16. In the semifinals, he picked up a 4-0 win over Victor Marcelli from the University of Virginia. He will face Joey Gunther from Illinois in the semifinals.
At 285, Carter Isley picked up a 10-1 major decision in the opening round before winning his round of 16 bout 3-2. He topped Campbell’s Jere Heino 8-3 in the quarters to advance to the semifinal. He will face Anthony Cassioppi in the final.
Michael Blockhus advanced to the quarterfinals at 141 with a pair of Major Decisions in the round of 64 and the rounds of 32. He fell to Ohio’s Shakur Laney 3-1 in the quarters enters the second consolation round of eight.
Jay Schwarm dropped his round of 16 boutat 125 but picked up a pair of falls in his next two matches to advance to the second consolation round of eight.
Jack Skudlarczyk (133) and Austin Yant (165) both fell in their opening round matches, but battled through the consolation bracket and are one win away from the medal bouts in the second consolation round of eight.
The Panthers have 69.5 points on the board, second to Iowa and one point ahead of third-place Wisconsin. Iowa has 10 wrestlers still alive in the medal semifinals and four in the consolation brackets.
The tournament continues tomorrow at 12 p.m. with the championship matches scheduled for the 7 p.m. session.
