HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. – The Trine University men's wrestling opened team competition with four duals at the Gator Boot Duals, hosted by Luther College in the gym at Hendersonville High School. The Thunder return home with one win and three losses with one loss coming on a tiebreaker.
The opening dual of the day saw the Thunder trade match victories with Roanoke College over the first four weights, but the Maroons earned bonus points to take the lead. Both Joseph Langeman and Isaac Hawkins picked up wins, with Hawkins coming by major decision. Philip Burney gave Trine its first lead of the day with a quick pin (1:28) in the 157 match. Roanoke pulled away in the second half of the dual, winning four of five matches to build to the final margin at 26-16. Jacob Saylor earned the last points of the match at 184 with an 8-5 decision.
The Thunder got their first dual victory of the season in the second competition of the day, defeating Concordia University Wisconsin by the score of 29-20. The team won six straight matches to get the win staring at 133 where Langeman scored a pin. Both Hawkins at 149 and Lakin Webb at 165 also scored pins in the match. Jett Boots also added bonus points at 141, where he won by tech fall. Burney and Andrew Williamson both picked up decisions to finish the scoring.
Third up for the team was a matchup with Elmhurst University. The two teams would end up both finishing with 22 team points in the contest, with the Blue Jays taking the tiebreaker point based on total match wins. The Thunder won four of the weights, all earning bonus points. Langeman, Burney and Saylor all earned wins by pin in the dual with Hawkins taking the final win by major decision.
In the final dual of the day, Averett University won the first match, before Trine reeled off four straight to take a lead. Langeman started the stretch with a decision followed by Boots and Hawkins each earning major decisions. Burney came up with a tech fall at 157 to give the team a 16-10 lead. Unfortunately, the opposition took the final five matches of the dual and took the event 31-16.
The Thunder finish the day 1-3 overall. They will continue their season in the new year when they travel to compete at the Fairmont State Invite which is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 6.