Sophomore Nick Garber, pictured above during an earlier match, led a group of seven waynesburg place-winners by winning the 133-pound weight class at the Messiah Invitational on Saturday.
GRANTHAM, Pa. (Nov. 8) – The Waynesburg wrestling team fared well in its first action of the season as the team traveled to the highly competitive Messiah Invitational.
A total of seven Yellow Jacket grapplers placed in the top four of their respective weight classes at the event, including sophomore 133-pounder Nick Garber, who took top honors in the class.
The top-seeded Garber rolled through the competition with three first-period pins, including a fall in just 17 seconds over second-seeded Michael Testa of Johns Hopkins in the finals.
Speaking of 133, the Jackets showcased tremendous depth at the weight as freshman Rico Borz placed third and senior Tyler Altmeyer placed fourth, almost filling the podium with Orange and Black.
Sophomore Josh Boyle picked up second place honors at 125 pounds, and freshman Todd Martinek did the same at 174 pounds. Martinek reached the championship finals after not being ranked. In the championship round, the Trinity graduate gave top-ranked David Jones a good battle, before ultimately dropping an 8-4 decision loss.
However, the day's most impressive performance may have come at heavyweight, where freshman Corbin Semple, who is expected to be the team's top competitor at 197 pounds, weighed in at 197.5 pounds, forcing him to compete with the big boys.
Despite giving up plenty of pounds, Semple, who hasn't wrestled competitively since his senior year of high school in 2005, earned a third-place finish. Junior Rich Janicki also placed at 285 pounds, finishing fourth.
The Jackets showcased impressive depth at the event as nearly all of the 21 wrestlers who competed won at least one match, including freshman Jon Sanko, who went 4-2 at 149 pounds, good enough for a sixth-place finish.
“A lot of guys got a lot of mat time,” Waynesburg head coach Ron Headlee said. “I was proud of how the guys performed and we're going to get better.”
All told, Waynesburg finished fourth out of the eight-team field with 62 points, just 0.5 points behind third-place McDaniel. Top team honors went to the host Falcons (84), who were followed in second place by Elizabethtown (80).
Case Western (61.5), Johns Hopkins (54), Ursinus (48.5) and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) (36) rounded out the team standings.
For a complete look at the brackets from the event, click here.
The Jackets will have plenty of time to rest from their busy day on Saturday as they are off until Nov. 19, when they host Division I Duquesne for a dual match at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.
