NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. -- The Trine University wrestling team competed in the annual Spartan Mat Classic hosted by Manchester University and placed 13th overall at the event in North Manchester, Ind.
The Thunder posted a team score of 24.5 points to finish 13th of 17 teams. Wabash College ended up as the team champion with 161 points and was followed by West Liberty (W.Va.) University in second place at 154 points. Indiana Tech rounded out the top three teams at 148 points.
Individually, Trine had two wrestlers place in their respective weight classes in junior Efrain Amezquita (Twelve Mile, Ind./Caston) and junior Jacob Garrett (Colfax, Ind./Clinton Prairie).
Amezquita placed sixth in the 165-pound bracket and finished 3-2 on the day. He started out with a win against Manchester's Blake Bushey by a 16-2 major decision before falling in his next match to drop to the consolation bracket. Amezquita then posted back-to-back wins that included a pin against Peter Fogel from Macomb (Mich.) Community College in less than a minute (55 seconds) and then followed with a one-point decision victory against Manchester's Ellisston Ross (10-9). In the fifth place bout, Amezquita was pinned by Jacob Ferris (Unattached) in a time of 1:23 to finish in sixth place overall.
Garrett recorded a seventh-place finish in the heavyweight division (285 lbs.) and rallied from an opening round loss to post four victories in the consolation bracket. Garrett fell to Max Bishop of Wabash in his first match of the day and after receiving a first match bye in the consolation bracket, Garrett then captured a victory against Wad Ripple, also from Wabash, via a forfeit. Garrett then had back-to-back wins by decision against fellow teammate Anthony Greenman (Sand Creek, Mich./Sand Creek) by a score of 7-6, followed by a 4-2 victory against Tyler Kassinger from Thomas (Ky.) More College. He fell one win away from advancing to the fifth-place match after falling in his next match by an 8-1 final, but then won via a medical forfeit to take seventh place.
The Trine wrestling team will next travel to Alma, Mich. for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener against Alma College on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The dual match is set to begin at 7 p.m.