EVANSTON, Ill. -- Redshirt freshman Emilio Saavedra, who entered the tournament as the No. 13 seed, became ODU’s second-ever Midlands Champion after scoring a takedown 18 seconds into the second sudden victory period to defeat Northern Iowa’s No. 18 Josh Alber, 4-2 2OT, in the 133 lb. final Wednesday night. The Monarchs finished in seventh place out of 38 teams with 63.5 points, as four Monarchs placed in the top eight in their respective weight classes.
“We are extremely proud of Emilio Saavedra,” head coach Steve Martin commented. “He wrestles very hard, gets his opponents tired and breaks them. He beat a two-time All-American last night and three top-20 guys this tournament. This was a huge stepping-stone for him and should help his confidence tremendously. Richardson had a very good tournament and lost a very controversial overtime match against an NCAA Champion in the semis. Mecate did not have his best tournament, but his bracket was loaded with All-Americans and he ran into a few highly ranked wrestlers in the consolations. Jeske wrestled in all of his matches and had a lot of scoring opportunities, and we were pleased with his effort. We were a little disappointed in the team outcome, but we come to Midlands because it’s as close as you can get to the NCAA Championships in terms of top-level competition. This tournament exposed some areas we need to work on from a physical, mental and technical standpoint.”
Saavedra, who reached the finals via a medical forfeit over Iowa’s Cory Clark in the semifinal round Wednesday morning, traded escapes with No. 18 Josh Alber in the second and third period of the 133 lb. final bout, sending the battle for the coveted Midlands crown to overtime. After no points were scored and each wrestler earned an escape in the first set of tiebreakers, Saavedra countered a throw-by attempt by Alber to earn a takedown and seal the championship match, 4-2 2OT. For the tournament, the freshman from Modesto, California went 5-0 and defeated the No. 14, No. 17 and No. 18 ranked wrestlers en route to the title.
Alexander Richardson battled former NCAA Champion and second-ranked Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern in the semis but fell by a 3-1 OT decision Wednesday morning. In the consolation semifinal, Richardson led Rider’s All-American BJ Clagon in the second period before Clagon suffered an injury and was forced to default. In the third place bout, Richardson was defeated by Nebraska’s No. 7 Jake Sueflohn to finish in fourth.
At 125, Brandon Jeske started day two of the Midlands with a bang, as the junior from Virginia Beach registered a 16-0 tech fall over Ben Gillette of South Dakota State. Jeske dropped his consolation quarterfinal bout to Kris Williams of Nebraska and then fell to Purdue’s Ben Thornton, 6-4, to claim eighth place.
Redshirt senior Chris Mecate guaranteed himself a top-eight finish Wednesday morning by defeating South Dakota State’s Seth Gross, 4-3. In the next round, Mecate surrendered a takedown late in the third period to Rutgers’ second-ranked Anthony Ashnault to lose 4-3. For seventh place, Mecate fell to All-American Rick Durso of Franklin & Marshall by a 3-1 decision to claim eighth place.
The Monarchs’ Austin Coburn fell one win shy of a top-eight finish, falling to Princeton’s No. 13 Brett Harner by a 6-2 tiebreaker decision.
Alex Madrigal and Jack Dechow medical forfeited out of the tournament in the consolation round of 12 Wednesday morning at 125 and 184, respectively.
The ODU Monarchs are back in action January 8-9 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Virginia.
COMPLETE ODU RESULTS (DAY 2)
Cons. Round 4 - Ben Thornton (Purdue) won by medical forfeit over Alex Madrigal (Old Dominion) (MFF)
Cons. Round 4 - Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) won by tech fall over Ben Gillette (South Dakota State) (TF 16-0)
Cons. Round 5 - Kris Williams (Nebraska) won by tech fall over Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) (TF 18-2)
7th Place Match - Ben Thornton (Purdue) won by decision over Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) (Dec 6-4)
Semifinal - Emilio Saavedra (Old Dominion) won by medical forfeit over Cory Clark (Iowa) (MFF)
1st Place Match - Emilio Saavedra (Old Dominion) won in sudden victory - 2 over Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) (SV-2 4-2)
Cons. Round 6 - Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) won by decision over Seth Gross (South Dakota State) (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 7 - Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) won by decision over Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) (Dec 4-3)
7th Place Match - Rick Durso (Franklin & Marshall) won by decision over Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) (Dec 3-1)
Semifinal - Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) won in sudden victory - 1 over Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion) (SV-1 3-1)
Cons. Semi - Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion) won by injury default over Bryant Clagon (Rider) (Inj. 3:53)
3rd Place Match - Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) won by major decision over Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion) (Maj 10-1)
Cons. Round 6 - Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) won by medical forfeit over Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) (MFF)
Cons. Round 4 - Brett Harner (Princeton) won in tie breaker - 1 over Austin Coburn (Old Dominion) (TB-1 6-2)
VOUCHER BOOKS
Take advantage of the great offer to attend ODU wrestling matches through the ODU Wrestling Season Ticket Voucher Book available online here. Voucher books can also be purchased at the gate prior to any home event. Each voucher book contains 12 vouchers. These vouchers are good for any regular season ODU home wrestling match during the 2015-2016 season.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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