Three top-eight individual finishes by Wabash wrestlers led the Little Giants to a ninth-place team finish at the 2006 Pete Willson Wheaton College Invitational.
Senior Joe Seger took fourth place at 174 pounds. Junior Garrett Pino was fifth at 133 pounds, and freshman Jared Tribbett finished in eighth place at 149 pounds.
Seger was unseeded entering the tournament before winning his first three matches on Friday. He started with a pin 5:33 into his match against Lucas McEmery from Millikin. Seger followed with a second pin, this time at 5:56 against seventh-seeded Phil Kruzel from the University of Chicago. A 4-3 win over second-seeded AJ Morgan from Wisconsin-Parkside.
Seger opened Saturday against the third-seed, Mike Jackson from the University of Indianapolis. Jackson won the bout 10-4, sending Seger to the consolation bracket. Seger defeated Mount St. Joseph's Tim Kelly 5-4 to advance to the finals, once again facing AJ Morgan. This time it was Morgan who prevailed, winning the battle for third place 10-3.
Pino was seeded fourth in the tournament, earning a bye in the first round and advancing through the second with a quick pin at 1:01 against Mario Sullivan from Millikin. An 8-2 decision over fifth-seeded Adam Pizzurro from John Carroll sent Pino to the quarterfinals against top-seeded John Sheets from Manchester. Sheets won by technical fall to put Pino into the semifinals of the consolation bracket.
The road to the finals didn't get any easier for Pino. His next opponent was third-seeded Drew Gardella from Case Western. Gardella won 10-2, putting Pino in the finals of the fifth place match. He wrestled Pizzurro once again, but an injury forced the John Carroll wrestler to default the fifth place match to Pino.
Tribbett did not have an easy draw either. The freshman opened with a 10-2 win over Rob Jacobson from the host Wheaton Thunder, advancing to compete against number one seed Jason Brew from Olivet. Brew pinned Tribbett, dropping him into the consolation bracket. He took two more wins with an 11-2 decision over Ohio Northern's Lance Hassell and a 3-1 win against Chad Woods from Indianapolis.
In the quarterfinal Tribbett was matched against third-seeded Josh Kallai from Muskingum. Tribbett won 6-4, advancing to the semifinals. He wrestled seventh-seeded Joe Massman from Concordia of Wisconsin, but was pinned late in the match to move into the seventh place bout agasint eighth-seeded Ryan Schalk from Rose-Hulman. Schalk came away with a 5-2 victory, giving Tribbett eighth place.
The Little Giants scored a total of 47-1/2 points in the two-day tournament to finish ninth in the 30-team field.
Wabash will participate in the Midwestern Wrestling League conference tournament this Saturday. The meet will take place at the College of Mount St. Joseph.