“Anything is possible,” was the tone set by Elizabethtown College’s wrestling team this past weekend at the Pete Wilson-Wheaton (III) Invitational.
The Pete Wilson-Wheaton (III) Invitational is a large tournament in which 30 DIII wrestling teams compete in a two-day tournament. The first day determines which wrestlers advance to face off the next day. This competition allowed the Blue Jays’ wrestling team to show everyone what it is made of.
Unfortunately, the team is currently not at its full potential because its national qualifiers Chad Lammer (133), Jesse Meaney (149) and 2013 All-American Julian Meaney (184) remain injured. “We still have a strong line-up and some great contenders, but our main focus is getting healthy,” Head Coach Eric Walker said.
The nine-man line up won a combined total of 12 matches on the opening day of the invitational. Kyle McNulty (125) prevailed over Ryan Osse (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) with a major decision and advanced to the next round, defeating Zac Denny (Wisconsin Whitewater). McNulty fell prematurely 7-3 to Josh Hal (Case Western) in the third round of wrestleback.
A new addition to the team, Jeremy Reith (285) entered the tournament as the Blue Jays’ only seeded wrestler. Reith performed well and earned his place back in the national rankings, holding the No. 6 spot in this week’s NWCA list. In his first round match, he faced off against Dustin Kult (Manchester) and topped him 3-1. He fell to a similar score in the next round to Dylan Mahler (North Carolina). His astounding victory over Chicago’s Jeffery Tyburski in the second round earned his match against Josh Roberts (Mount Union) in the third. This low scoring match, 2-1, resulted in Roberts prevailing over Reith.
Three Blue Jays advanced to the third round of wrestlebacks: Zeke Zimmer (165), Luke Fernandez (184) and Jared Weaver (197). Zimmer made a strong comeback from his first round loss to Jeremy Stepp (Heidelberg). Zimmer defeated Rocky Cantu of Olivet, 5-2, and Cole Vencil of Muskingum, 14-9. He was then eliminated by Casey Kenealy of Concordia’s, 14-8. “I felt we all did well but the best performances had to come from first-years Luke Fernandez and Ryan Harter,” Zimmer said.
Fernandez came back from his opening setback in the first round 8-1 against Dillon Brancheau (Ohio Northern). Fernandez, who has wrestled out of his weight class the majority of the season, fell against Manchester’s Brian Clark 5:14. Ryan Harter (125) took over for the absence of Lammer (133) and earned a great victory in the first round 5-0 against Justin Zimmerman in a wrestleback.
Jared Weaver (197) was the only Blue Jay to win a pin match on Friday even though he only needed 1:19 to defeat Tyler Keating (Baldwin Wallace) in the second round.
“We work hard as a team and anything is possible when you step out on the mat in front of a large crowd. And this tournament gave us the motivation to beat Kings today,” junior Jordan Moser said.
