Senior Garrett Pino cruised to the title in the 141-pound weight class to lead the Wabash wrestling team to the Mid-States Conference Wrestling Tournament title Saturday at Tri-State University.
Pino was named the Wrestler of the Tournament after scoring a pin 2:28 into the semifinals of the tournament before winning his title match by a final score of 15-5. Sophomore Rob Arnett won the 285-pound weight class after entering as the number two seed. He scored a pin at 2:59 in his opening match before recording an 11-6 victory in the semifinals. He was forced into overtime against unseeded Dean Roseman from MacMurray in the championship bout, but picked up a pin 31 seconds into the extra period for the victory.
Eric Slabaugh, Kurtis Hess, and Stephen Mosier each picked up second place finishes in their respective weight classes. Slabaugh scored a pin in his 133-pound opening match, then battled to a 5-4 victory in the semifinals before losing 7-1 in the championship round. Hess was unseeded at 149 pounds, but scored an 8-4 upset over third-seeded Nick Wolf of Olivet in the opening round. Hess continued the upset effort with a pin just 1:52 into his match against second-seeded Kyle Pittman from Tri-State before losing 12-1 to top-seeded Byron Sweet from Manchester in the title match.
Mosier opened with with a 15-6 major decision followed by a 6-4 victory in the semifinals at 157 pounds. He lost to the top seed in the title bout to finish second in his bracket.
Michael Burke, Ryan Pritchard, and Garrett Theil were third at 184 pounds, 174 pounds, and 285 pounds respectively.
Wabash coaches Brian Anderson and Nathan Hills were recognized for their hard work throughout the season. Anderson was name Co-Head Coach of the Year in the conference, sharing the honors with Dan Callahan from Tri-State. Hills earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors as voted upon by the head coaches from the seven conference schools. Theil was named to the Mid-States Conference All-Academic Team.
The Little Giants finished with 143 points, 13 more than second place Olivet. Tri-State was third with 125.5, followed by Mount St. Josephs (104), Rose-Hulman (74.5), Manchester (71.5), and MacMurray (67.5). Wabash will participate in the NCAA Midwest Regional this weekend at Manchester College.