OLIVET, Mich. - Against some of the best competition they will see all season, the Trine University wrestling team finished 1-3 at the Olivet Comet Duals on Saturday (Nov. 19).
In their opening match, the Thunder faced off against #11 North Central (Ill.). Despite not wrestling in two weight classes the Thunder were narrowly defeated by a score of 28-16.
In the second round, Trine fell to Heidelberg 28-23 even though the Thunder won five out of eight head-to-head matches.
In their next match, the Thunder were unable to overcome #19 Ohio Northern falling 36-12.
Trine was able to get in the win column in their final match of the day as they defeated Bridgewater by a point, 25-24.
All-American junior Elias Larson (Chicago, Ill./Marion Catholic) went undefeated on the day at 157, including two wins by pinfall coming at just 48 seconds and 1:04. Larson won his other two bouts by a combined score of 25-3.
George Markou (Peru, Ind./Peru) was also perfect on the day in the 165 class. Markou pinned his final opponent in just 1:23. Markou’s closest match of the day came in a 6-5 win over Ohio Northern.
Jason Alber (Manchester, Mich./Manchester) at 174 and Ryan Pieper (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) at 184 each went 3-1 on the afternoon. Alber’s only loss of the day came against North Central in a 5-1 decision while Pieper fell to Ohio Northern 9-4.
Trine will take a few weeks off before next competing at the two-day Indiana Little State Tournament at Manchester College starting December 2 at noon.