EVANSTON, IL - A total of 356 wrestlers representing 61 colleges and wrestling clubs took part in the 39th annual Midlands Wrestling Championships held Dec. 29-30 at Welsh Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.    The field was narrow down to the semifinalists Saturday night following the completion of the quarterfinal matches Saturday night.     Notable wrestlers participating this year include three wrestlers who are trying to earn their way into the 20 in 4 Club, including Cael Sanderson of Iowa State, Yoshi Nakamura from Penn, Mitch Clark from the Ohio International Wrestling Club. The 20 in 4 Club is an honor given to wrestlers who have reached a total of 20 wins in four years of competition at the Midlands.     After Saturday evening's matches, all three had won all their bouts through the quarterfinals. Nakamura's quarterfinal win over Josh Jansen of Ohio State was enough to earn him a spot in the exclusive club, as was Mitch Clark's quarterfinal win over Jason Cooley or Oregon State in the quarters. Sanderson's quarterfinal win over Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra put him within one match of earning the Club recognition. If Sanderson should reach the 20 in 4 mark this year, he will become the second wrestler in the history of the tournament to enter the Club undefeated. The only other wrestler to reach such a milestone was Dan Gable.    Joe Williams of the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club also is on his way to tying the record for the most consecutive championship titles, as well as the record for the most placings in the tournament. In Saturday's competition Williams earned three more wins on his way to the semifinal round. Seeded first at 174-pounds, if Williams wins his weight class this year he will tie the record for the most consecutive Midlands championships set in 1987 by Bruce Baumgartner with eight wins. Another championship win this year also will tie John Fisher's record by placing in nine consecutive Midlands tournaments.     Although it was not a day of upsets, there were some close and intersting matchups.    At 125 Pounds, #1 seeded Leroy Vega (Minnesota) pulled out a 6-5 sudden victory win in the third round over Jesse Leng of Ohio State to advance to the quarterfinals where he narrowly defeated #9 seed Mike Simpson to advance to the semifinals. The #7 seed Mason Lenhard defeated the #2 seed Chris Williams of Michigan State 3-2 to advance to the semis.    In 133-pound quarterfinals action #1 seeded Matt Azevedo won a 1-1 decision by a tie breaker over #8 seeded Phil Mansueto of Arizona State to secure a semifinals position, while #10 Cliff Moore of Iowa won a 5-2 decision of second seeded Sun Devil David Douglas to advance.    At both 141 and 149 pounds, the first, second, third and fifth seeded wrestlers advanced to the semis. In the 157-pound weight class #6 seed Gray Maynard of Michigan State defeated the #3 seed Scott Owen of Northern Illinois to advance to the semis.    At 165 pounds, unseeded Alibek Pardakulov of Central Missouri defeated the #6 and #3 seeds on his way to the semifinals where he will face #2 seeded Matt Lackey of Illinois.    Sixth-seeded Greg Parker of Princeton also made his way to the 174-pound semis by defeating the #3 seed Jacob Volkman of Minnesota in the quarters.    Another unseeded wrestler securing a semifinal position was 184-pound Tyson Thivierge of Montana Northern. Thivierge advanced to the semis with a 4-2 overtime sudden victory decision over #2 seeded Damion Hahn of Minnesota.    The 197-pound semifinals will feature the first, second, third and fourth seeded wrestlers, including Cael Sanderson of Iowa State, Lee Fullhart of Excel Wrestling Club, Owen Elzen of Minnesota, and Jon Trenge of Lehigh, respectively.    At heavyweight, Steven Mocco, the #6 seeded true freshman from Iowa, earned a semifinal match with a 5-3 decision over #3 seeded Raphael Davis of the Schultz Wrestling Club.    The wrestling continues with the semifinals, consolations, and 7th place matches at noon Central. The finals, as well as the 3rd and 5th place matches will be wrestled Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.      Semifinal match-ups for Sunday  125 Pounds  #1 Leroy Vega (University of Minnesota) vs. #5 Luke Eustice (University of Iowa)  #3 Alexis Vila (Unattached-UN) vs. Mason Lenhard (Penn)    133 Pounds  #1 Matt Azevedo (Cyclone WC) DEC vs. #5 Zach Roberson (Iowa State University)  #3 Jeff Ratliff (Ohio State University) vs. #10 Cliff Moore (University of Iowa)    141 Pounds  #1 Eric Larkin (Arizona State) vs. #5 Aaron Holker (Iowa State University)  #3 Cedric Haymon (California Poly) vs. #2 Mark Conley (Naval Academy)    149 Pounds  #1 Jared Lawrence (University of Minnesota) vs. #5 Jesse Jantzen (Harvard University)  #3 Billy Maldanado (Iowa State University) vs. #2 Mike Zadick (University of Iowa)    157 Pounds  #1 Yoshi Nakamura (Penn) vs. #5 Matt Anderson (University of Iowa)  #6 Gray Maynard (Michigan State University) vs. #2 Luke Becker (University of Minnesota)    165 Pounds  #1 Joe Heskett (Iowa State University) vs. #5 Johnny Clark (Ohio State University)  Alibek Pardakulov (Central Missouri) vs. #2 Matt Lackey (University of Illinois)    174 Pounds  #1 Joe Williams (Sunkist)vs. #5 Jeff Rusak (Old Dominion University)  #6 Greg Parker (Princeton University) vs. #2 Rick Springman (Penn)    184 Pounds  #1 Viktor Sveda (Indiana University) vs. #4 Austin Palmer (Iowa State University)  #3 Jessman Smith (University of Iowa) vs. Tyson Thivierge (Montana State North)    197 Pounds  #1 Cael Sanderson (Iowa State University) vs. #4 Jon Trenge (Lehigh)  #3 Owen Elzen (University of Minnesota) vs. #2 Lee Fullhart (Team Excel)    285 Pounds  #1 John Lockhart (University of Illinois) vs. #4 Mitch Clark (Ohio In WC)  #6 Steve Mocco (University of Iowa) vs. #2 Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State University)