WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 4) – Saturday's ninth annual Waynesburg Invitational produced a mixed bag of results for the Yellow Jacket wrestling team. While the squad was unable to bring home an individual title, several Jackets turned in outstanding days on the mat. The Orange and Black finished sixth out of 15 teams.
 
Waynesburg put two wrestlers into their respective championship bouts to pace seven medalists on the day. The feat was made even more impressive when one consider the home team featured competitors in just seven of a possible 10 weight classes.
 
Senior Dillion Charlton (Stoystown, Pa. / North Star) received the three seed at 184 pounds and started his run with a bang thanks to a 10-1 major decision in his opening bout of the day that moved him into the semifinals. Charlton next squared off with second-seeded Ali Capobianco of Alvernia, who held close to an eight-pound weight advantage over the Waynesburg veteran.
 
Charlton showed no fear of the ultra-aggressive Capobianco and quickly fired in for a takedown and near-fall points to jump out to an early lead. The next seven minutes were high paced and thrilling to watch as the Jacket veteran maintained the advantage despite the efforts of his opponent.
 
Charlton held a two-point lead as time was about to expire, but one of the best matches of the event will likely be remembered for a shocking end to the contest that saw Capobianco, in an act of frustration, lift his opponent and slam him into the scorer's table. The act changed the final result of the match from a decision win for Charlton into a disqualification.
 
Despite going through a seven-minute war that left him sapped, bruised and cut across his shoulder, Charlton gathered himself up and competed in the title match against top-seeded Gino Sita of Alderson Broaddus. The Jacket veteran settled for silver against the seventh-ranked grappler in Division II.
 
Freshman heavyweight Rocky McGeary (McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny) was seeking his third tournament title of his debut collegiate season. He looked the part of the top seed of the bracket by pinning his first three opponents to reach the finals at 285 pounds.
 
The seventh-ranked wrestler in Division III faced off with Adrian's Isaiah Espinoza, the two seed and a wrestler featured in the top 20 of D3wrestle.com national rankings. Unfortunately, McGeary gave up a takedown just before the buzzer of the first period that proved to be the difference in a 5-1 setback to a much larger Espinoza, who was later named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
 
Waynesburg boasted a second top-three finisher at 184 thanks to the efforts of senior Dan Verhovsek (Johnstown, Pa. / Richland). A heart-breaking 4-3 decision in his first match of the day was his last loss of the event. Three victories in consolations, including a 12-4 major decision in the bronze medal bout, locked down third for the veteran.
 
Freshman Harley Constable (Smithfield, Pa. / Albert Gallatin) bucked the trend of many wrestlers in the field by dropping a weight class for the invitational. After competing in just one event in his first semester at Waynesburg, Constable descended from 141 pounds to 133 and battled his way to a sixth-place finish over a six-match day.
 
Following a loss in his debut bout, Constable won three-straight matches to reach the consolation semifinals. Unfortunately, a 4-1 decision denied him a spot in the bronze medal match.
 
Senior Matt Lascola (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Langley) added a sixth-place showing of his own at 141 pounds. Following a 12-3 major decision in his first match of the day, Lascola suffered a decision setback to the second seed in the bracket. He responded with two more major decisions in wrestle-backs, including a 15-3 win over Washington & Jefferson's Vincent Catania. Back-to-back losses forced the Jacket veteran to settle for sixth.
 
Second-seeded junior Caleb Baxter (Butler, Pa. / Butler) got his day off on a strong start with a pin in just two minutes at 174 pounds. Unfortunately, he was upset in a 1-0 nail biter that dropped him into the consolation rounds. Baxter shook the disappointment of the loss with another first-period pin and a decision to reach the consolation semifinals. He forfeited out of the rest of the event by choice and settled for sixth place.
 
Ohio Northern took home the team title with 137.0 points. Division II Lake Erie followed in second place with 81.5 points, while W&J wrapped up the top three with 74.0 points. Waynesburg posted 70.0 points
 
The Jackets return to the mats on Wednesday with a home tri-match. The Jackets welcome W&J and McDaniel to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse, but will only compete with the latter of the two teams.