FAIRMONT, W.V. – The Trine University men's wrestling team returns home from their trip to the Fairmont State Invite with a third-place finish. Six members of the squad finished in the top-six to earn the points for the team.
Kutztown University finished first in the event with 171 points while Lindsey Wilson College came in at second with 106.5. The Thunder accumulated 87.5 points to take third, just ahead of Waynesburg University with 86.
Tyler Beach started the scoring for the team, finishing sixth at 125. After losing his first match of the tournament, Beach wrestled back with three victories to eventually reach the fifth-place match. He had two close wins by decision and one by forfeit on his way to the final match, where he fell by tech fall.
Joseph Langeman turned in one of the best performances of the weekend for the team, capturing third at 133. The senior made quick work of his first two opponents, winning by tech fall and pin in the first two rounds. He dropped his semifinal match to land in the third-place bout where he recorded another tech fall win to capture the podium.
Also finishing third was Jett Boots in the 141 bracket. After an opening round bye, Boots secured two straight wins by tech fall to reach the semifinals. There he suffered his lone loss of the day, before bouncing back with another tech fall in the third-place match.
Philip Burney competed at 157 and came away with a fifth place finish. After receiving an opening round bye, the junior won his first match of the day with a decisive tech fall. In the quaterfinal round he lost a highly contested match against the eventual runner-up. He returned to form in the consolation bracket notching a pin and a tech fall victory to reach the fifth-place match. He finished his day with another tech fall victory.
At 165, Lakin Webb started the day strong with a pin in the first round followed by a win by decision. In a tightly contested quarterfinals match he fell by just one point to the eventual runner-up. In the fifth-place match he fell for the second time to finish sixth for the Thunder.
Mason Custer was the final member of the team to secure a placed finish, coming in sixth at 197. The senior dropped his first round match but followed up by wrestling all the way back to the fifth place match. In the consolation bracket he utilized three tech falls and a pin to reach his final bout. There he was pinned to finish in sixth.
Trine will continue their season when they host Marian University Ancilla for a dual match on Wednesday, January 10. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.