It was an eventful day at the Horsburgh Gymnasium, as the Spartan wrestling team split its tri-meet against the College of Mount Saint Joseph and Wheeling Jesuit University.

The team put on its best performance of the season, beginning with their match against Mount Saint Joseph. A couple of early forfeits by the visitors gave the Spartans a sizable lead before the true battle even began.
From there, it was all uphill for the team as they came out firing on all cylinders. Luke Marcelli forged another chapter in his excellent rookie year pinning Mount Saint Joseph’s Luis Godines. It would be the first of three pins for the Spartans in the match.

In the match immediately following Marcelli’s pin, Spartan Brian Snyder followed suit when he pinned Joe Kammerer of Mount Saint Joseph. The third and final pin occurred towards the end of the match, when Case’s Connor Driscoll clinched one over Nathan Islamovsky.

It was the exclamation point on a terrific match by the team, the most dominant display of wrestling the Spartans had shown all season. They won the match up 39-16.

The Spartans’ second opponent of the day, Wheeling Jesuit University, proved to be a much tougher foe to overcome. Despite a couple of highlights on the Spartans’ part, two late forfeits sealed their fate.

In his second match of the day, Marcelli scored yet another victory with a technical fall over Wheeling Jesuit’s Jonathan Barrett to cap his huge day in the ring. With the pair of victories, Marcelli ran his season record to a team best 24-9.

In the match immediately after, Snyder recorded another pin over Robert Rogerson of Wheeling Jesuit. Additionally, it was the fourth pin by the Spartans on the day. Snyder finished with two pins in his two matches, the best possible day a wrestler could ask for in the ring.

The Spartans hung in there against Wheeling Jesuit until the end, forcing the opposition to settle for decisions when they did not emerge victorious.

The forfeits for Case ended up being a large contributor in the loss. Wheeling Jesuit beat out the Spartans 28-14. Despite the loss, the Spartans once again proved that they can compete with quality opponents, continuing to turn the proverbial corner.

The Spartans will be right back in action next weekend, when they head to New York City to compete for the University Athletic Association Championship at New York University.

The team will look to improve on their third place finish from last year in the conference. Their first opponent in the tournament will be the University of Chicago, while their remaining opponents have yet to be determined.