Jan 1, 2016 By Jacob Meyer sports Editor 2 min read

The Waynesburg University wrestling team took a two-day trip to the Citrus Invitational in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Yellow Jackets placed seventh out of the 11-team field.

“I thought we were a little sluggish on the first day. Maybe it was being off a week, but some of our seeds were tough and we had some tough draws off the bat,” head coach Ron Headlee said. “We wrestled a lot better the second day.”

After the first day, sophomore 133-pounder Zach Swarrow, junior 185-pounder Ryan Shank and freshman heavyweight Jake Evans were the only wrestlers on Waynesburg still alive in the championship bracket.

Sophomore 165-pounder Landon Lohr, freshman 174-pounder Mike Millero, senior 125-pounder Gordan Bieber and sophomore 149-pounder DJ Grindle entered day two in the consolation brackets.

After the second and last day at the invitational, Bieber was one of three Yellow Jacket wrestlers to place third in his respective weight class. Bieber placed in the 125-pound weight class, while Shank and Evans also finished third in their weight classes, 184 and 285, respectively.

“Mike Millero wrestled really well, and so did Ryan Shank. Gordon Bieber got beat his first and he was able to come all the way back from that,” Headlee said. “Jake Evans has been solid every time he goes out. He lost to the national champion and didn’t struggle in any other match.”

Headlee was more pleased with how his team wrestled on day two of the invitational.

“We only lost one of place matches and we had some good comeback wins,” Headlee said. “Ryan Shank, after losing in semifinals to a two-time all American, responded well and was dominate in his matches. Gordon Bieber coming back all the way back to get third was good, too.”

The Waynesburg University hits the mat again on Jan. 8-9 at the Bud Whitehill National Duels in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.