From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Behind two-win performances from four different wrestlers on Saturday, Case Western Reserve placed eighth at the Will Abele Invitational, hosted by Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
Junior Nick Lees and freshman Gavin Dersh-Fisher paced the Spartans, with each notching fourth-place finishes in their respective weight classes, leading a pack of six C WRU wrestlers to win at least one match on the day.
Competing in the 174-pound bracket, Lees picked up a win by pin, his team-leading sixth of the season, over Jake Pennington of Valley Forge Military Academy and College in the quarterfinals, and added an 8-5 decision over Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Mathew Laugen in the consolation semifinals. His performance contributed 6.5 points towards the team total.
After falling in his first match of the day in the 197-pound draw, Dersh-Fisher bounced back with back-to-back victories, defeating Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Cecil Philson by decision, 2-1, and claiming a major decision win over Eric Swenson of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 14-0. His fourth-place finish provided CWRU with another 4.5 team points.
Two Spartans won a pair of matches each, while competing in the 157-pound draw. Sophomore Connor Gordon added two victories, winning his first round match by major decision, 12-4, over Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Tyler Henke, and then later a consolation match over Zachary DelliCompagni of Ursinus, 9-6. Freshman AJ Vetturini added three points to the team total, after winning his first two matches of the day, the first by decision, 17-12, over Jabari Mclain of Maryland-Baltimore County and the second by major decision, 10-2, over Vincent Lombardo of Mount Saint Vincent in the quarterfinals.
In the 125-pound bracket, freshman Luke DiMuzio earned a 16-0 technical fall victory over Saylee Phongsamphanh of Rhode Island College in the third round of the consolation draw to score 2.5 team points. Junior Matt Moy rounded out the list of Spartans' victors on Saturday with a technical fall win of his own, 16-1 against David Harris-Norton of Camden County.
CWRU wrestlers totaled 16.5 points on Saturday, finishing eighth at the competition. Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the tournament with 149.0 points, followed by Washington and Jefferson in second place with 103.5 points and host Ursinus in third with 84.5.