Six Wabash wrestlers advanced to the championship finals of the 2009 Little State Wrestling Tournament. A total of ten Little Giant grapplers moved on to the second day of the tournament.
Two Little Giants will try to earn a place in the 174-pound championship bout. Second-seeded Greg Rhoads scored a technical fall in his first match, defeating Ben Steiner 20-4. Rhoads followed with a 1-0 battle for a victory over seventh-seeded Jason Alber from the host school, Trine University. Wabash's Gabe Watson picked up two wins on the other side of the bracket to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Watson pinned Chris Frane 4:27 into their opening bout. Watson, who entered the day as the eight seed, upset top-seeded TJ Jenkins 9-5 to set up Saturday's semifinal bout against Ryan Piper. A win by Watson and Rhoads in the semis will put the two teammates against each other for the Little State title.
Josh Boyer picked up a victory at 125 pounds after receiving a first-round bye in the random bracket draw. His win came in a 10-4 decision over Neeko Paris from Manchester. Jake Strausbaugh pinned Josh Patterson in his first bout at 141 pounds. Strausbaugh earned an 18-6 win in the next round against Brian Lewis, and will now face Thomas Pompei in Saturday's semifinals.
Michael Burke pinned Ron Blake in his only bout at 197 pounds. Burke, the top-seeded wrestler in the weight class, will compete against fourth-seeded John Jones in the opening round on Saturday.
Rob Arnett scored a 5-3 win against Andre Dunn in the first bout at 285 pounds. He added a 6-2 decision over sixth-seeded Artie Grubba in the next round to advance to the semifinals. Arnett, the third seed in the weight class, will compete against second-seeded James Zarate in the first match Saturday.
Tony Conway and Jordan Dulaney dropped to the consolation bracket at 157 pounds, but continued to win to stay in the tournament. Unfortunately the two Wabash wrestlers will face each other in an elimination match in the first round Saturday for the right to advance to the consolation semifinals. Oscar Trujillo will continue competing at 133 pounds. He won his opening bout 13-11 before falling to second-seeded D'Marcus Spencer. Trujillo will wrestle sixth-seeded Mike Halko in the opening round Saturday morning.
Freshman Bill Wood won three bouts in the consolation bracket of the 149-pound bracket. Wood, wrestling for the first time this season after playing football for the Little Giants in the fall, will face fourth-seeded Derek Allen in Saturday's first bout of the consolation quarterfinals.