Host Northwestern seeks strong finish at Midlands    After running away with the overall title at the Beast of the East Invitational by more than 60 points and compiling a flawless 3-0 dual record, No. 23 Northwestern shifts its focus to hosting the 42nd Midlands Championships set to run Wednesday, Dec. 29 through Thursday, Dec. 30.     "We've wrestled great in our first few competitions," Head Coach Tim Cysewski said. "But now we have the challenge of building on those performances. We have to keep getting better."     A couple of Wildcats have garnered individual national rankings as well. John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) and Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) both vaulted into the top 20 for their respective weight classes after winning titles at the Beast of the East. Velez ranks No. 13 at 125 lbs. and Herbert is No. 18 at 174 lbs.     Velez and Herbert also have received top-10 nods in the pre-seeds of their respective weight classes for the Midlands. Velez is No. 6 and Herbert is No. 8. Velez has yet to lose this year, currently holding a record of 7-0. He also turned in the Wildcats' best finish at last year's tournament, claiming fourth.     As a team, NU aims to improve on its 17th-place showing in last year's tournament. In addition to Velez and Herbert, the `Cats will be led by Greg Hagel (Linwood, N.J./Blair Academy), Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop Martin McNamara), Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield), who all come off 4-0, first-place performances at the Beast of the East as well.     Speaker of the House to Conduct Book-Signing    On the second day of the tournament, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will offer autograph copies of his latest book, "Speaker," from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the lobby of Welsh-Ryan Arena.     "Speaker" was released in August of 2004 and primarily deals with Hastert's experiences as a politician. The book also chronicles Hastert's experiences as a high school wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in Yorkville, Ill., where he guided his team to a state championship.     "We are most pleased that Speaker Hastert has chosen the Midlands site to do this book signing," Midlands Chairman Ken Kraft said. "Wrestling fans and others will have the opportunity to personally meet Denny. It will be a special time for all involved."     Takedown Wrestling Radio to provide live coverage    America's Wrestling Radio Talk Show, Takedown Wrestling Radio, will broadcast the Annual Holiday Classic, the 42nd Midlands Wrestling Championships, in its entirety. Takedown Radio announcers and hosts Scott Casber and Steve Foster will be joined by Greg Zafros and Mike Griffin on the show.    Tune in free of charge at Takedownradio.com. Everybody is encouraged to click on listen LIVE and enjoy.    The Broadcast Schedule (Central time)     Wednesday, Dec. 29  9:30 a.m. - First session  7 p.m. - Second session (consolation and championship matches)    Thursday, Dec. 30  Noon - Third session (semifinals, consolation and seventh-place matches)   7 p.m. - Fourth session (opening ceremony, grand march)  7:30 p.m. Fourth session (first-, third- and fifth-place matches)  9:30 p.m. Fourth session (conclusion of awards ceremony)    Zafros, in years past, has broadcast the Midlands Wrestling Championships on his own show "The Amateur Wrestling Show." Greg is most notable for winning at the very first Midlands Wrestling Championships.     8,000th entry in tournament history    The 42nd Midlands, set to run Wednesday, Dec. 29 through Thursday, Dec. 30 at Northwestern University, will produce the 8,000th individual entry into the tournament. This 8,000th will be recognized from among the 160 first-time entrants. The 7,500th entry was recognized in the 2001 Championships.     Sanderson's Olympic gold continues Midlands tradition    By claiming the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, Cael Sanderson continued a 28-year tradition that began back in the 1972 Olympics. In the 1972 Munich Games, Dan Gable and Ben Peterson were the first Midlands competitors to win Olympic Gold. In the seven Olympics since then (1980 boycott not included) a Midlands participant has won an Olympic gold.     In addition, 36 Midlands wrestlers have gone on to win Olympic medals starting with the 1968 Games in Mexico City. The are, in alphabetical order:     Ed Banach, Bruce Bamgartner, Lou Banach, Don Behm, Tom Brands, Terry Brands, Chris Campbell, Nate Carr, Kendall Cross, Barry Davis, Stan Dziedzic, Steve Fraser, Dan Gable, Rulon Gardner, Matt Ghaffari, Russ Hellickson, Sammie Henson, Zeke Jones, Kevin Jackson, Dennis Koslowski, Randy Lewis, Matt Lindland , Jim Martinez, Lincoln McIlravy, Kenny Monday, Ben Peterson, John Peterson, Andy Rein, Cael Sanderson, Townsend Saunders, Bill Scherr, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz , Brandon Slay , Chris Taylor, Bobby Weaver    157 pounds to be glamour weight class    The 2004 glamour weight class appears to be 157 lbs., which has an all-star cast ready to battle for the title. The defending Midlands champion, Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, defending NCAA champion, Matt Gentry of Stanford, and NCAA runner-up Jake Percival of Ohio University highlight the field. Trent Paulson of Iowa State was the 2003 Midlands champion at 149 lbs. and has since bumped up to the 157 lb. weight class. Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov of American University is one of the top foreign-born wrestlers (a native of Tashkent, Uzbekistan) in the field, with a big win over Percival. Matt Lebe of West Virginia and Brian Cobb of Schultz WC placed at last year's meet. Others in the top 10 of the pre-seeds are Joe Johnston of Iowa and Nate Galloway of Penn State.    2003 Midlands champions  125 - Tom Noto (Hofstra)  133- Zach Roberson (Iowa State)  141 - Jason Mester (Central Michigan)  149 - Trent Paulson (Iowa State)  157 - Alex Tirapelle (Illinois)  165 - David Bolyard (Central Michigan)  174 - Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids)  184 - Greg Jones (West Virginia)  197 - Emmett Wilson (Montana State-Northern)  HWT - Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State)    2004 No. 1 Midlands seeds from final pre-seed  125- Luke Eustice/Hawkeye WC  133 - Mark Jayne/Illinois  141 - Nate Gallick/Iowa State  149 - Ty Eustice/Iowa  157 - Matt Gentry/Stanford  165 - David Bolyard/Central Michigan  174 -Tyler Nixt/Hawkeye WC  184 - Greg Jones/West Virginia  197- Jon Trenge/Lehigh  HWT - Matt Feast/Pennsylvania