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BLACKSBURG - Members of the Virginia Tech wrestling team will be back in action this weekend as the squad will send wrestlers to the Midlands Championships in Illinois and the Wilkes Open in Pennsylvania. Twelve Hokies are scheduled to compete in the 50th Annual Midlands Championships on Dec. 29 & 30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., on the campus of Northwestern University while the rest of the squad will head to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for the 80th Wilkes Open on Dec. 28, hosted by Wilkes University.

The Midlands is one of the top tournaments of the year and will give the Tech starters a chance to pick up some quality wins that will help them come postseason. Ticket information, 2012 results as well as past results and other information can be found on Northwestern’s athletic website.

Last year, five Hokies placed at the tough event, including then-133 pounder Devin Carter who won a title at his weight class. With the strong performance, the Hokies finished in fourth place with 76.5 points.

Following the tournaments, the team will jump back into dual meet action, hosting Duke on Jan. 6 at Cassell Coliseum before heading to the Virginia Duals the following weekend.

Below are the probable participants for both tournaments as submitted by the coaching staff. These could change based on injuries and other factors leading up to the events.

Midlands Championships (Dec. 29-30)
125: Jarrod Garnett
141: Devin Carter (unattached)
141: Zach Neibert
149: Nick Brascetta
157: Jesse Dong
165: Pete Yates
174: Chris Moon (unattached)
174: Austin Gabel
184: Nick Vetterlein
197: Derrick Borlie
285: David Marone
285: Chris Penny (unattached)

Wilkes Open (Dec. 28)
133: Tanner Conkwright
133: Michael Gowen
149: Chad Strube (unattached)
157: David Bergida
157: Sal Mastriani (unattached)
157: Matt Stephens (unattached)
174: John Dickson (unattached)
174: Huston Evans
184: Sam Law (unattached)
197: Darren Hankins
197: Bobby Lavelle (unattached)
285: Dan Garwood
285: Ty Walz (unattached)

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Wrestling).