Broncs Competing in Midlands
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Rider wrestling team will travel to the Midwest this week to take part in the 49th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University.
The Midlands takes place December 29-30 at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. It is the most prestigious amateur wrestling event in the nation, featuring the best collegiate and post-graduate wrestlers along with Olympic hopefuls. "That's why we come here," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.
The Midlands tournament committee announced the top contenders for this year's event, ranking eight in each weight class with four "other contenders".
"We are very excited about competing in the upcoming Midlands Championships," said associate head coach John Hangey. "It is an extremely tough tournament with several Top 20 teams and individuals represented. It is considered a mid season NCAA caliber tournament, which provides us the necessary competition to measure where our kids stand again the best in the country at the middle of the year. "
For the Broncs, junior Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest) was ranked sixth in his 174 pound weight class. Resnick is 11-2 and has won his weight class at both the Keystone Classic and the Binghamton Open this year. He is currently ranked 17th in the nation.
Jimmy Kirchner was ranked as a contender at 141 as was Zac Cibula at 149,
Kirchner is 12-5 this season, 4-1 in duals, and placed runner-up at the Keystone Classic. Last year at Midlands Kirchner won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinals.
Cibula was the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Championships Most Outstanding Performer but has been limited to just two matches this year due to injury. Cibula went 2-2 at Midlands last year.
Other Broncs who will going up against the toughest competition in the nation will be sophomore 125 Chuck Zeisloft (Woodbury Heights, N.J./Gateway), sophomore heavyweight Evan Craig (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights), sophomore 165 James Brundage (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining).
Zeisloft is 10-5 on the season and placed third in the Keystone Classic this year.
Craig owns a 9-6 overall record and placed fourth at Keystone.
Brundage has compiled nine wins this season and placed third at Keystone.
The Broncs placed 29th of 47 teams at Midlands last year.
The official seeding for the Midlands will be announced Thursday.
The Broncs are currently ranked 14th in the nation among Mid Majors.
"The Mid-Major ranking is new this year and we are pleased to be ranked among the best schools in the country that do not offer BCS football," Hangey said. "We have been competing with major Universities both individually and as a team since the inception of the program and have had a great deal of success. It is nice to have a measurement based on some more like similarities to show how hard our kids work and receive the type of exposure they deserve."
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