Freshman wrestler Andrew Kepchar recorded six pins on his way to a fourth-place finish at Saturday’s Concordia Invitational. He was one of three Little Giant grapplers to place in the tournament.
Kepchar opened with a loss at 133 pounds against eighth-seeded Mario Sullivan from North Central before rolling through the consolation bracket with pins of Jonathan Rhine (44 seconds), Tyler Smith (5:31), Jake Denhof (1:20), fifth-seeded Brandon Kircher (3:00), Bobby Tobin (5:04), and Sean White (54 seconds). The seven wins, including a medical forfeit by Mark Schultz, put Kepchar in the finals against Nathan Fitzenreider from North Central, who ended the freshman’s winning streak with a tournament record of 7-2.
Senior Jared Tribbett went 6-3 at 149 pounds to earn a sixth-place finish for the tournament. Tribbett entered the tournament as the sixth seed and opened competition with a 16-0 win over Ronnie Adkins from Case Western Reserve. An 11-3 win in the second round sent Tribbett to the championship quarterfinals, but he was pinned by 11th-seeded Willie Slayden from Loras 2:25 into their match.
Tribbett rallied with four straight victories in the consolation bracket, including a pin of Laquinn Swift in 40 seconds. A loss to third-seeded Joe Massman from the host Concordia team and another loss against Jason Fitzenreider in the finals gave Tribbett sixth place.
Freshman Tony Conway added a sixth-place finish at 141 pounds. Unseeded entering the weekend, Conway pinned Elmhurst’s Larry Baca in the first match (5:37), then scored a 10-0 decision over Eric Bednash from Concordia in round two. A 14-1 win over seventh-seeded Evon Russell from Triton sent Conway up against number-two seed Zach McKray from Wartburg, who scored a 12- 1 won in the championship quarterfinal match.
Conway answered the defeat with 12-2 and 4-2 victories in the consolation bracket before losing 4-2 to fifth-seeded Jesse Froehner from Wartburg in the semifinals. Conway battled Clay Criss from Case Western Reserve in the finals, dropping an 8-5 decision.
Greg Rhoads was 4-2 at 174 pounds, while Justen Lock finished 3-2 for the day at 125 pounds.
The Little Giants return to action when Wabash serves as the host site for the 2008 Little State Wrestling Tournament December 5-6 at Chadwick Court.
Photo - Freshman Andrew Kepchar earlier in the season against Indiana University.