TheMidlandsChampionships.com

UPDATED (Tuesday, 8:45 p.m.)
 

EVANSTON, Ill. – Southern Oregon's Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) was slowed down Tuesday in the 174-pound semifinals of the 52nd annual Midlands Championships by top-seeded Mike Evans of the University of Iowa at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Gutches, the No. 7 seed in the 174-pound bracket, battled Evans to a scoreless stalemate through one period before Evans used his considerable strength to claim a 4-0 win.

Evans – a two-time NCAA All-American and the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds in the NCAA, according to InterMat Wrestling – went on to defend his Midlands title with a 2-1 win over second-seeded Zac Brunson of Illinois in the championship match.

Gutches began the day with an 18-1 record after rolling to the semifinals Monday with four consecutive wins. Following the loss to Evans, he was slated to wrestle in the consolation bracket with a shot at third place but was instructed by Raiders coach Mike Ritchey to default instead of risk injury with the upcoming NAIA-NWCA Dual Championships in mind.

Gutches went home with sixth place a year after placing fourth. SOU, which brought four wrestlers, accumulated 15.5 points to finish 28th of 59 teams.

Iowa won the team race with 189 points, and Illinois was second with 130.5.

FROM MONDAY:

EVANSTON, Ill. – Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) positioned himself for another historic finish at the 52nd annual Midlands Championships with four straight wins Monday on the first day of action at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Southern Oregon's 174-pounder will meet top-seeded Mike Evans of the University of Iowa during Tuesday's first session, which begins at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. The finals are slated to start at 5 p.m.

Gutches, seeded No. 7 after placing fourth at the 2013 Midlands Championships, started the day with a pin of Wisconsin's Ben Cox in 4:29. He defeated Princeton's Troy Murtha in the round of 32, 5-1, before reaching the quarterfinals with a pin of Brown's Richard McDonald in 2:29. Gutches won quarterfinal match against Indiana's Nate Jackson, the No. 8 seed, by a 4-2 decision.

He'll put an 18-1 record on the line against Evans, who is a two-time NCAA All-American and won the Midlands' 174-pound bracket last year. Meeting in the other semifinal are second-seeded Zac Brunson of Illinois and 10th-seeded John Sebastian of Northwestern.

Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) and Ryan McWatters (Hesperia, Calif./Sultana) picked up consolation wins for the Raiders. At 157, Urrutia lost by fall in the first round against Cal State Bakersfield's Spencer Hill but bounced back with a 6-1 triumph over Souther Illinois Edwardsville's Erik Travers. His run ended in the next round when Penn's Brooks Martino pinned him in 2:42.

McWatters' 7-4 win over Purdue's Tanner Lynde in the 184-pound consolation bracket was bookended by a first-round 12-3 loss against Penn's Lorenzo Thomas and a controversial 7-6 consolation loss to ninth-seeded Nikko Reyes of Illinois.

Tyler Cowger (Sweet Home, Ore./Sweet Home) went down by major decision and fall in his two matches.

149

Championship Round 2 – C.J. Cobb, Penn, maj. dec. Tyler Cowger (Sweet Home, Ore./Sweet Home), SOU, 13-4

Consolation Round 3 – Kyle Langenderfer, Illinois, p. Tyler Cowger (Sweet Home, Ore./Sweet Home), SOU, 3:12

157

Championship Round 1 – Spencer Hill, CSU Bakersfield, p. Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon), SOU, 0:57.

Consolation Round 2 – Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon), SOU, dec. Erik Travers, SIU-Edwardsville, 6-1

Consolation Round 3 – Brooks Martino, Penn, p. Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon), SOU, 2:42

174

Championship Round 1 – Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater), SOU, p. Ben Cox, Wisconsin, 4:29

Championship Round 2 – Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater), SOU, dec. Troy Murtha, Princeton, 5-1

Championship Round 3 – Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater), SOU, p. Richard McDonald, Brown, 2:29

Quarterfinals – Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater), SOU, dec. Nate Jackson, Indiana, 4-2

184

Championship Round 2 – Lorenzo Thomas, Penn, maj. dec. Ryan McWatters (Hesperia, Calif./Sultana), SOU, 12-3

Consolation Round 2 – Ryan McWatters (Hesperia, Calif./Sultana), SOU, dec. Tanner Lynde, Purdue, 7-4

Consolatinon Round 3 – Nikki Reyes, Illinois, dec. Ryan McWatters (Hesperia, Calif./Sultana), SOU, 7-6