Sunday evening's finals will air live on the Big Ten Network, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
Dec. 28, 2012
NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 11/14 Oklahoma wrestling squad travels to Evanston, Ill., to close 2012 at the 50th-annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30 at the Welsh-Ryan Arena, hosted by Northwestern University.
Sunday evening's finals will air live on the Big Ten Network, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
The Sooners (4-3) hit the mat after two weekends of rest with five nationally-ranked wrestlers: Cody Brewer (133), Kendric Maple (141), Nick Lester (149), Matt Lester (157) and Bubby Graham (165).
Maple returns with the top-seed out of all 141-pounders after the redshirt junior picked up back-to-back conference honors on Dec. 10, and remains undefeated on the season with a 10-0 record and 6-0 mark in dual competition.
Bubby Graham rounds out the top-five of all 165-pounders, and is followed by freshman Cody Brewer who takes the No. 9 spot in the 133-pound weight class. The Lester brothers, Nick and Matt, lie right out of the top-10 at No. 11 (149) and No. 12 (157), respectively.
Oklahoma finished third overall with 94.5 points, and claimed one individual champion title among a talented field at last year's event. Iowa ran away with the 2011 title after it tallied 152 points. Northwestern placed second with 105.5 points, while Virginia Tech (76.5) and Edinboro (74.5) rounded out the top five.
Maple claimed OU's lone individual championship at the 2011 Midlands Championship after he downed Iowa's No. 1-seeded Montell Marion, 5-3. In addition to OU's 141-pound champion, five other Sooners - Jarod Patterson (fifth), Nick Lester (fourth), Matt Lester (fifth), Bubby Graham (sixth) and Erich Schmidtke (fifth) - claimed top-six finishes among their respective weight classes.
This year's field includes more than 30 Division I teams, including 14 that placed in the top-25 at the 2012 NCAA Championships, along with an assortment of national champions and finalists from Division II and III programs, are participating in this historic event. A complete list of participating teams can be found here.
There are several newcomers to Midlands this year. Michigan, who won the first edition of the tournament in 1963, returns for the first time since 2002. Oregon State, North Carolina and Binghamton were also added to the 50th anniversary field while former Big 12 member Nebraska returns after a year absence.
Tickets to the 50th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, which takes place Saturday, Dec. 29-Sunday, Dec. 30, are available now by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
| Probable Participants |
Hometown (Year) |
2012-13 Overall Record |
| Kyle Garcia (125) |
Chocktaw, Okla. (Fr.) |
7-5 |
| Cody Brewer(133) |
Kansas City, Mo. (RFr.) |
11-2 |
| Scott Chene(133) |
Irvine, Calif. (RSr.) |
4-4 |
| Kendric Maple(141) |
Wichita, Kan. (RJr.) |
10-0 |
| Nick Lester(149) |
St.Louis Mo. (RJe.) |
7-4 |
| Chase Gordon(149) |
Oviedo, Fla. (RSo.) |
7-3 |
| Matt Lester (157) |
St. Louis, Mo. (RJr.) |
7-2 |
| Justin DeAngelis(157) |
Tulsa, Okla. (RSo.) |
9-1 |
| Bubby Graham (165) |
Annapolis, MD (RSr.) |
8-2 |
| Kyle Detmer(165) |
Wichita, Kan. (RJr.) |
7-2 |
| Matt Reed(174) |
Wichita, Kan. (Fr.) |
9-5 |
| Greg Wilson(184) |
Keller, Texas (Fr.) |
6-7 |
| Brad Johnson(197) |
Lockport, Ill. (Fr.) |
8-5 |
| Keldrick Hall(HWT) |
Dallas, Texas (Sr.) |
6-8 |
|
