Honestly, I am not entirely sure the first day of the Midlands Tournament could have gone much better for the Wrestling Tigers, as the still have five wrestlers very much alive in the championship brackets and another five alive in the consolation bracket (though only three will be scoring points for us).  In fact, the only thing that went wrong would appear to be us not counting Andrew Sherry at 149 pounds and missing out on a couple of team points.  And for the uninitiated, team points in this tournament are really not all that important, but still a nice feather in the team cap.  Right now, the team is sitting in 3rd place, behind powers Iowa and Iowa State.  Catching Iowa State would be a pretty nice accomplishment...but Iowa should run away with this thing.

Anyhoo...the next round does not start until noon, and results will very likely be sketchy and spotty again.  But as always, I will do my best.

125:  Troy Dolan had a pretty decent showing, going 2-2 on the day, which means his tournament time is done.  He seems to be progressing so he is not only winning, but is FAR more competitive in all his matches than he was to start the season.

133:  #19 ranked Todd Schavrien pulled one of the LARGE upsets on the day for the Tigers, as he was 8 seconds away from defeat before pulling a pin out against #14 ranked Conroy of Pitt.  This propelled Schavrien to a nice day which would get him to the quarters against #4 ranked/#2 seed Nick Fanthorpe of ISU.  A loss there knocked Schavrien to the consolation bracket, but a win in his first match this morning would guarantee him a top-8 finish.  He will face Flint Ray of Utah Valley out of the gate.

141: We talked yesterday about the real tough draw for #14 ranked Hoehn, who had to face #1 ranked/#2 seeded Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa.  A close 4-2 loss sent Hoehn straight to the consolation bracket, but he ripped off four straight wins and now stands one win away from a guaranteed top-8 finish.  For he and Scharvrien, who both came in without a top-8 seed, this would have to be considered a very nice finish.  Hoehn will wrestle Dan Leclare, his second Iowa wrestler of the tournament.

149: Andrew Sherry also faced a tough first patch against the #6 ranked/#2 seed Jake Patacsil and lost a 12-7 decision.  Sherry would get one win in the consolation bracket before losing again, finishing his tournament.

157: A really nice day for Mizzou wrestlers here, as Emanuel Brooks (wrestling un-attached, so his wins do not count towards the Mizzou point total) pulled off another Tiger upset, taking down the #5 seed Winston in his 2nd match of the day.  Though Brooks would go on to get pinned by the #16 ranked/#4 seed Welch, he stands one win away from a top-8 finish.  As for Mike Chandler, a dominating day where he only gave up 6 points and scored a tech fall and a win over the #18 wrestler.  He will have a semi-final match this afternoon against #5 ranked/#2 seed Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, continuing the long list of matches these two have had.  A win would get him to the finals (obviously), but also help Mizzou as they try to catch ISU in the standings.

165: #8 ranked/#2 seeded Nick Marable is the highest seed remaining in his weight class, as #2 ranked/#1 seed Moza Fay lost yesterday in the quarters.  For Marable, a high-scoring win, a pin and then his standard 3-1 win gave him a perfect first day.  Tough semi-final match against #3 ranked/#3 seed Ryan Morningstar of Iowa before potentially meeting #5 ranked/#4 seed Jon Reader of ISU in the finals.  Winning a title here is certainly possible, but quite the gauntlet of Iowa wrestlers to get through.

174: Another perfect first day for a Mizzou wrestler, as #4 ranked/#2 seed Raymond Jordan would score a pin and a major decision before a 5-2 win would push him to the semis this afternoon against #6 ranked/#3 seed Mike Cannon of American.  The buzz of the tourney is a possible finals between Jordan and #2 ranked/#1 seed Jay Borschel of Iowa, and that match-up is still very much in line.

184: The first real big-time tournament action for RS Frosh Dorian Henderson saw him with a tough draw against #4 seed/soon-to-be-ranked Umbehauer of Rider.  Henderson dropped a tough 9-6 decision and moved down to the consolation bracket where he bounced back well with two wins.  He will wrestle #16 ranked/#7 seed Jordan Blanton of Illinois first today for the right to finish top-8.  A win there would be a nice accomplishment for Henderson, but that will likely be a tough match.

197: Continuing to show the strength of the Mizzou lineup at the heavier weights, #4 ranked/#2 seed Max Askren was the most dominant Mizzou wrestler of the day, winning two tech falls and a major decision by the combined score of 41-5.  His day will start with a great match against #5 ranked/#3 seed Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin, and Askren will be eyeing a championship match against #1 ranked and seeded Jake Varner of ISU, who has not yet wrestled in the 2nd period at the tournament.

HWY: What a day for the big boys of the Tigers.  Dom Bradley, wrestling unattached, won a 3-2 decision over Eric Thompson, who was also unattached from Iowa State.  That got him a match against #2 ranked/#1 seed David Zabriskie, also of Iowa State.  All Bradley did was go out and win another 3-2 (this time in OT) match to score the major upset of the entire tournament.  Unfortunately, he would lose his next match in the quarters, so he sits in the consolation bracket needing 1 win for a top-8 finish.  He gets a real tough draw, a #5 ranked/#4 seed John Wise of Illinois was upset and will face him.  As for #3 ranked/#2 seed Mark Ellis, a quiet day scored him three easy wins, and he will face #16 ranked/#6 seed Rashard Goff, who upset #4 ranked/#3 seed Kyle Massey of Wisconsin yesterday.