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Buxton’s first-place finish leads wrestling at invitational

By Jon Silvidi 3 min read

The Waynesburg University wrestling team hit the mats Saturday at the Ohio Northern University Invitational. The Jackets placed seventh overall, while six wrestlers placed in the top four of their respective weight classes.

“We hoped to at least finish in the top 10,” said head coach Ron Headlee. “I loved the progress we made and I’m really pleased with the way we wrestled as a team.”

Sophomore Tristan Buxton won the 125-pound title, which is his first individual championship as a collegiate wrestler.

“Tristan had an awesome tournament,” said Headlee. “He was very even keel and wrestled one match at a time.”

Buxton started the tournament with an 8-0 major decision over Thomas Schnitker of Heidelberg. He then went on to win his next two matches with a 21-6 (7:00) technical fall against Ohio Northern’s Austin Palmer and a 9-1 major decision over Jacob Burroughs from Lindsey Wilson to make it to the semifinals.

“Tristan just wrestled the same way every time,” said Headlee. “He gives himself a chance to win every match.”

 Buxton upset the top seed of Olivet, Michael Schmidt. He scored a takedown in the first sudden victory period of the championship bout with Ohio Northern’s Brad Taton. This gave Buxton the  7-5 win.

“I’m very excited with the outcome,” said Buxton. “I felt confident and I want to achieve even higher accomplishments.”

After his impressive performance over the weekend, Buxton was named Presidents’ Athletic Conference wrestler of the week.

Senior Gordan Bieber was another 125 placer by going 5-1 on the day to take third place. He ended his day by pinning Giuseppe Penzone of the nationally-ranked Division II program Tiffin in 6:09.

“We need to start making more attempts in a match,” said Headlee. “As a team we need to work on our shots and finishes.”

Sophomore Zach Swarrow, who was wrestling at 133-pound weight class, advanced to the semifinals following two wins; one by decision and the other a major decision. Swarrow dropped to consolations and made his way to the third-place bout. He finished on the day with a 12-7 victory over Brad Moser of NAIA Lindsey Wilson.

“We have a young team,” said Headlee. “The biggest thing we need to work on is confidence in ourselves and realizing our potential.”

Freshman heavyweight Jake Evans was the Jacket’s final third place qualifier. He went 4-1 with three wins by pin and a 9-0 major decision.

Senior Filippo Crivelli at 141 and junior Ryan Shank at 184, both finished fourth place in their respective weights. Each of them posted 3-2 records with a first-period pin.

“As a whole we need to be more aggressive,” said Buxton. “We need to push the pace more and wrestle our match.”

The Jackets return home for a quad-match with Baldwin-Wallace, Stevens Institute of Technology and West Virginia Institute of Technology this Saturday, Dec. 12, beginning at 11 a.m.

“We need to win the close ones,” said Headlee. “Stevens and Baldwin are top 10 teams but I’m not counting us out.”

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