Midland Wrestlers Wrap Up First Half Schedule

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – In its final competition before the Christmas break, Midland University faced stiff competition at the North Central Invitational on Saturday inside the Residence Hall/Recreation Center on the campus of North Central College. Out of 12 Warrior wrestlers, only two recorded multiple victories in bracket competition.

At 125 pounds, Kaydon Mueller dropped a close opening-round match to Chandler Gardner of Illinois Wesleyan by a 10-9 decision. After receiving a bye in the first round of consolation, Mueller fell to Davion Johnson of North Central by technical fall, 20-4.

In the 149-pound division, Zion Amerson won his preliminary bout against Colton Davis of Eureka, 11-4. He then lost in the first championship round to Jaiden Moore of Coe by technical fall, 18-3. Amerson rebounded in the first round of consolation with an 18-0 technical fall win over Dominick Paul of Wabash. His day ended in the second round of consolation with a 17-8 loss to Andrew Ross of Wabash.

At 157 pounds, Francisco Duran and Tyren Schaefer both took to the mat. Duran lost his opening-round match to Nolan Flores of North Central by fall at 6:29 and was eliminated in the first round of consolation after being pinned by Ethan Ballweber of Augsburg at 3:56. Schaefer fell to Braeden Stallworth of Baldwin Wallace, 6-2, in the championship round but bounced back in consolation with a 13-8 win over Ethan Onan of Concordia Wisconsin. Schaefer's tournament ended in the second round of consolation with a 19-4 technical fall loss to Flores.

Two Warriors competed in the 165-pound bracket. McKayde Clevenger went 0-2, losing to Apollo Ashby of Augsburg by fall at 1:23 in the opening round and to Caleb Rojas of Castleton by fall at 3:41 in consolation. Logan Millikan also went 0-2, falling to Mawuli Nevis of Wabash by technical fall, 15-0, in round one and to Giovanni Diaz of North Central by technical fall, 17-2, in consolation.

In the 184-pound division, Colton Horne and Treyton Tweton each recorded a win. Horne lost his first match to Patrick Moore of Wisconsin-Whitewater by fall at 1:45 but rebounded in consolation with a pin over Keaton Wilhelm of Blackburn at 2:31. His run ended in the third round of consolation with a loss to Garrett Iobe of Albion by fall at 2:10. Tweton also went 1-2. He lost to Austin Gomez of Coe by fall at 2:09, then pinned Zach Wagner of Wabash in 5:33 during consolation. Tweton's day concluded with a 17-2 technical fall loss to Gavin Kohel of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

At 197 pounds, Ryan Kocovsky and Collin Stone represented Midland. Kocovsky opened with a 5-2 win over Elvis Muja of Carthage College but lost in the next round to Jacob Schimek of Augsburg by fall in 48 seconds. He was eliminated in the second round of consolation by Dominic Pagen of Baldwin Wallace in a 4-0 decision. Stone went 0-2, losing to Diego Fuentes of Carthage College, 5-0, in the opening round and to Elijah Brockie of North Central by fall at 2:07 in consolation.

The Warriors closed out the day with two competitors in the 285-pound division. Remington Gay earned an opening-round win over Spencer Watson of Wabash, 12-5, but lost in the second round to Peyton Smith of Concordia Wisconsin by major decision, 11-2. Gay was eliminated in the second round of consolation with a 7-5 loss to Hunter Gorecki of Augsburg. Zeph Sivels made an impressive run in consolation, earning five consecutive victories to claim the first-place consolation title. After losing his opening-round match to Evan Day of Castleton, 6-2, Sivels defeated Weston Swise of Eureka by fall in 38 seconds, Russell Coil of Coe by fall at 1:24, and Hunter Gorecki of Augsburg by fall at 1:31. He added another pin over Jagger Schack of Augsburg at 1:42 and capped off his day with a 6-3 sudden victory over Mason Kochersperger of Carthage College.

The Warriors will return to action after the holiday break at the Hastings Open on January 11. Matches are set to begin at 9:00 a.m. in Hastings, Nebraska.