Junior Michael Burke took second place at 197 pounds, while a broken hand ended senior Jared Tribbett's final match at Saturday's NCAA Division III Midwest Wrestling Regional at Trine University. Burke and Tribbett were two of six top-eight finishers for Wabash.
Burke opened with a pin 1:47 into his match against Greg Williams from Rose-Hulman, one round after Williams knocked off fifth-seeded Alex Cressley from Washington and Jefferson. Burke faced number-one seed and eventual champion Corbin Semple from Waynesburg, losing by a 5-1 decision. Burke came back with pins against sixth-seeded Aaron Stewart from Olivet (6:01) and Brice Mertiff from Thiel (3:45) to take third place. He added a victory in the final bout of the day against second-seeded Martin Porter from Delaware Valley in a true second bout. The victory left Burke just shy of receiving a wild card bid to advance to the NCAA Nationals.
Tribbett received the number-one seed at 149 pounds and started with a pin of Abdul Yusuff from Waynesburg at the 1:16 mark of their bout. The win moved Tribbett into the championship bracket semifinals against fourth seed Dale Fava from Delaware Valley. The two battled through three periods tied at 5-5 before Fava scored a takedown in overtime for a 7-5 win. Tribbett moved into the consolation bracket, but suffered a broken hand in his next match against Mount St. Joseph's Dave Harris, forcing Tribbett to forfeit his last two matches and earn a sixth-place finish.
Freshman Greg Rhoads finished fifth at 174 pounds. He scored a pin at 2:52 against Jacob Benczo from Waynesburg in the first round of the consolation bracket after Rhoads lost 6-2 to fifth-seeded Brad Greenman from Case Western Reserve. Rhoads recorded anothe pin, this time at the 1:33 mark against Anthony Scarillo from Thiel. The tables were turned in the semifinals when Rhoads was pinned by third-seeded Nick Kraus from Trine before the Wabash freshman rallied for a final pin 3:50 versus Jesse Hooven from Mount St. Joseph in the last round.
Bryan Hugo finished with a record of 2-2 at 184 pounds to take fifth place. Robert Beeler finished sixth at 165 pounds, while Stephen Iles was eighth at 133 pounds.
Wabash finished eighth in the team scoring with 63.5 points. Delaware Valley defended its Regional title from last year by scoring 183 points. Olivet and Trine tied for second with 128.5 points. Mount St. Joseph's (99.5) was third, followed by Thiel (97.5), Waynesburg (83.5), and Case Western (66). Manchester (51) took seventh place, with Rose-Hulman (45.5) and Washington & Jefferson (39.5) rounding out the team scores.