Written by BTN.com staffThe 50th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Tournament start Saturday at Northwestern and wrap up Sunday with the finals airing live on BTN/BTN2Go. The event is open to Division I, II, and III wrestling teams as well as a number of post-graduate competitors. According to the latest collegiate wrestling rankings, the Big Ten currently has 10 teams ranked in the Top 25.
| NWCA Rankings (12/18/12) | |||
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Points | Record |
| 1 | Penn State (9) | 399 | 4-0 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State (1) | 390 | 7-0 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 378 | 8-1 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 371 | 6-0 |
| 5 | Iowa | 360 | 10-0 |
| T6 | Illinois | 346 | 3-0 |
| T6 | Missouri | 346 | 6-0 |
| 8 | Cornell | 329 | 4-2 |
| 9 | Central Michigan | 317 | 5-2 |
| 10 | Oregon State | 307 | 2-2 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 293 | 4-2 |
| 12 | Michigan | 289 | 6-1 |
| 13 | Pittsburgh | 280 | 2-2 |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 255 | 4-3 |
| 15 | Northwestern | 249 | 4-2 |
| 16 | Wyoming | 248 | 2-2 |
| 17 | Nebraska | 243 | 6-3 |
| T18 | Edinboro | 241 | 3-1 |
| T18 | Maryland | 241 | 5-2 |
| 20 | Virginia | 216 | 6-2 |
| 21 | Purdue | 190 | 9-2 |
| 22 | Penn | 189 | 2-1 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 176 | 4-2 |
| 24 | Old Dominion | 153 | 2-2 |
| 25 | Lehigh | 120 | 3-3 |
As the host site, NUsports.com has plenty of info, including a cool bracket of all-time great Midlands competitors. It’s down to four very familiar wrestling names: Tom Brands vs. Dan Gable and then Cael Sanderson vs. Bruce Baumgartner. You can read more here, or just go vote here.
This is also a good information page on this weekend’s events. Remember that you can watch Sunday’s finals live on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. ET, and follow @NU_Wrestle on Twitter for general tournament updates and @NU_SportsLIVE for updates on Northwestern wrestlers and Sunday’s finals. The #Midlands50 hashtag on Twitter is in honor of the event’s 50th anniversary.
Updated brackets also will be posted on NUsports.com.
Here’s the general schedule:
Saturday, Dec. 29
9:30 a.m. – Session I
7 p.m. – Session II
Sunday, Dec. 30
Noon – Session III – Semifinals, Consolation, 7th place matches
6:30 p.m. – Parade of Champions
7 p.m. – Session IV – 1st, 3rd, 5th place matches
