Seven members of the Wabash wrestling team placed in the top-eight at the 2007 Indiana Little State competition, held Friday and Saturday at the University of Indianapolis.
Junior Rob Arnett (left) entered the weekend as the number two seed at 285 pounds. The seeding held true as he cruised through the first two rounds with a 14-3 major victory over Randy Swain in the opening round before pinning Alan Lick in just 57 seconds in the quarterfinals. A 3-0 victory over third-seeded Dan Thoburn put Arnett up against top-seeded Lynn Panko from the University of Indianapolis. Panko took a 4-0 victory in the championship, giving Arnett second place for the tournament.
Sophomore Cody Johnson (below right) was also seeded second at 197 pounds. He opened with a pin at 3:41 against Cody Hamilton from Wilmington, then posted an 18-5 victory over Manchester's Tyler Lathon in the second round. Manchester's Matt Zickafoose snatched a 5-2 win in the quarterfinals to send Johnson to the consolation bracket. Johnson lost his next two matches to finish sixth overall.
Sophomore Michael Burke took seventh place at 184 pounds. After starting with a 10-6 victory over David Close from Indianapolis, Burke lost an 8-4 decision to Alex Fleet. Burke followed with a pin in his first consolation match before losing a close 3-1 contest in the semifinals. He rallied for a 5-1 victory over Gregg Williams from Rose-Hulman in the finals.
Two Little Giant grapplers earned top-eight places at 149 and 174 pounds. Jarred Tribbett (below left), the fifth seed at 149 pounds entering the tournament, scored a pin in the final minute of his match against fourth-seeded Kyle Pittman from Tri-State. Tribbett lost his next match against top-seeded Elliot Spence from Mount St. Joseph, but would not lose again. He scored another pin in the semifinals before going into two overtimes before scoring a 6-4 victory over third-seeded Chad Woods from the University of Indianapolis to finish third overall.
Teammate Graham Youngs took seventh at 149 pounds. He opened with an 8-4 victory in his first match, but lost his second to fall to the consolation bracket. Youngs split his next two matches before recording a 4-3 victory in the finals over TJ Brown.
Robert Beeler and Bryan Hugo finished fourth and seventh, respectively, at 174 pounds. Beeler scored a 16-3 major victory in the first round and a pin at 4:03 in the second before losing 9-3 to the top seed. A 6-1 victory in the semifinals but him up against third-seeded Chuck Simmons in the finals. Simmons won 12-3 to give Beeler fourth place. Hugo won a 7-4 decision in the finals over Heath Lukass from Mount St. Joseph after going 1-2 in the early rounds.
Wabash will participate in the Ohio Northern University Invitational on Saturday.