Wrestling brings home six medals from meet
On the bus ride back to Waynesburg’s campus after the John Summa Memorial Invitational this past Saturday, the Yellow Jackets brought home some extra bling for their efforts.
Waynesburg had six wrestling placed winners in the tournament hosted by Baldwin Wallace University. Also, despite only entering in eight of the 10 possible weight classes, the team placed fourth overall in points-ahead of both Presidents Athletic Conference foes, the Washington & Jefferson Presidents and the Thiel Tomcats who finished fifth and 10th, respectively.
Freshman standout Jake Evans and senior Gordan Bieber both finished second in their respective weight classes. Evans went 3-1 on the day, with his only loss coming at the hands of the first ranked wrestler in the bracket. Evans is now 27-7 overall, and 15-5 in tournaments, this year.
“Jake’s been steady for us all year,” said head coach Ron Headlee. “He beat a good kid he wrestled against here [previously] at Baldwin Wallace.”
Bieber finished similarly in his 133-pound bracket, also losing to the top seed in the championship match. He is now 20-6 on the season.
Other competitors in the tournament for Waynesburg that finished with points for the team include junior Ryan Shank, who went 5-1 to pull out a third-place finish, Landon Lohr, who reached the semifinals before placing in fifth and Tristan Buxton, who won a bronze medal at the 125-pound weight class.
While the match was a good showing for the team overall, according to Headlee, the most important thing about the day was getting some matches in for the team.
“We’d been off [the mat] 14 days without us competing,” said Headlee. “So we were just trying to get more mat time for guys… practicing you get so much, but competing is just a different story.”
With the PAC Championships Friday, it was very important to get some work in against new opponents in live action, according to Headlee.
“I think it’s going to help us a lot going down the stretch,” said Headlee.
After a third place finish in the PAC last season, the Yellow Jackets look to hopefully move up in the standings with help from the younger wrestlers they have -Lohr, Nick Kusich, Shank, Evans and Buxton.
Buxton placed third in the Summa tournament, after a hard fought day of competition.
“I’m very happy with my team’s performance,” said Buxton. “We all wrestled tough and had the will to win.”
Looking forward to the PAC Championships this upcoming Friday, Buxton looks to get off to a hot start and be able to win the 125-pound title during his sophomore campaign.
“I am very confident with my chances,” said Buxton. “I have the number one kid in the PAC off the bat, so if I beat him it’s smooth sailing.”