ADA, OHIO -- The Trine University wrestling team had seven individuals place, including a pair of fourth-place finishes, at the Ohio Northern Invitational in Ada, Ohio.
As a team, the Thunder finished ninth out of 11 teams with 68 points. Tiffin University ended up as team champion with 151 points. Host school, Ohio Northern, was second with 140 points and Campbellsville (Ky.) Univeristy rounded out the top three teams with 136.5 points.
Individually for Trine, freshman Noah Fayling (Parchment, Mich./Parchment) and sophomore Anthony Neal (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis) led the way with both placing fourth in their respective weight classes.
After losing his first match at 285 pounds via a pin, Fayling worked his way back with five straight victories, including a pin against Tiffin's David Henson (0:25), to advance to the third-place bout. He would fall just short of claiming third place, falling by decision to Mathew Kaminer of Washington & Lee (Va.) University by a final score of 2-1.
Neal finished with a 2-2 record in his 197-pound bracket which began with a pair of byes to advance to the quarterfinal round where he won by sudden victory against Chase Morrison of Heidelberg (Ohio) University. After falling in his semifinal match, Neal won by decision, 8-2, against Campbellsville's Jacob Franklin to get to the third-place match where he lost to Heidelberg's Tyler Hammack to place fourth overall.
At 125 pounds, sophomore Brenden Stevens (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview) finshed fifth overall and began the day with a pin against Garret Cleveland from Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponent Olivet (Mich.) College (0:42). Stevens then went on to win by major decision against Michael Beets from Campbellsville (11-2), before falling in the semifinals in both the championship and consolation brackets. He then won by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match to end the day with a 3-2 record.
Sophomore Luke Carver (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis) placed seventh in his 184-pound bracket after finishing with a 4-2 record which included a pair of medical forfeit against a pair of teammates. Carver started off with two victories, one by technical fall (19-2) and by decision (4-0), before losing in the quarterfinals to drop to the consolation portion of the bracket. He then won by medical forfeit against teammate Same Burge (Niles, Mich./Niles-Brandywine), but then lost his next match and won by a second medical forfeit against teammate Austin Farrell (Hopkins, Mich./Allegan) to finish in seventh place.
Trine had three individuals place eighth in freshman Dominic Pecoraro (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), junior Luis Chacon (New Haven, Ind./New Haven) and Farrell.
Pecoraro competed at 133 pounds and went 1-3 after receiving byes in his first two rounds. Pecoraro's only victory came in his second match of the day in which he won by decision against David Staten of Otterbein University, 15-12.
Chacon posted two victories at 165 pounds which included an 11-4 decision in his first match against W&L's Patrick Hofstedt. His other victory came via a forfeit in the consolation bracket en route to finishing eighth overall.
Farrell got off to a quick start at 184 pounds with a pair of wins that included a pin in his second match against William Kuenne from W&L (2:02). After falling in his quarterfinal match by decison, Farrell came back to record his second pin of the day. He defeated Campbellsville's Colin Coy in a time of 2:39. Farrell then lost his final two matches which included the medical forfeit to Carver in the seventh-place match to finish in eighth place.
Trine will travel to Naperville, Ill. to compete in the North Central College Invitational next Saturday, Dec. 9. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (EST).
