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Spartans' Art Martinez Advances to Second Day of Pete Willson Invitational

Spartans' Art Martinez Advances to Second Day of Pete Willson Invitational
Posted: Jan 27, 2023

From Case Western Reserve University Athletics

First-year Art Martinez of the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team advanced to the second day of the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational based on his performance at King Arena in Wheaton, Illinois on Friday during the first day of action.

Competing in the 141 pound bracket, Martinez reached the quarterfinal round with wins by fall in his first two matches. He started the day with a pin in the first round of Concordia Wisconsin's Frank Budederi in 4:19. In the second round, Martinez defeated Augustana's Kameron Hanel in 5:22 to advance to the quarterfinal. The two pins were the 10th and 11th pins of the season for the first-year wrestler and his 27th and 28th wins.

In the quarterfinal, Martinez lost a 9-4 decision to Jake Dado of the University of the Ozarks, the 10th-ranked wrestler in Division III in the weight class. On Saturday, the CWRU wrestler will face Dakarai Clay of the University of Wisconsin Whitewater in the fourth consolation round. With a win, he will guarantee himself at least an eighth place finish in the bracket and will take on the winner of the match between Kameron Hanel of Augustana and Jake Matthews of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

First-year Thomas Wagner, competing at 149 pounds, also picked up two wins for Case Western Reserve, both of which came by fall. Wagner started his day with a pin of Blaise Kokkales of Adrian in 1:38. After falling in the second round, he rebounded with a pin in 3:54 of Diego Snell-Martinez from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the second consolation round. The pin was Wagner's team-leading 13th of the season. He fell by fall in the third consolation round to end his day.

Four other Spartans added wins at the invitational, including a win by fall from senior Stephen Andryc. In the 197 pound bracket, Andryc pinned Nebraska Wesleyan's Casey Kinnell in 3:43 for his sixth pin of the season. First-year E.J. Alizio (125 pounds), first-year Jacob Gregg (133 pounds), and first-year Marty Landes (157 pounds) all contributed wins for Case Western Reserve.

The Spartans ended the first day with 17.0 team points, currently sitting in 25th place in the team standings out of the 32 teams competing at the invitational. North Central leads the team standings with 75.0 points.