Zillmer Takes Fourth, Rodriguez Fifth & Knutson Sixth at Midlands Championships
July 19, 2020 | News | No Comments
EVANSTON, Ill.—North Dakota State University 184-pound Hayden Zillmer placed fourth at the 52nd annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships that concluded Tuesday, Dec. 30, at Northwestern University’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. NDSU’s 125 Josh Rodriguez placed fifth and 285 Evan Knutson sixth at the two-day event.
North Dakota State with 45.5 points placed ninth in the Midlands Championships team standings. Iowa won the tournament with 189 points, while Illinois was second at 130.5 and Northwestern was third with 106 points.
Zillmer, a junior from Crosby, Minn. (Crosby Ironton HS), lost his opening match Tuesday by the score of 7-5 to 2nd-ranked Lorenzo Thomas of Penn. He rebounded with a 4-0 decision over 20th-ranked Nikko Reyes of Illinois, but lost 3-1 to Iowa’s 8th-ranked Sam Brooks. The 10th-ranked Zillmer went 3-2 at the Midlands to improve to 21-4 overall. He is 14-6 in three trips to Evanston.
Rodriguez, a sophomore from Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti HS), bounced back from two losses to pin a 9-2 decision on Brown’s Billy Watterson in the fifth place match. He defeated Watterson for the second time in two days and for the third time this season. Rodriguez lost his first match to Virginia Tech’s 6th-ranked Joey Dance 7-1 and fell to Dance for the third time this year. He then lost 3-1 to Kory Mines of Edinboro. The 14th-ranked Rodriguez went 4-2 at the Midlands and now stands 10-5 on the season.
Knutson, a senior from Wausau, Wis. (Wausau West HS), split in four matches coming through the consolation bracket to place sixth. He posted a 5-2 decision over Warren Bosch of Edinboro, and then outlasted 18th-ranked Jake Henderson of Old Dominion for a 3-1 overtime sudden victory-1. Knutson dropped a 5-2 decision to 5th-ranked Connor Medbery of Wisconsin, and lost 1-0 to unattached-Maryland’s Dawson Peck. He went 4-3 at the Midlands and is 15-7 on the season. The 13th-ranked Knutson was 9-9 in four trips to the tournament.
Midlands Results
View More College News
Click Here: Rugby league Jerseys
