Little Giant senior Rob Arnett posted three victories to win the 285-pound weight class at Saturday's Mid-States Conference Wrestling Tournament, held at Wabash College. The Little Giants finished second in the final team scoring, while Jake Strausbaugh was named the Freshmen Wrestler of the Year.
View photos taken by Alex Moseman ’11 here.
Arnett, the top seed in the weight class, had two pins --- the first at 1:22 against Trine's Mike Tees and the second versus teammate Pat Clegg at 6:05 into the championship semifinal round. Arnett defeated third-seeded Dylan Forbes from Trine 5-2 in the finals. Clegg finished fourth overall, rallying for a 14-4 major decision in the consolation bracket before losing 12-4 in the finals to second-seeded Spencer Fulk from Manchester.
Josh Boyer finished second at 125 pounds. He opened with a 3-2 victory over Manchester's Alex Filer before falling 13-7 to top-seeded Cody Stewart from Mount St. Joseph in the finals. Oscar Trujillo added a second-place finish at 133 pounds, winning 13-5 in his first match against Chuck Holmquest from Manchester before suffering a 10-1 loss to top-seeded Adam Wilson of Olivet in the finals.
Freshman Johnny Dillon picked up a technical fall in his semifinal match with a 20-5 victory against Nick Odom from Trine. Dillon faced Trace Hall from Trine in the finals. The duo battled into overtime, where Hall scored a takedown, then finished the match with pin to take the title, with Dillon finishing second in the weight class. Garrett Payne defeated Manchester's Adam Ulmer 13-3 in the consolation finals to finish fifth overall at 149 pounds.
Jake Moore scored a third-place finish at 157 pounds. After losing his first match of the day, Moore responded with an 8-4 win against Cory Disbennett (Mount St. Joseph) in the consolation bracket. A 13-4 win in the consolation semis over Zac Leffel (Trine) pitted Moore against second-seeded Ben Hitchcock from Olivet in the finals. Moore took the match with a 9-4 decision.
Tyler McCoy 3-1 for the weekend to finish third at 184 pounds. Martin Lantz finished fourth in the same weight class with a 2-2 record, while Daniel Sandberg went 2-2 to finish fifth overall at 184 pounds. Graham Youngs pinned Justin Meiniek (Mount St. Joseph) at 2:21 in their opening match of the day before finishing 2-2 to take fourth place at 165 pounds. Ryan Lutz was 1-2 to take fourth place at 197 pounds. Bryan Hugo was fifth after going 1-2 at 174 pounds.
Strausbaugh (right) was awarded Freshman of the Year honors by the coaches based upon his efforts throughout the season. He entered the day with a 37-9 overall record and is ranked 10th in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Brute-Adidas individual rankings. The Award is based upon the entire season's efforts. Strausbaugh did not compete in Saturday's Mid-States meet.
Wabash College assistant wrestling coach Danny Irwin joined Mount St. Joseph's Brennan Ryan as the Co-Assistant Coach of the Year.
The Little Giants finished second in the overall team standings with a total of 132-1/2 points. Trine won the team competition with 150 points, followed by Olivet in third place with 129 points. Mount St. Joseph (95-1/2 points) and Manchester (68.5 points) completed the team scoring.
Wabash will compete at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Meet on Saturday, February 20 in Doylestown, PA on the campus of Delaware Valley College.