Saturday, December 30
Hoffman Estates, IL / NOW Arena
All Day
at
Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Photo by: Sam Janicki
Romney's Third Place Finish Caps Historic Final Day for Mustangs at Midlands
12/30/2023 9:30:00 PM | Wrestling
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The Cal Poly wrestling program capped off an incredible showing at the 59th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Saturday as redshirt freshman Zeth Romney captured third place at 133 pounds to lead three Mustang placers — a program record at the event.
Romney's third place finish is the second highest individual finish by a Mustang ever at Midlands, and the best since Boris Novachkov won the 141-pound title in 2010.
With 44 points, Cal Poly placed 13th as a team — its second highest finish in program history at the Midlands Championships.
Redshirt sophomore Trevor Tinker (285 pounds) secured sixth and graduate student Adam Kemp eighth in their respective weight classes to round out Cal Poly's placers at the tournament.
Romney, Kemp, Tinker and redshirt sophomore Cole Jackson all wrestled for Cal Poly on the final day of the tourney, and each left it all on the mat.
After a perfect 3-0 opening day, Romney drew fourth-seeded Dylan Shawver, the 26th-ranked 133-pounder in the nation, in his semifinal bout. He fell by a 8-5 decision, but responded with a pair of upset victories, downing No. 27 Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall) by a 10-1 major decision in the consolation semifinals and No. 8 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) by a 16-3 major decision in the third-place match. The Simi Valley, Calif. native and 31st-ranked wrestler posted a 5-1 mark at the tournament to improve to 12-5 on the season. At Midlands, Romney won three matches over opponents ranked higher than him in the national rankings.
Tinker, who posted a 3-0 record during his first action of the season Friday, dropped his semifinal match to top seeded and ninth-ranked Luke Luffman from Illinois. He then suffered an injury in his consolation semifinal bout and was forced to medically forfeit his fifth-place match, finishing sixth at 285 pounds with a 3-2 mark.
After falling in his quarterfinal bout Friday night via sudden victory, Kemp bounced back with an 8-2 decision in the blood round to guarantee himself a placing position at the tournament. He lost his next bout by injury default and medically forfeited the seventh-place match to grab eighth at 174 pounds with a 4-2 record.
Jackson capped off an impressive showing at the tournament by putting up quite the fight against No. 6 seed Jacob Bullock in the blood round at 285 pounds, falling 8-4. He finished one victory short of placing at the tournament with a 2-2 mark.
Battling some of the best wrestlers and teams in the country at Midlands, Cal Poly — 24th in the latest edition of the FloWrestling Team Tournament rankings — proved they were up for the challenge and never backed down.
Cal Poly redshirt sophomore Abe Hinrichsen was named The Elias, John & Pete George Sportsmanship Award winner, which is voted on by the tournament's officials and given to just one male wrestler at the event.
The Mustangs return home to host a pair of duals against American University and Northern Colorado on Friday, Jan. 12 at the Mott Athletics Center. The duals are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Cal Poly Results Day 2
133
Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) d. Zeth Romney, 8-5
Zeth Romney md. Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall), 10-1
Zeth Romney md. Michael Colaiocco (Penn), 16-3
174
Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) d. Jared Stricker (UW-Eau Claire), 8-2
Brody Conley (West Virginia) injury default over Adam Kemp, 4:30
Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) mf. Adam Kemp
285
Luke Luffman (Illinois) d. Trevor Tinker, 8-1
Jimmy Mullen (Virginia Tech) f. Trevor Tinker, 4:04
Daulton Mayer (Thomas More) mf. Trevor Tinker
Josh Terrill (Michigan State) d. Cole Jackson, 8-4
Romney's third place finish is the second highest individual finish by a Mustang ever at Midlands, and the best since Boris Novachkov won the 141-pound title in 2010.
With 44 points, Cal Poly placed 13th as a team — its second highest finish in program history at the Midlands Championships.
Redshirt sophomore Trevor Tinker (285 pounds) secured sixth and graduate student Adam Kemp eighth in their respective weight classes to round out Cal Poly's placers at the tournament.
Romney, Kemp, Tinker and redshirt sophomore Cole Jackson all wrestled for Cal Poly on the final day of the tourney, and each left it all on the mat.
After a perfect 3-0 opening day, Romney drew fourth-seeded Dylan Shawver, the 26th-ranked 133-pounder in the nation, in his semifinal bout. He fell by a 8-5 decision, but responded with a pair of upset victories, downing No. 27 Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall) by a 10-1 major decision in the consolation semifinals and No. 8 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) by a 16-3 major decision in the third-place match. The Simi Valley, Calif. native and 31st-ranked wrestler posted a 5-1 mark at the tournament to improve to 12-5 on the season. At Midlands, Romney won three matches over opponents ranked higher than him in the national rankings.
Tinker, who posted a 3-0 record during his first action of the season Friday, dropped his semifinal match to top seeded and ninth-ranked Luke Luffman from Illinois. He then suffered an injury in his consolation semifinal bout and was forced to medically forfeit his fifth-place match, finishing sixth at 285 pounds with a 3-2 mark.
After falling in his quarterfinal bout Friday night via sudden victory, Kemp bounced back with an 8-2 decision in the blood round to guarantee himself a placing position at the tournament. He lost his next bout by injury default and medically forfeited the seventh-place match to grab eighth at 174 pounds with a 4-2 record.
Jackson capped off an impressive showing at the tournament by putting up quite the fight against No. 6 seed Jacob Bullock in the blood round at 285 pounds, falling 8-4. He finished one victory short of placing at the tournament with a 2-2 mark.
Battling some of the best wrestlers and teams in the country at Midlands, Cal Poly — 24th in the latest edition of the FloWrestling Team Tournament rankings — proved they were up for the challenge and never backed down.
Cal Poly redshirt sophomore Abe Hinrichsen was named The Elias, John & Pete George Sportsmanship Award winner, which is voted on by the tournament's officials and given to just one male wrestler at the event.
The Mustangs return home to host a pair of duals against American University and Northern Colorado on Friday, Jan. 12 at the Mott Athletics Center. The duals are scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Cal Poly Results Day 2
133
Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) d. Zeth Romney, 8-5
Zeth Romney md. Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall), 10-1
Zeth Romney md. Michael Colaiocco (Penn), 16-3
174
Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) d. Jared Stricker (UW-Eau Claire), 8-2
Brody Conley (West Virginia) injury default over Adam Kemp, 4:30
Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) mf. Adam Kemp
285
Luke Luffman (Illinois) d. Trevor Tinker, 8-1
Jimmy Mullen (Virginia Tech) f. Trevor Tinker, 4:04
Daulton Mayer (Thomas More) mf. Trevor Tinker
Josh Terrill (Michigan State) d. Cole Jackson, 8-4
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