Air Force Academy
Midlands Championships
Air Force Wrestlers Complete Competition at Midlands Championships
12/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 30, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. - Led by senior captain Stephen Crozier (Monona, Iowa), the Air Force wrestling team wrapped up compeition Monday at the 46th-annual Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern. Six of the Falcons' nine wrestlers picked up wins on Monday, with Crozier pacing Air Force with three victories.
Crozier, wrestling at 165 pounds, got out to a strong start, pinning Arizona State's Kyle Deberry in a time of 4:08 to advance to the second round against second-seed Nick Marable of Missouri. Crozier came up short in a 13-6 loss to Marable, but picked up a win by technical fall against Lincoln College's David Dwyer in the consolation bracket, followed by a 6-3 decision over Rex Kendle of Michigan State. However, Crozier's day ended with a fall against Pitt's Ethan Headlee.
At 157 pounds, sophomore Joseph Stafford (Loomis, Calif.) won his opening bout, registering a 16-0 technical fall over Harrison Krebs of the Illinois State Wrestling Club. After falling to Iowa's Matt Ballweg in the second round, Stafford advanced in the consolation bracket with a medical forfeit over Brandon Wright of Tennessee-Chattanooga. However, Stafford's day ended with a 10-2 loss versus Noomis Jones of Adams State.
Junior Tyler French (Malta, Mont.), wrestling at 174 pounds, dropped his first bout of the day, falling to Northwestern's Robert Kellogg. French then picked up his first win of the tournament in the consolation bracket, pinning Cleveland State's J.T. Miller in a time of 6:35. French also registered an 8-4 decision over Michigan State's Curran Jacobs, but dropped a 7-3 decision to Ben Harris of Oregon State to conclude the tournament.
Three other Air Force wrestlers all picked up wins on the opening day of competition, with Andrew Zwirlein (So., Nashotah, Wis.), Alec Williams (Fr., Birmingham, Ala.) and Josh Larson (So., Windsor, Colo.) all going 1-2 during the tournament.
Zwirlein, wrestling at 125 pounds, fell to third-seed James Nicholson of Old Dominion in his opening bout, but rebounded with a 7-5 decision over Anderson's C.J. Hamilton in the consolation bracket. He then ended his day with a 7-2 loss to Kyle Gilchrist of Columbia.
Williams, representing the Falcons at 149 pounds, won his first bout, a 4-2 sudden victory decision over Northern Illinois' Will McDermott. He then lost his next match, a tech fall against seventh-seed Heinrich Barnes of Oregon State, while dropping a 13-4 major decision to Harper's Nate Stedaker in the consolation bracket.
Larson, the Falcons' heavyweight wrestler, lost his first match, falling to eighth-seeded Nick Erekson of Iowa. He picked up a medical forfeit victory in the consolation bracket over VMI's Leon Barrow, before ending his day with a 15-3 loss to Mike Tamillow of the Wildcat Wrestling Club.
Also competing for the Falcons at the Midlands Championships were Stephen Makuka (Jr., Columbus, N.J.), Sterling Tribble (Sr., Midwest City, Okla.) and James Ciccone (Jr., Mentor, Ohio), wrestling at 141, 184 and 197 pounds, respectively.
Air Force returns to action this Saturday, Jan. 3, when it heads to Grand Prairie, Texas, for the annual Lone Star Duals. The Falcons open up competition at 8:00 a.m. (CT) versus Appalachian State, followed by a 12:00 p.m. bout with Brown and a 4:00 p.m. match-up with seventh-ranked Minnesota.
Players Mentioned
