Three one-point defeats in finals matches sent the Wabash wrestling team to a third place finish at the annual Midstates Wrestling League Championship Tournament, held Saturday at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Keith Garrard suffered one of those losses. He opened with a bye in the first round as the number two seed at 197 pounds, then won his first match with a pin at 3:34 against Olivet's Tucker Surbrook. A 15-4 major decision over Rose-Hulman's Nick Klaserner sent Garrard to the championship bout against Olivet's Jeff Wright. It would be Wright who would claim the title with a 6-5 victory, giving Garrard second place overall.
Will Clarke also took second place at 184 pounds. With only four participants in weight class, Clarke advanced to the finals with a 3-2 decision over Chad Craft of Mount St. Joseph. Facing top-seeded Ryan Newberry in the finals, Clarke lost 3-1 in a tightly-contest bout.
Joe Seger lost 7-6 to Mount St. Joseph's Tim Kelly in the finals of the 174-pound weight class to finish second overall. After earning a by as the number two seed in the first round, Seger won a 7-5 contest over Mike Andrews of Olivet College to advance to the championship match.
Another close loss for the Little Giants came in the championship match of the 157-pound weight class. Stephen Mosier was seeded third and showed why with a dominating 16-2 major decision in the quarterfinals after earning a first round bye. He won 3-2 over second-seeded Mike Daubenmeyer of Olivet in the semifinals before losing by the same 3-2 score to top-seed Elliott Spence from Mount St. Joseph in the finals.
Eric Slabaugh was the final second place individual finisher for Wabash. A pin in his first 125-pound match against MacMurray's Mike Bock sent Slabaugh to the semifinals, where he picked up a 4-1 victory as the number two seed. That sent him up against top-seeded Joe Kaake from Mount St. Joseph, who won the title witha 5-4 victory.
Other top-eight finishers for Wabash included Steve Kasten, who took third at 285 pounds with a 5-1 record for the tournament. Garrett Theil (2-3) was sixth at 285 pounds, while teammate Rob Arnett took eighth in the same weight class. Nick Henninger (2-2) was fourth at 141 pounds. Jared Tribbett (3-2) finished fifth at 149 pounds, while Ryan Pritchard (3-2) had to wrestle his fellow Little Giant Barton Bridge (1-3) in the finals. Pritchard defeated Barton to take seventh place. Caleb Hedden and Stephen Iles were eighth at 157 and 125 pounds, respectively.
Wabash finished with 123 points in the team competition, trailing winner Olivet College (145) and second place Mount St. Joseph (141.5). Tri-State was fourth (92), followed by Rose-Hulman (88), Manchester (85.5), MacMurray (63.5), Waynesburg (36), and Illinois College (11).
The Little Giants head to Cleveland, Ohio this weekend for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Regionals at Case Western Reserve University. Wabash is the defending Regional champion.