Wabash placed in eight of ten weight classes, including a first place finish by nationally-ranked wrestler Chris Healy (Jasper, IN/Jasper) (left) at 174 pounds and a second by freshman Keith Garrard (New Castle, IN/New Castle Chrysler) at the Midwest Wrestling Invitational over the weekend. Healy’s 4-0 performance earned him Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet honors.
Healy, ranked fifth in the latest Brute-adidas National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, opened at 174 pounds with an 18-3 victory over Muskingum’s Matt Viers. Healy advanced to the semifinals with a 15-6 win against Dan White of Wilmington, then dispatched Millikin University’s Raul Velazquez 7-3 to advance to the championship to face unseeded Tim Maxworthy of Heidelberg. Healy ended Maxworthy’s run, defeating him 20-10 in a major decision to earn the 174-pound title.
Garrard (right) took second place at 184 pounds. The freshman pinned Mount St. Joseph wrestler Josh Akers in 3:38, then picked up a 5-2 win against Heidelberg’s Joe Kraft in the next match. An 8-4 win against Manchester’s Paul Sorenson, the number two seed in the tournament, sent Garrard to the finals against Muskingum’s Adam Justice. Garrard lost a tough 7-6 decision in the championship to earn second with a 3-1 record.
Freshman Will Clarke (Indianapolis, IN/North Central) (left) added a third place finish at 197 pounds. Clarke went 5-1 over the two-day tournament, with his only loss coming in a 5-3 match against eventual second-place wrestler Tom Alpner of Rose-Hulman. Clarke pinned his first opponent in 4:33, then marched through the consolation bracket to take third place.
Heavyweight Marcus Ellison (SR/Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) (right) continued to make his only season in a Wabash uniform an impressive one. Ellison was 4-1, earning a fifth-place finish. His only defeat came against the tournament champion, Evan Love of the University of Indianapolis, in a 7-5 loss in the semifinals. Ellison had two pins in the first two matches.
Freshman Garret Pino (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence North) (left) and junior Adam Miller (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) each earned fifth place finishes at the tournament. Pino was 4-2 for the weekend at 141 pounds. He opened the tournament with a pin against Zach Treolo of Mount St. Joseph in 1:35, but lost to third-seeded Matt Palladino in the quarterfinals. A 19-0 win in the first consolation match and a 13-2 victory in the next contest sent him to the placing round. Pino lost to third-place wrestler Luke Spurlock in the semifinals before taking a 10-4 victory over Rose-Hulman’s Billy Whitehouse in the last match.
Miller (right) was 3-2 at 157 pounds. He opened with two wins in the early rounds, a 15-7 major decision and 3-1 win over sixth-seeded Jerry Stevens of Muskingum. A tight 3-2 loss to eventual champion Josh Holdon of the University of Indianapolis sent Miller to consolation bracket, were he met the number seed of the tournament, Errol Robinson. Miller fell 8-2 against Robinson, but came back with a 7-2 win over Steve Woeckener of Linwood to claim fifth place.
Junior Drew McCoy (Cumberland, IN/New Palestine) was seventh at 149 pounds, finishing 3-2 overall. Sophomore Kevin Meyer (Columbus, IN/Columbus North) went 3-3 to finish eighth at 165 pounds.