Brandon Sorensen is one of five Hawkeyes to advance to the semifinals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)EVANSTON, Illinois -- The University of Iowa advanced five wrestlers to the semifinal round of the Midlands Championship on Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Hawkeyes went 5-4 during quarterfinal competition with both top-seeded wrestlers, Thomas Gilman (125) and Brandon Sorensen (149), recording bonus-point wins.
Iowa leads the team race with 85.5 points, followed by Nebraska (78.5), Rutgers (64.5), Arizona State (62.5), Illinois (58.5), and NC State (55).
Gilman, a two-time and defending Midlands champion, continued to rack up bonus points for the Hawkeyes, delivering a 23-7 technical fall over eighth-seeded Lucas Malmberg (Messiah). It is Gilman's sixth tech fall of the season and 12th consecutive win overall.
Sorensen, the defending champion at 149, secured his place in the semifinals with a 12-4 major decision over Ryan Deakin (unat. Northwestern). The win cements Sorensen as the ninth Hawkeye included in the prestigious 20-in-4 club, an honor for those wrestlers who achieve 20 or more wins at the Midlands Championships over four years.
At 157, second-seeded Michael Kemerer continued his drive towards the championships with an 11-2 major decision over Purdue's Alex Griffin. The win was Kemerer's third bonus-point win of the day and secured him a place in the semifinals facing third-seeded Jason Tsirtsis (unat. Arizona State).
Alex Meyer earned his second Midlands semifinal berth in as many years after tallying an 11-2 victory over Harvard's Josef Johnson. He is set to face No. 3 seed Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) for the second time this season. Meyer defeated Weatherspoon a 5-3 on Dec. 10 and is 2-0 all-time against the Cyclone.
Third-seeded Sam Stoll advanced to his second consecutive semifinals appearance after posting a 6-2 decision over No. 6 seed Ross Larson (Oklahoma).
Topher Carton (141), Kaleb Young (165), Alex Marinelli (165), and Sammy Brooks (184) dropped quarterfinal matches and will compete Friday in the consolation round. Phillip Laux (133), Joey Gunther (165), and Cash Wilcke (184) lost consolation matches Thursday night and were eliminated from the tournament.
Session III of the Midlands Championships is set to begin at 12 p.m. (CT) Friday. Updated team standings and complete tournament brackets are available throughout the tournament at nusports.com and on trackwrestling.com.
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