A one-point loss to Millikin was a huge difference-maker for the Wabash wrestling, sending the team to the consolation bracket of the 2006 Monon Bell Wrestling Classic. The Little Giants went on to finish 3-1 for the day to take fifth place out of 12 teams.
Wabash opened the day with a commanding 48-5 win over MacMurray. The Little Giants swept the last nine bouts of the match, starting with a technical fall victory by Garrett Pino at 133 pounds. Nick Henninger pinned MacMurray's Nathan Kleckler 4:06 into their 141-pound match. Freshman Jared Tribbett added a technical fall against Chris Kelly at 149 pounds. Stephen Mosier battled to a one-point victory at 157 pounds, followed by another technical fall victory --- this time by 165-pounder Barton Bridge. Forfeit victories by Joe Seger and Will Clarke set up the final two bouts of the dual match for Wabash. Keith Garrard started with a pin against Justin Barber just 46 seconds into their 197-pound contest. Heavyweight Steve Kasten (photo above) finished with a pin against Sonny Capobianco to send the Little Giants into the next round against Millikin.
After the Big Blue opened with a pin at 125 pounds, Pino answered with a pin of his own, sticking Marion Sullivan at the 4:29 mark of the 133-pound match. Henninger added a 6-5 win in the next match, but Millikin responded with narrow victories in the next three contests. Wabash rallied with major decisions by Seger and Clarke before taking a five-point lead in the team scoring with a 7-3 win by Garrard going into the final match. Millikin's heavyweight won the match for the Big Blue with a pin at 22 seconds, sending Wabash out of the the championship portion of the event with a 21-20 defeat.
Wabash came back to beat Lincoln College 24-20 in the semifinals. Pino scored an 8-5 win in his third match of the day. Mosier brought Wabash closer in the team scoring after two straight wins by the Lynx with a 7-1 effort at 157 pounds. A forfeit win by Seger started a four-bout winning streak for Wabash. Clarke defeated Josh Decker 7-1 at 184 pounds. Garrard added a pin at 1:38 into his 197-pound match against David Edwards. Kasten closed out the match with a 4-1 win over Tony Reis.
The Little Giants faced the College of Mount St. Joseph in the finals. The Lions opened with a pin at 125 pounds before Pino scored five team points with a 17-3 major decision at 133. A Tribbett forfeit win at 141 came just before Mosier scored a 12-8 win to put Wabash in front. Back-to-back wins came at a cost for the Lions, who were assessed a team penalty point midway through the match. Wabash took the final three bouts with wins by Clarke (forfeit), Garrard (pin at 1:58) and Kasten (pin at 2:36) for the fifth place finish overall.
Olivet won the team competition with a perfect 4-0 record for the day, complete with a 25-15 win over Carson-Newman in the finals.
The Wabash squad will travel to Wheaton, Illinois next weekend to participate in the 2006 Pete Willson Invitational.