Elmhurst, Ill.-- A pair of first-place finishes led the Trine wrestling team as they placed sixth in the Al Hanke Invitational, held Saturday at Elmhurst College.
Brandon Preston (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) won the 133-lb class, while fellow senior Mack Green (Buchanan, Mich./Buchanan) took home the top spot in the Heavyweight division. Green earned five victories on the day, while Preston earned four wins. Michael Conner (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) added a third-place finish at 197-lbs. The trio helped pace Trine to earning 58 points, good enough for sixth-place in the Invitational. Olivet finished first with 141 points.
Preston scored two wins by decision, one by major decision, and one by tech fall to notch his first tournament gold of the season. The senior's 5-1 win by decision over second-seeded Matt Darling of Olivet capped off the performance. After a narrow 3-2 decision to start the day, Preston picked up dominating wins by major decision (16-7) and tech fall (15-0) to reach the championship.
Green picked up two pins on his way to advancing to the 285-lb championship. Both of his pins came in the first period. Green also picked up a pair of wins by decision to advance to the finals. The reigning All-American capped off the first-place finish with a 2-0 win by decision over the University of Chicago's Matt Palmisano. Green is now 24-2 on the season, and is ranked second in the nation by D3wrestle.com.
Conner fell into the consolation bracket after picking up a win by decision. He picked up another victory by decision to advance to the third-place match. The junior defeated Elmhurst's Colton Kelly by 7-3 decision to cap off his performance.
Other highlights for Trine included pins for Austin Helm (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) and Cody Konieczki (Jackson, Mich./Michigan Center).
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Trine will host Manchester this Friday, Jan. 23 for senior night. Matches will begin at 7 p.m.
