Seniors Eric Slabaugh, Garrett Pino, Will Clarke, and Keith Garrard all claimed individual titles while leading the Wabash wrestling team to a second place finish at Saturday's Manchester Spartan Mat Classic.
Slabaugh posted a 4-0 record for the tournament after entering competition as the six seed. He opened with a 13-1 win over Mount Union's Richard Johnson, then won a 4-2 decision over third-seeded Brent Skorup from Wheaton. Slabaugh faced Tri-State's Bryan Wight for the second time in a week after beating him in a dual meet Wednesday night. Slabaugh was victorious once again, winning 2-0, then took the title after top-seeded John Sheets from Manchester was unable to wrestle in the title match due to an injury suffered earlier in the day.
Pino's path to the 141-pound title included two pins, a technical fall, and a major decision in a dominating effort by the top-seed Little Giant wrestler. He started with a first period pin against Matt Pence, then handed Sam Carsey an 18-5 loss. He easily handled Tri-State's Thomas Pompei with an 18-3 victory. That led him to a battle against second-seeded Matt Palladino from Manchester. Pino would come out on top, pinning Palladino 3:44 into the final match.
Clarke also entered as the top seed at 184 pounds. He crushed Stu Fisher from Ohio Northern 27-10 in the opening match, then cruised to a 17-4 win over Dave Bernholt in round two. A tight 1-0 victory against fourth-seeded Hiram Smith placed Clarke in the championship match against unseeded Cody Reitmeir. Clarke held off the upset-minded Reitmeir, winning 10-8 to claim the title.
Garrard faced three seeded opponents on his way to the 197-pound championship. He started with a 14-5 win against the seventh seed, Joe Yurisich. Garrard followed with a 9-7 victory against Mount St. Joseph's Tim Kelly, seeded sixth by the coaches. That set up a title bout between top-seeded Thomas Sanders from Case Western and the Little Giant senior. Garrard was up to the challange, winning 5-0.
Stephen Mosier took fourth in the 157-pound weight class. The sophomore dropped his first bout, but rallied with five straigh victories in the consolation bracket before falling 10-8 to Ryan Schalk in the final bout. Garrett Thiel won a 3-1 overtime bout in the finals of the heavyweight bracket to take fifth place. Ryan Pritchard finished sixth at 174 pounds.
Wabash will travel to the Chicago area next weekend to participate in the annual Pete Willson Tournament at Wheaton College.