Led by three individual titles and two second-place finishes, Wabash took second place in the final team standings at Saturday's North Central College Wrestling Invitational. Johnny Dillon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 149-pound weight class, while Michael Burke and Rob Arnett were crowned champions at 197 and 285 pounds, respectively.
Dillon entered the tournament as the number two seed. He quickly advanced to the semifinals with a 21-9 major victory in the first round of wrestling and a pin 4:30 into his second match. Dillon defeated sixth-seeded Trent Reinoehl from the host Cardinals program 4-1, then knocked off top-seeded Virgil Pope from the Milwaukee School of Engineering by the same 4-1 scored to take the tournament title.
Burke claimed his second tournament title in as many weeks after winning the 197-pound weight class at the Indiana Little State Tourney. The senior was the top seed in the North Central tourney and received a bye into the semifnals, where he posted a 10-6 victory over fourth-seeded Sean Yarros from Wisconsin-Platteville. Burke then knocked off third-seed Bradley Zellner from Platteville 3-1 in the finals to take the title.
Arnett opened with a pin 1:11 into his first round on the mat at 285 pounds. He socred an 8-3 win as the number one seed over fifth-seeded Tyler Manning from Platteville in the semis before claiming the heavyweight crown with an 11-3 major decision over third-seeded Rodney Knowlton from North Central.
Jake Strausbaugh and Greg Rhoads each added second place finishes at 141 and 174 pounds. Strausbaugh, the WWSport.com Wrestler of the Week, scored two straight pins in the opening rounds (4:46 and 1:32) before defeating third-seeded Andrew Zobac from North Central. Strausbaugh, the two-seed, faced top-seeded Olivet wrestler Vince Tucker in the title bout. Tucker came away with a hard-fought 7-5 win.
Rhoads was seeded third at 174 pounds heading into the tournament. He started with a 13-4 major victory in the opening round, then scored a pin 1:26 into his second-round bout against North Central's Taylor Trim. A 15-6 major decision over second-seededCory Zuberbier from Platteville put Rhoads up against Cowan Brown from North Central. The Cardinal wrestler defeated Rhoads 8-4 in the title bout.
Gabe Watson added a fourth-place finish at 174 pounds by scoring two opening round victories before losing to Brown in the championship semis. A 6-3 win over Simpson's Jordy Ammons sent Watson to the finals where he lost 10-6 to Justin Tomal from Wheaton.
Bryan Hugo scored two wins by scores of 3-1 and 14-12 before losing 6-4 to second-seed Joby Bodi at 165 pounds. Hugo rallied for a 3-1 tiebreaker victory in the consolation semis before losing 15-4 to Jim Neal in the finals to take fourth place. Bill Wood added a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds with a pin in his first bout of the tournament at 3:19 and three consolation bout victories. Pat Clegg took fourth place at heavyweight with 7-2 and 4-3 victories in his first two matches along with a 12-3 major decision in the consolation semis before falling in the finals. Jordan Dulaney scored two early victories before being upset in the semifinals at 157 pounds to score a fourth -place finish at 157 pounds. Teammated Jake Moore finished fifth in the weight class with four wins in the consolation portion of the bracket.
North Central won the tournament with a total of 157.5 points. The Little Giants were second with a score of 119 points, followed by Platteville (111) and Olivet (84.5). Wabash will be back on the mats at the end of the month at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois.
Josh Boyer was fifth in the 125-pound bracket with a 2-2 record, including a 17-11 win in the finals.