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Burke Leads Wabash To Fifth at Manchester Wrestling Invite

Sophomore wrestler Michael Burke won the 184-pound weight class at Saturday's Manchester Spartan Mat Classic to help Wabash finish fifth out of 23 teams in the final standings.

Burke (left) opened the competition with a 6-0 victory over Rose-Hulman's Greg Williams, followed by an 18-2 technical fall against Derek Bradley after Bradley had advanced by pinning top-seeded Louis Posa from Tri-State. Burke, the fifth seed coming into the meet, battled second-seeded Brad Zellner from Wisconsin-Platteville in the finals to a 4-3 victory to claim the 184-pound title.

Burke was one of seven Little Giant wrestlers to earn top-eight finishes. Jarred Tribbett scored an early 16-0 technical fall in his first match at 149 pounds, but fell to the consolation bracket after suffering a 21-12 defeat against Joe Newland from Heidelberg. Tribbett rallied for a pin and a 12-0 major victory in his next two bouts before advancing to the finals to face a familiar foe after an 8-2 win against Dillion Potnack from Wisconsin-Platteville. Tribbett wrestled Newland once again in the third-place bout. Newland won the bout in a much closer contest, defeating Tribbett 7-4 to give the Wabash junior fourth place overall.

Bryan Hugo (right) took fourth at 174 pounds. After a 12-1 victory in his opening bout, he lost to top-seeded Nick Kraus before going on a three-bout winning streak, including a pin at 1:50 against Cas Settlemyre from Tri-State, to move into the finals against Justin Tomal. A 6-0 decision in favor of the wrestler from Wheaton College gave Hugo the fourth-place finish.

Sophomore Cody Johnson went 3-2 to finish fifth at 197 pounds. He dropped his first match before posting back-to-back pins against Tim Orr from Rose-Hulman and Heidelberg's Andy Winemiller in the consolation bracket. Second-seeded Adam Schultz won a 4-2 decision over Johnson in the semifinals. Johnson rallied for a 3-2 win in the finals over Ricky Weatherholt from Heidelberg.

Junior Rob Arnett was also fifth at 285 pounds. Arnett won his first two matches as the top seed in the weight class before suffering a 3-2 upset at the hands of Alex Williams from the University of Indianapolis. A pin in the final minute of the semifinals by Dan Thoburn dropped Arnett to the fifth place match, where he came away with a 5-0 shutout against Platteville's Paul Wochinski.

Robert Beeler took sixth place at 174 pounds. He won his first bout 8-4, but an injury forced him to forfeit the remainder of his matches to bye out to the sixth-place finish.

Freshman Quincy Dotson (left) posted his best effort of the season with a seventh-place finish at 157 pounds. Dotson lost his opening match, but won all the way through the consolation bracket with a 4-3 decision in the second round over John Jacobs from Ohio Northern, a 7-4 win over Corey Zollinger from Indianapolis, and a 2-1 victory against Platteville's Kyle Leudtke. A loss to Platteville wrestler Tim McGill put Dotson up against Alonzo Richardson from Concordia in the finals, but an injury kept Richardson from being able to compete.

Stephen Mosier won his first two bouts at 165 pounds before a 4-2 loss sent him to the consolation bracket. He won an 8-2 decision over Jon Quamme from Platteville before a pin put him in the seventh-place match. Mosier posted a 5-3 victory over Colin Swick from Ohio Northern in the finals.

Wabash will be in action at home at Chadwick Court Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in the annual Monon Bell Classic Duals. Admission to the meet is free of charge.