Seniors Michael Burke and Rob Arnett were joined by freshman Jason Strausbaugh and Johnny Dillon as top-six finishers at the Concordia Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday. Burke finished third at 197 pounds, while Arnett took fifth place in the heavyweight class. Strausbaugh was third in the 141-pound weight class, while Dillon added a fifth place finish at 149 pounds.
Burke scored a 6-2 win over Sam Johnson from Dubuque in his opening match, then followed with an 8-5 win over fourth-seeded Brandon Jochem from Wisconsin-Stevens Point to advance to the semifinals of the championship bracket. Burke faced top-seeded Byron Tate from Wartburg, who won 16-3 to send the Wabash senior to the consolation bracket. Burke earned a 7-1 victory over Steve Wozniak from UW-Stevens Point, then won the third-place bout against Brad Zellner from UW-Platteville 8-3 in the finals.
Strausbaugh opened with 9-2 and 12-6 victories in the first two rounds, then nearly knocked off the top-seeded wrestler in the bracket before losing 5-3 to UW-Whitewater's Austin Bautista. Dropping to the consolation bracket, Strausbaugh rolled off six consecutive victories on his march to a third-place finish. An 11-4 victory over sixth-seeded Mark Puckhaber from UW-Stevens Point was followed by a 15-6 major victory against Andy Casper from UW-Platteville. Strausbaugh faced tenth-seeded Dave Edwards from UW-Parkside next, coming away with a decisive 16-9 win. Strausbaugh pinned Kasey Cates 49 seconds into the consolation semifinals to set up a match between the Wabash freshman and third-seeded Arik Yde from UW-Parkside in the finals. Strausbaugh took the third-place title with a 6-4 win.
Arnett faced a tough battle in his opening match, going to overtime before scoring a 6-4 sudden victory over UW-Whitewater's Nick Gibson. Another close match led to a 4-2 by Arnett over Carmen Mirandola from Elmhurst. A 5-4 victory by the Little Giant senior in the championship quarterfinals against Bret Oswald from UW-Stevens Point put Arnett up against second-seeded John Helgerson from Wartburg in the semifinals. Helgerson won by pin followed by a 4-1 loss to Augsburg's Dave Wyper, but Arnett rallied in the consolation bracket championship round with a 9-7 win against Jeremy Klein from Loras.
Dillon scored two opening wins at 149 pounds --- an 11-6 decision against AJ Knoll from Dubuque and a 6-0 victory against Hayden Silver from UW-Stevens Point. A 14-6 loss to third-seeded Virgil Pope dropped Dillon into the consolation bracket. The Hobart rookie picked up four consecutive victories, starting with a 16-12 win over Josh Smith from LaGrange. A 10-5 upset over 11th-seeded Brice Gretch from Wartburg came just before an even bigger win --- an 8-3 victory over fourth-seeded Ben Strobel from UW-Stevens Point --- advanced Dillon along in the bracket. A 9-4 win in the next round put Dillon up against third-seeded Pope for the second time in the tournament. Pope came away with the win again in a much closer match, winning 3-1. Dillon's final match was an 8-1 victory over sixth-seeded Dillion Potnack from UW-Platteville, giving the Wabash freshman three victories over seeded opponents for the day.
Freshman Gabe Watson won four matches at 174 pounds before losing for the final time in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. Sophomore Greg Rhoads also advanced to the consolation quarters of the 184-pound weight class with four victories in the tournament.