WHEATON, Ill.—The Adrian College men's wrestling team had an impressive debut on Friday in the prestigious Pete Willson Invitational hosted by Wheaton College at the Thunder Sports and Recreation Center. The Invitational will resume at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time) Saturday, with the semifinals and wrestlebacks as well as seventh-place matches.
After the opening day that includes the consolation second round, the Bulldogs stand in 24th place with 21-1/2 points in the 34-team tournament.
Nationally No. 8-ranked Messiah College paces the team standing with 50.0 points.
Freshman Dylan Steward and junior co-captain Zach Rieger paved the way for the Bulldogs at 157 and 285 pounds, respectively. Both reached the championship quarterfinal round.
Steward opened his day with pins over Josh Bush (Augustana) in 5 minutes and 34 seconds and No. 7-seeded Frank Aiello (Wheaton) in 1:44. Steward lost to second-seed Logan Meister of No. 14-ranked Ferrum in the quarterfinals, 6-3, but remains alive in the double-elimination tournament after doubling up Jaden Boivin (Wisconsin-Stevens Point), 13-6.
Steward will meet No. 6 seed Steve Bonsall (Chicago) in the next round on Saturday, and he can finish in as high as third place with three more wins.
Rieger also racked up a couple of pins against Gage Archer (Otterbein) in 4:22 and Nino Majoy--the second seed from Heidelberg who is ranked seventh in the nation and 2016 NCAA national qualifier--in 2:26. Rieger, however, fell to seventh-seed Donny Ralston (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) in the quarterfinals, 7-0, and No. 4 Tate Dulany (Ferrum)--in a 5:33 fall--during the consolation fourth round.
Sophomore co-captain Dominic Paterra won his opening match at 133 in a 5:50 pinfall over Ramiro Vasquez (Concordia-Wis). Paterra lost his next match in the championship second round, and was eliminated in the second round of the consolation flight by Ben Cauffman (Manchester).
After receiving a bye, sophomore Ty Jasman (149) lost a tough 8-3 decision to Evan Morgan from Ohio Northern in the championship second round. He reached the consolation third round, defeating Tyler Hall (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) by an 11-4 decision before he lost to Caleb Maddox (Trine), 7-2.
At 197, sophomore Riley Griffin bounced back after an opening round loss to pin John Butler (Thomas More) in 2:45. Griffin lost in the consolation second round to Michael Otomo (Wisconsin-La Crosse).
Junior James Pace and freshman Kyle Briggs also competed for the Bulldogs at 165 and 141, respectively.
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(Editor's note: Information in this event recap has been corrected on Saturday, Jan. 28, to reflect updated brackets and team results from the competition site late Friday night.)
