ADA, Ohio--The Adrian College men's wrestling team scored 105.5 points to finish in sixth place out of 13 schools at the 39th edition of the Ohio Northern University Invitational on Saturday at the ONU Sports Center Fieldhouse.
Adrian was led by Devon Pingel who was the 197-pound runner-up with a 4-1 record. Pingel earned two quick pins over opponents Alejandro Lopez (Trine, 22 seconds) and Cory Stallings (Heidelberg, 1 minute-27 seconds) to reach the quarterfinals, where he bested Austin Fox (Alma) via injury forfeit in 48 seconds. In the semifinals, Pingel won a 9-5 decision over Cash Thompson of host Ohio Northern. In the championship bout, Pingel lost to Tiffin top-seed Nicholas Mason by technical fall, 18-3.
Junior Donald Moses also made a semifinals appearance at 197. He opened with a 5-3 win over Austin Popp (Alma College), defeated fifth-seeded Chase Gibson (Trine University) by a 2-1 decision and dispatched fourth-seeded Jarrod Setliff (Otterbein) by 9-6 decision. Moses lost in the semifinals by a 3:00 pin to No. 1 seed Mason who won the championship over Pingel, his teammate.
The 149-pound flight included a matchup of No. 2 vs No. 1 seeds in Adrian junior Noah Nieman against Christopher Donathan out of Tiffin. Donathan edged Nieman in a close decision, 11-6. Nieman breezed through his competition with technical falls of 16-0, 16-1 and 23-8 in four bouts as he ended the day with a 4-1 record.
Sophomore Elijah Sanchez advanced to the semifinals for Adrian in the 133-pound bracket. After receiving a first-round bye, Sanchez picked up a pair of pins over Iosef Nunez of Heidelberg in 33 seconds and Richetshaye Puente from Tiffin in 7:48 to meet Alma's Trent Lashuay in the final four. Lashuay won by technical fall, 22-6, before taking the title.
Freshman Dylan Wellbaum also represented the Bulldogs in the 174 semifinals. Wellbaum went 2-1 after receiving two byes, defeating Ohio Weslyan's Ross Eggleston in a 19-3 technical fall and ONU's Connar Kwiat in a 5-4 decision before falling to second-seeded Richard Screptock with Tiffin University, a close 9-5 decision, in the semifinals. Screptock won the crown.
NCAA Division II scholarship Tiffin University took the team title with 200 points, besting the host Polar Bears who compiled 151.
Adrian takes the mat again next Saturday for the Kalahari Resorts Duals hosted by Heidelberg University in Sandusky, Ohio, where the Bulldogs will take on nationally-ranked Mount Union (9 a.m.), the host Student Princes (10:30 a.m.) and another Top-25 team in Baldwin Wallace (noon). The AC junior varsity squad will face HU at 1:30 p.m.
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