EVANSTON, Ill.— North Dakota State University 184-pounder Hayden Zillmer stormed through the consolation bracket to finish third and 125-pounder Josh Rodriguez placed fourth during NDSU’s final day, Wednesday, Dec. 30, at the Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University’s in McGaw Hall. The Bison finished 17th in the team standings with 37.5 points.
North Dakota State (0-3, 0-0 Big 12) returns to action 8 p.m. Central on Friday, Jan. 15, at Boise State, and 3 p.m. Central on Sunday, Jan. 17, at Northern Colorado.
Zillmer, a senior from Crobsy, Minn. (Crosby-Ironton H.S.) bounced back from Tuesday night’s quarterfinal loss to Iowa’s 7th-ranked Sammy Brooks by reeling off three straight wins to reach the third place rematch with Brooks.
Coming out strong, Zillmer recorded a first period takedown and took a 2-1 advantage. Brooks gained an early escape, but Zillmer bulled his way to a pair of takedowns and led 6-3 entering the third period. He held off Brooks in the third and gained 1:09 of riding time for a 9-5 win. Zillmer improved to 2-3 against nationally-ranked opponents this season.
Zillmer started the afternoon defeating Ohio University’s Andrew Romanchik 6-0. He recorded a takedown with 14-seconds left in the first period to gain a 2-0 lead. Zillmer added an escape and takedown to build the lead to 5-0 in the second. He kept the top position for the entire third period and accumulated 2:38 of riding time.
A takedown with 5-seconds left in the third period was the difference in Zillmer’s 4-3 win over Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia. Scoreless after one period, Zillmer started the second with an escape, but Valencia countered with a takedown with 1:16 remaining. Zillmer quickly tied things at 2-2 with an escape. Valencia took a 3-2 lead 8-seconds into the third, holding off Zillmer until the waning moments.
Zillmer recorded his fifth pin of the season at 5:28 against Princeton’s 16th-ranked Abram Ayala. It was Zillmer’s first win over a nationally-ranked opponent in four tries this season. He built a 6-0 lead midway in the third period before closing out with the fall.
The 12th-ranked Zillmer is a four-time placewinner at the Midlands Championships and compiled a 19-7 record in four trips to Evanston. He went 6-1 at the Midlands and improved to 21-3 this season. Zillmer matched his best finish, also placing third at 174 pounds in 2013.
Rodriguez, a junior from Guadalupe, Calif. (Righetti H.S.), started the day with a 4-1 loss to 2nd-ranked Thomas Gilman of Iowa in the semifinals. Following a scoreless first period, Gilman recorded an escape and takedown with a minute left in the second to take a 3-0 lead. Rodriguez had an escape with 1:04 left in the third, but Gilman rolled up 1:55 of riding time to close out the match.
Rodriguez rebounded with an 8-6 sudden victory-1 overtime win over Nebraska’s Kris Williams. Following a scoreless first period, Rodriguez jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second with a pair of escapes, stalling point and takedown with 42-seconds left.
Williams came back with an escape, caution point and took a 6-5 lead on a takedown with 5-seconds left in the third. Rodriguez had 2:00 of riding time to tie the score at 6-all and force overtime. The NDSU junior recorded a takedown with 19-seconds in overtime to record the win.
Nebraska’s 10th-ranked Tim Lambert recorded a takedown with 16-seconds remaining the third in the 4-2 win over Rodriguez in the third place match. Lambert had a 1-0 lead heading into the third period. Rodriguez tied the score at 1-1 with an escape with 1:03 left. Lambert built up 1:05 of riding time in the match.
The 16th-ranked Rodriguez went 3-2 at the Midlands Championships to improve to 23-7 overall on the season. He is 7-4 in a pair of trips to the Midlands and placed fifth last season.
Midlands Championships Results
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