For the first time since 1991 the Wabash wrestling team came away with a victory over Manchester College in dual meet action. The two teams met Wednesday night at Pendleton Heights High School with the Little Giants coming away with a 25-15 victory.
Wabash started out strong with a 7-6 victory at 125 pounds by senior Phu Hong (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence Central) (left) and a forfeit by Manchester at 133 pounds. Senior Drew McCoy (Greenfield, IN/New Palestine) (below right) fought to a 6-3 victory at 149 pounds after Manchester took a 14-9 victory at 141 pounds, making the team score 12-3.
The Spartans took the final match going into the break with a hard-fought 2-0 bout at 157 pounds. The Little Giants rallied with an 8-2 victory by senior 165-pounder Kevin Meyer (Columbus, IN/Columbus North) to move in front 15-6.
Leading 15-9 after a close 8-7 loss at 174 pounds, senior Chris Healy (Jasper, IN/Jasper) put the Little Giants up to stay. Wrestling up one weight class from his normal 174 pounds, Healy pinned Manchester's Paul Sorenson at 184 pounds 2:30 into their match to give the Little Giants a 21-9 lead. Freshman Garrett Thiel (Lowell, IN/Lowell) (below) locked up the win with a major decision (8-0) at 197 pounds.
The last win for the Little Giants over Manchester in a dual meet came with a 32-14 victory in 1991. Wednesday's win ended a 10-match winning streak by the Spartans.
Wabash (3-4) will participate in the Ohio Northern Invitational Saturday.
Wabash 25, Manchester 15
125 - Phu Hong (W) defeated Joe Lamplot (M) 7-6
133 - Eric Eder (W) won by forfeit
141 - Mike Hanlin (M) defeated Garrett Pino (W) 14-9
149 - Drew McCoy (W) defeated Joe Hoover (M) 6-3
157 - Danny Irwin (M) defeated Adam Miller (W) 2-0
165 - Kevin Meyer (W) defeated John Music (M) 8-2
174 - Christopher Deutscher (M) defeated Ryan Pritchard (W) 8-7
184 - Chris Healy (W) pinned Paul Sorenson (M) at 2:30
197 - Garret Thiel (W) defeated Trevor Brown (M) 8-0
285 - John Parke (M) pinned Jon Reidy (W) at ::57