What- Midlands Championships
Where- McGraw Hall, 2703 N. Ashland Ave, Evanston, IL 60208
When- 12/29 and 12/20
Watch- BTN
It’s been a long road of recovery, but sophomore heavyweight Sam Stoll is expected to be back in the lineup when the Iowa Hawkeyes take to the mat this week at the Midlands Championships. Stoll has missed the start of the 2016-17 season due to a knee injury he suffered last February in a dual against North Carolina State. Stoll continued to wrestle, going as far as qualifying for the 2016 NCAA championships in New York.
In his absence, redshirt freshman Steven Holloway has served as the Hawkeyes’ heavyweight posting a 5-3 record on the season. During his true freshman season Holloway competed at 197 pounds, and according to head coach Tom Brands’s preseason press conference the plan was for Holloway to cut back to 197 once Stoll was able to return. If that is still the case that would likely mean that Holloway would need several weeks to cut down to 197 to properly follow a weight descent plan.
This will be a huge boost for the Hawkeyes with Stoll being rated Trackwrestling’s No. 6 overall heavyweight. Stoll has also reportedly weighed in for each of the Hawkeyes last three duals (Purdue, SDSU, and Iowa State).
The other story here is that Stoll’s first competition back won’t be a walk in the park with as many as eight other ranked opponents expected to be at the Midlands, including No. 2 ranked Connor Medbery of Wisconsin. The entire ranked field shapes up as follows: No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), No. 6 Sam Stoll (Iowa), No. 8 Tanner Hall (Arizona State), No. 11 Brooks Black (Illinois), No. 14 Collin Jensen (Nebraska), No. 15 Ryan Solomon (Pittsburgh), No. 17 Raymond O’Donnell (Princeton), No. 19 Ross Larson (Oklahoma), No. 21 Garrett Ryan (Columbia), and No. 23 Michael Boykin (North Carolina State).
Full Iowa Hawkeyes Lineup Per Trackwrestling
125- Gilman, Thomas
133- Laux, Phillip
141- Carton, Christopher
149- Sorensen, Brandon
149- Glosser, Jerren
157- St. John, Skyler
157- Kemerer, Michael
165- Gunther, Joseph
165- Marinelli, Alex
165- Young, Kaleb
174- Meyer, Alex
184- Brooks, Sam
197- Wilcke, Cash
285- Holloway, Steven
285- Stoll, Sam
[…] Iowa Hawkeyes Midlands presents opportunity for Happel, Young, and Marinelli Iowa Roster for the Midlands Championships […]