Wabash split its wrestling team for the last competition of 2006, sending five wrestlers to the talent-laden Midlands Championships at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The remainder of the team competed at the Midwest Open with six wrestlers placing at the event.
Eric Slabaugh, Garrett Pino, Ryan Pritchard, Will Clarke, and Keith Garrard faced some of the top Division I wrestlers in the nation at the Midlands meet. Slabaugh picked up a pin at the 1:52 mark of his second match at 133 pounds, defeating Northern Illinois' Chad Vandiver. Slabaugh advanced again with a 6-4 victory against Zac Cunliffe from Rider before Purdue's Sean Schmaltz eliminated him from the tournament in the final match of the second session.
Garrard scored a first round victory against 197-pounder Nick McClone from Northern Illinois before losing to fourth-seeded Nathan Moore from Purdue in the next match. The Wabash senior took on Nate Everhart from Indiana University in the consolation bracket, losing by technical fall six minutes into the match.
Clarke lost his opening match at 184 pounds, but rallied for a 4-3 victory over American University's Dwayne Hash. Colin Hitschler from Penn took a 3-0 victory over Clarke in the final match of the first session to eliminate the senior from the tournament.
Pino faced two outstanding wrestlers from Montana State Northern at 141 pounds. The senior lost to Chris Smith in the first round in a 13-6 decision, then had to face Smith's teammate, Byron Kuylen, in the next round. Kuylen came away with a pin 1:16 into their match to put an end to Pino's weekend.
Pritchard also dropped two matches against difficult opponents at 174 pounds, drawing third-seeded Eric Luedke from Iowa in the opening round. Pritchard battled for over six minutes before losing in a technical fall to the national-ranked powerhouse. His next match would not prove to be any easier, losing 12-6 to Northern Iowa's Alex Dolly.
Freshman Justin Michaels paced group of six Little Giants earning top-four finishes at the Midwest Open. Michaels scored a pin in his first match against Michigan's Mike Sears at 133 pounds, then picked up an 11-3 win against Brian Gaffney in the semifinals before losing 10-7 to Elmhurst's Steve Templin in the title bout to finish second.
Jared Tribbett was one of four Wabash wrestlers to finish third at the tournament. The sophomore from Crawfordsville High School scored a 16-4 win in the opening round at 149 pounds, followed by a 4-2 victory over Pat Bauer of the University of Dubuque in round two. Tribbett lost to eventual champion Jake Flynn in a 7-4 decision in the next round, but rallied with a pin at 3:08 against Craig Johnson from Harper in the semifinals. He finished the tournament with a 5-4 win in the third place match, facing Bauer for the second time.
Rob Arnett scored three pins at 285 pounds, going 5-1 for the tournament. He started with a pin just 1:40 into his opening match, but lost in the second round by a score of 5-2. A 9-7 decision against Josh Johns from Upper Iowa allowed Arnett to advance in the consolation bracket, where picked up a pin 44 seconds into his next match against Roger Vukobratovich. Arnett picked up his final pin against Alex Delonis from Harper in the semifinals and went on to defeat Eric Daughetee from Dubuque 12-5 in the finals for a third place finish.
Barton Bridge lost his first match of the tournament, but won the next two matches to take third at 165 pounds. Michael Burke was 2-2 at 174 pounds to earn a fourth place finish, as did Cody Johnson with a 2-2 mark at 197 pounds.
The Little Giants will start the 2007 portion of their season at the Bud Whitehill National Duals in Williamsport, Pennsylvania January 12-13.