Evanston, Ill. will be the center of collegiate wrestling this week as Northwestern hosts the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, which is often considered to be the premier amateur-wrestling tournament during the season.
IU will be one of more than 40 schools competing in the prestigious tournament. These schools include 26 Division 1 schools, seven of which hail from the Big Ten.
No. 22 IU is also one of the 14 nationally ranked schools in a deep field of talented wrestlers.
IU's five ranked wrestlers--seniors Adam Chalfant and Ryan LeBlanc, juniors Taylor Walsh and Luke Sheridan and sophomore Eric Roach--will be a small portion of the 117 projected NCAA qualifiers competing in the tournament. No weight class has less than nine projected qualifiers.
Walsh will continue his dominant pin streak as his 18 falls place him one away from the school record.
Another interesting note is that IU Assistant Coach Nick Simmons has won this tournament three times during his collegiate career at Michigan State.
Midlands begins Dec. 29 and will finish up on Dec. 30. The finals will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network beginning at 9 P.M.
-Brody Miller
