LEXINGTON CITY, VA. -- The Trine University wrestling team came a way with a 1-3 record at the Washington & Lee (Va.) University Duals with its lone team win of the day coming against Greensboro (N.C.) College, 46-11, in Lexington City, Va.
The Thunder captured eight of the 10 individual matches against the Pride, including winning five of those matches via pinfall. Sophomore Clinton Wells (El Paso, Texas/Parkland) and senior Caleb Maddox (Russiaville, Ind./Western) won both of their matches by forfeit and freshman Franklin Ulrich (Lansing, Mich./Maple Valley) posted a, 9-1, major decision against his opponent at 165 pounds. The remaining victories were all recorded by pins.
Sophomore Brandon Minear (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit) pinned his 149-pound opponent (Ryan Dominique) in a time of 4:18. The Thunder went on to sweep the 174 through 285-pound weight classes with junior Nick Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider) pinning the shoulders of Quaevon Cannon in his 174-pound bout in a time of 2:55. Junior Luke Carver (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis) defeated his 184-pound contender (Daniel Pearce) in a time of 1:41 to claim six more team points along with fellow junior Austin Farrell (Hopkins, Mich./Allegan) who captured a pin at 184 pounds in just under three minutes (2:52). Sophomore Ethan Simmons (Scotts, Mich./Climax-South) rounded out the individual victories by pinning his heavy weight opponent (Vince Wilson) in a time of 4:18.
Trine faced three other schools on the day, including host and No. 22 nationally-ranked Washington & Lee, but fell to the Generals by the final of, 27-20. Carver and Simmons both recorded victories for the Thunder with Carver winning his 184-pound matchup by technical fall, 17-0, at the 4:50 mark. Simmons captured another heavy weight win, this time by decision, defeating Clay Chadwick by a score of 3-1. Freshman Owen Conklin (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) also won his match at 165 pounds and recorded a pin, beating Kevin Thole in a time of 5:27.
In the other remaining matches, Trine was edged by McDaniel (Md.) College, 22-21, and also fell to Averett (Va.) University, 28-18. Against McDaniel, Maddox, Minear, and Farrell all won their individual matches by decision. The remaining individual victories were a pair of pins by Miller and Carver. Both wrestlers needed about a minute-and-a-half to pin their opponents with Miller winning in a time of 1:29 against Cole Nagle and Carver needing 1:35 to pin Ronald Wuest.
Against Averett, Carver recorded his second technical fall of the afternoon to end the day with a perfect 4-0 mark. Carver defeated Averett's Demontay Wimbush by a score of 19-2 (4:13). The remaining victories were recorded by Miller at 174-pounds where he defeated Logan Howell by major decision, 14-2, and ended the event with a 3-1 individual record. Farrell also posted his third win of the day (3-1 overall) following a 7-4 decision over Jonathan Bishop. Simmons wrapped up the match winning by medical default early in his matchup against Thaddeus Wilkerson which gave him a 3-0 record individually.
Trine will compete against Olivet (Mich.) College in its first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association matchup of the season on Thursday, Jan. 10 in Olivet, Mich. The first match is scheduled for 7 p.m.