#4 Sanjaa Leads #9 Wrestling on Day One at Midlands Championships

No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa of the ninth-ranked American University wrestling team has advanced to the semifinals following day one of the 49th-annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill.

The second-seeded Sanjaa won all three of his bouts at 157 lbs. on Thursday to move onto Friday's semifinals. He started the tournament with a 14-4 major decision over Virginia's Derek Valenti and followed that with an 11-5 decision against David Helmer of Northwestern. In the quarterfinals, Sanjaa rolled to a 10-4 decision over 10th-seed John Greisheimer of Edinboro. Sanjaa will face No. 8 James Fleming of Clarion, the third seed, in the semifinals on Friday.

No. 15 Daniel Mitchell, the sixth-seed at 197 lbs., is still alive in the consolation bracket after posting two victories on Thursday. He earned a pair of decisions to move to the quarterfinals, an 8-3 victory over Rider's Donald McNeil and a 5-4 decision against Kendrick Hall of Oklahoma. In the quarters, Mitchell dropped a 12-4 major decision to third-seed and No. 9-ranked Micah Burak of Penn.

American's four other wrestlers competing at the tournament were eliminated on day one. No. 9 Matt Mariacher, the fifth-seeded wrestler at 141 lbs., began the tournament with a pin of Northwestern's Pat Greco before dropping a 6-3 decision to 12th-seed Adam Krop of Princeton. Mariacher then bounced back in the consolation bracket to earn an 8-2 decision over North Dakota State's Tyler Diamond, although he lost a 7-3 decision to fourth-seed and No. 8-ranked Steve Dutton of Lehigh in his final match.

Kevin Tao, the 10th-seed at 149 lbs., also won a pair of bouts, earning a 9-0 major decision against Dillon Pousson of SIU-Edwardsville and then advancing with a 5-2 decision over Bucknell's John Reagan. Tao, however, lost his final two bouts, including a match to seventh-seed Josh Wilson of Utah Valley.

AU's other two wrestlers -- Thomas Williams and Blake Herrin -- each won one match before being eliminated. Williams picked up a technical fall against Clarion's Trey Hicks at 125 lbs. and heavyweight Blake Herrin earned a 9-2 decision over Tyler Lyster of Bucknell.

The Eagles was short-handed on Thursday as they were without the services of top-ranked heavyweight Ryan Flores. "Ryan will miss the Midlands Championships today due to sickness," remarked Head Coach Teague Moore prior to the start of the tournament. "Ryan is such a competitor that we waited until late Wednesday evening to remove him from the No. 1 seed position. Ryan wanted to compete but as a staff we decided it is in his best interest to sit this competition."

As a team, American sits in 18th place with 24.5 points through day one. Iowa leads the team competition with 79.5 points.

The final day of competition at Midlands will get underway on Friday at 1 p.m. EST with the semifinals, consolation matches, and seventh-place bouts. The final session will begin at 8:20 p.m. EST. Be sure to follow AU wrestling on Twitter throughout the day for updates on the Eagles.