Indianapolis, IN. – For the past three seasons, the Wheeling University Wrestling team has made the trip out to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Midwest Classic. On Saturday, it was their fourth time competing at the event and, although they did not advance to day two, they had a historic effort from their heavyweight. Sophomore
Jake Powell finished 2-2 overall and was just one match away from advancing to day two as he put together the best performance since the team started going to the event back in 2021.
Powell entered the tournament with a record of 12-4 and was looking to make at least the semifinals of the tournament for the fourth straight event. He has a tough road to go through and he handles his business early on. He opened his day against Quincy's Kayden Garret and, after taking a first quarter lead, he would pin his opponent in 1:45 for his first win of the day. His second round match would come against another regional opponent in Gannon's Matt Long. This one would be tight throughout as the two wrestlers went back and forth through three rounds. In the end, it was Powell who came out on top with a 10-8 win to move into the round of 16 and needed just one more win to be the first Cardinal wrestler to advance to day two since the team began going to the event.
Powell would take on East Stroudsburg's Layton Schmuck as he continued his run through regional matches. It was another hard fought battle, coming down to the final seconds, but Powell would take his first loss of the tournament at 2-1. He would move into the consolation bracket and still needed just one more win to advance to day two. However, it wouldn't be easy as he battled Cade Wish from the Colorado School of Mines in another match that would be decided by five points or less. Powell would fall 7-3, ending his run, but finished 2-2 for the best finish in program history at the event. With the effort, Powell now moves to 14-6 on the season, and is the first Cardinal to end the first half of a season with double digit wins since the 2018-2019 season.
Four other Cardinal wrestlers took the mat as
Caden Canning (141),
Brian Crevar (165),
Brennon Reid (174), and
Alex Finsley (184) all competed. While none of them picked up a win, they each battled hard throughout the afternoon and got a lot of experience on the mat. With the first half of the 2023-2024 season wrapped up, the team will now head into the Christmas break as they look to prepare for what's in store in 2024. They have two wrestlers with nine or more wins in the first half, with Powell sitting at 14-6 and
Zach Larue sitting at 9-4. The Cardinals look to continue to build on their experience and make a run towards the MEC Championships in February.
The Wheeling University Wrestling team returns to action on Tuesday, January 9th, when they take on Penn State Behrend with the first matches beginning at 7 PM.
