LEXINGTON, Va. (Jan. 17) – Earlier this season, the Waynesburg wrestling team won its first dual match in two seasons. Then, by beating Washington and Jefferson on Jan. 10, they claimed their first Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory since the 2003-2004 campaign. In Virginia this past Saturday, the Yellow Jackets ended another long drought as they won the eight-team Washington & Lee Invitational.
It is not currently known when the Waynesburg wrestling program last won an invitational.
The Jackets won the event with a final team score of 123.0, which put them comfortably ahead of W&J, which finished in second place with a total tally of 114.50. Johns Hopkins rounded out the top three finishers with 107.50.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Waynesburg natives Nick Garber and Corbin Semple, who won individual titles at 133 and 197 pounds, respectively. For Garber, it was his third invitational title of the year. It was the first collegiate title for Semple.
Garber improved to 19-0 on the year and added two more pin-fall victories, giving him 16 on the season, with a 2-0 showing at W&L. After receiving a first-round bye as the top seed, Garber picked up his second win by fall this year over Johns Hopkins' Mike Testa. He followed that by pinning W&J's Brandon Sansom in 4:38 to take first-place.
Like Garber, Semple, a number-one seed, pinned his way to the crown. After receiving a bye, the first-year grappler went to work by pinning Muhlenberg's Bill Sholly at 4:37 of their bout. The former Pa. State Champion (shown above during a match from earlier this year) took very little time in taking the title, as he defeated Johns Hopkins' Tyler Schmidt in just 28 seconds, which is Semple's quickest win of the year.
Along with a pair of champions, two more Jackets placed second on the day. Freshman 125-pounder Rico Borz accomplished the feat, as did first-year 157-pounder Jared Roberts. Both wrestlers suffered closely-fought decision losses.
Waynesburg sealed up the team victory with five more top-four finishes. Sophomore 141-pounder Pat McCabe bounced back from a first-round loss to take third place. Freshman Alex Evanoff took the bronze at 165 pounds, as did senior 174-pounder Jake Benczo.
Freshman 149-pounder Jesse Byerly had to settle for fourth place after suffering a shocking second-round loss and taking a medical forfeit in his third-place bout. The Jackets added a second place-winner at 125 pounds, thanks to a fourth-place finish by freshman Josh Klimko.
For a complete look at the individual brackets, click here. To see the complete team standings, click here.
Waynesburg won't have much time to celebrate their win at Washington and Lee, as they return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 21, to host Thiel in a big PAC match. If the Jackets can knock off the Tomcats, they will clinch a regular season conference crown.
The match is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.
