INDIANAPOLIS, IND. — Traveling up north to the capital of Indiana, Men's Wrestling looked to take on the challenge that was the 43rd Midwest Classic, hosted by the University of Indianapolis.
With 43 teams competing in the tournament, the Wolves would be looking to bring home some hardware as the 10 wrestlers from Newberry would take on quality opponents from 17 ranked teams in the country, 76 ranked wrestlers out of the NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association), and 120 ranked wrestlers in the coaches poll, including five at number one in their respective classes.
Newberry would finish the tournament 29th, finishing as the 3rd highest out of a Super Region II/South Atlantic Coastal Conference school. Nine Wolves would secure wins in the tournament, including two that would make it to the second day of the tournament in 149 lbs Devan Moore (Baxely, Ga.) and 174 lbs Dayton Fields (Seneca, Mo.) and finish in the top 12.
Recapping the performance of the team, starting at the 125 lbs weight class, Zach Shupp (Fairfield, Ohio) would get his day started with a major decision win by a score of 14-5 over Gavin Hayes from Emmanuel, but would fall by sudden victory by a score of 11-9 to Brandon Mendoza of Tiffin when he secured a takedown in the first overtime period.
He would then rebound with a 3-2 decision win to Jacob Johnson of Lake Erie before falling to Shane Corrigan of UW-Parkside by a 17-1 tech fall.
At 133 lbs, Fletcher Swindall (Alexandria, Ala.) would start his day with a loss by a major decision score of 13-3 to Nathan Wishne of William Jewell before rounding out with a 12-5 decision loss to Aaron Morocho of American International.
141 lbs Josh Blatt (Albemarle, N.C.), in his first action of the season, would get his tournament started by pinning Cade Cass of Findlay at 6:33 before dropping the second match to Peter Kuster of Drury by a 9-2 decision. He would get back on track with a 10-5 decision win over Ethan Hardy of Glenville State before falling out to Grayston DiBlasi of Colorado School of Mines by a 3-1 decision.
At 149 lbs, Moore would get off to a fast start with a 16-1 tech fall victory over Tyler Soltau of Southwest Minnesota State, and he continued his winning ways with an upset victory over #17 Tommy Nichols of American International with a 7-0 decision. He would suffer a setback with a 8-4 decision loss to Darick Lapaglia of Central Missouri before getting back in the win column with a 5-4 decision win over Mike Zacur of Mercyhurst.
Moore would continue his winning ways with a 6-3 decision win over Teague Dilbeck of Colorado School of Mines before eventually falling to Jalen Spuhler of UW-Parkside by a 18-0 tech fall.
Nolan Wheeler (Dahlonega, Ga.) at 157 lbs would be defeated in his first action of the day by a 19-7 major decision to Carter Noehre of Colorado School of Mines. He would recover with a 9-3 decision win over Gage Shetley of Emmanuel before ending his tournament with a loss to Mike Vernagallo of Mount Olive by fall at 0:19.
At 165 lbs, Asa Walton (Buena, N.J.) would start slow with a defeat to Jack Eiteljorge of Indianapolis by 15-0 tech fall before getting back on track with a victory over Aaron Taylor of Quincy by a pin at 3:28. His day would end when he would fall to Cole Ritter of Maryville by fall at 4:54
Fields, at 174 lbs, would be defeated in his opening match to Zeke Waltz of McKendree by a 7-4 decision, but he would secure his first win of the tournament against Corbin May of Ashland by a decision of 11-9. His second win would come in a 7-2 decision against Scott Kellenberger of Upper Iowa, followed by a third win in an upset against #12 Hunter Haven of Limestone by a 9-3 decision.
Fields' tournament would unfortunately come to an end after a major decision defeat to Cole Hernandez of Western Colorado by a score of 16-5.
Armando Acosta (Gainesville, Fla.) at 184 lbs, would start strong with an opening match pin of Will Frazier of Coker at 2:45 before having a setback with a major decision loss to Daniel Beemer of Ashland by a score of 18-5. He would then follow with another defeat, this time to Jason Bynarowicz of Colorado Mesa, by a decision score of 10-3.
197 lbs Khris Walton (Merrillville, Ky.) would drop his opening match to Carter Marx of Southwest Minnesota State by securing a takedown in the sudden victory overtime period before righting the ship with a pin of Devan Gauldin of Glenville State at 4:56. He would then follow his first pin with a second pin against Kash Anderson of Colorado Mesa at 0:57 before falling in the next match to Brooks Schrimsher of Ouachita Baptist by fall at 6:26.
Finally, 285 lbs Devon Rice (Rock Hill, S.C.) would come out the gates slow by suffering a defeat to Massimo Sullivan of UNC-Pembroke by a 3-1 decision. He would gain a victory over Zach Schraeder of Western Colorado by way of riding time advantage at the end of all overtime periods of the match before being defeated by Cale Gray of Indianapolis by a decision of 2-0.
The Wolves will get a break in action to enjoy the remainder of the holiday season before getting ready for the 2023 half of the season, starting with a home dual against King University on January 3rd at 5PM.
