Two years ago, the NCAA instituted tiebreaking criteria for dual wrestling meets beyond the three they had before. Though the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team did not need the new criteria, they came pretty close.

The hosting Spartans suffered a heartbreaking loss to Waynesburg University on the third tiebreaker to lead off the Si Ostrach Meet. The team rebounded nicely with a 28-14 victory over Muskingum University followed by losses to John Carroll University (21-19) and Washington & Jefferson (W&J) College (26-21) in round robin action.  

Heading into the final bout, Waynesburg trailed by six points, needing a pin to initiate the tiebreakers. Heavyweight Jake Evans delivered, pinning second-year heavyweight Brian McNamara just 73 seconds into the bout. The pin also tied the first (wins) and second (sum of pins, forfeits, defaults and disqualifications) tiebreakers, leading to total points scored from decisions, major decisions and technical falls deciding the match. Waynesburg scored six more points in those bouts, claiming victory in the dual.

The loss is especially disappointing because CWRU led for most of the match. In the fourth bout, first-year student Mike Petersen (149 lbs.) won by technical fall 16-0, giving the Spartans an 11-8 lead in the match. They did not give up the lead until the very last bout.

Fourth-year student Matt Moy (125 lbs.), who was wrestling in his final home bout, led off the match with a 12-3 loss. He was honored before the match as the lone fourth-year Spartan for four years of hard work both on the mat and in the classroom.

Also wrestling well against Waynesburg were first-year student Andrew Munn (157 lbs.), second-year student Gavin Dersh-Fisher (197 lbs.) and third-year student Nick Tommas (174 lbs.). Munn won by technical fall, 25-10, the highest-scoring bout of the day. Tommas won by just a single point, 5-4, while Dersh-Fisher shut out his opponent 4-0.

Seven Spartans netted wins in the second match against Muskingum, including two by pin. After first-year student Alec Hoover (133 lbs.) pinned his opponent in the second bout, CWRU secured a lead they did not relinquish. McNamara got redemption in his bout, pinning his opponent just 70 seconds in. First-year student Isaac Collier (149 lbs.) added four points to the team total with his 12-4 win by major decision.

In the Throwdown, the Spartans wrestled against W&J and John Carroll at the same time. Collier and Tommas both pinned their opponent in the second period. Hoover was the only one to notch a major decision victory, winning his bout 12-2. In all, the Spartans won eight bouts, totaling 40 points against the two teams.
On Jan. 27-28, nine CWRU wrestlers are scheduled to compete in the Pete Willson Invitational, held at Wheaton College. It will be the team’s penultimate tune-up before the conference championship matches on Feb. 12.