Eight Wabash wrestlers advanced to the second day of the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational. Jake Strausbaugh, Greg Rhoads, and Rob Arnett remained in the winner's bracket, while Michael Burke, Bryan Hugo, Graham Youngs, Johnny Dillon, and Oscar Trujillo will compete in the consolation bracket.
Strausbaugh was seeded second at 141 pounds and started Friday's competion with an 18-3 technical fall over David Tuomi from Concordia. The Wabash freshman will face unseeded Alex Dahl, an upset overtime winner against seventh-seeded Josh Malave from Mount Union.
Rhoads scored two victories at 174 pounds. The sixth-seeded wrestler posted a 9-3 win in the opening round against Chad Ulmer from Manchester, followed by a pin a the 3:00 mark of his match against Travis Hammer from John Carroll. Rhoads will take on third-seed Kyle Kwiat from Ohio Northern in the championship quarterfinals Saturday morning.
Arnett scored a major victory with a 13-3 win against Cale Harter from Case Western Reserve in the first round of the heavyweight division. A 15-0 technical fall against Augustana's George Pappendreau allowed the seventh-seeded Arnett to advance to Saturday's championship quarterfinal round, where he will compete against second-seeded Mark Corsello from Elmhurst.
Burke received a first-round by at 197 pounds, then lost 9-7 in a sudden victory match to fall to the consolation bracket. He rebounded with a pin (3:51) against Sean Brooks from Mount St. Joseph. Hugo recorded a pin (2:34) in his first match at 184 pounds, but lost to eight-seeded Andy Jenkins in the second round. Another pin for Hugo --- this time at the 3:44 mark of his consolation bout against Will Christ from Wisconsin-Eau Claire --- allowed him to advance in the bracket.
Dillon pinned Matt Schuck from Wisconsin-Whitewater 4:22 into their 149-pound bout. A 9-4 loss in the second round sent Dillon to the consolation bracket, where he scored a 4-3 win against sixth-seeded Virgil Pope from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The fifth-seeded Dillon will take on Domineak Commodore from Messiah, who upset fourth-seeded Elias Larson after the Trine wrestler was disqualified.
Trujillo lost to the top-seeded wrestler at 133 pounds in the opening round, but rallied for an 18-2 technical fall in his second bout against Messiah's Andrew Clark. Youngs dropped his opening bout at 165 pounds by a score of 8-4, then received a medical forfeit in the next round to move on in the consolation bracket.
The two-day tournament continues Saturday on the Wheaton College campus.