WINONA, Minn.– The WSC Wildcats were at it again this last weekend, where they managed to come away with a third-place finish in the Winona NCWA Invite, finishing behind Augsburg College and Luther College.

 
“We’re very happy with how the guys wrestled,” coach Gregory VanderWeil said, “They finished ahead of all the NCWA teams, including the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.”

 
As a whole, Wayne State put together a total of 58 team points, and also had two individuals finish second in their weight class. (Nic Gonzalez at 125 and Caleb Thomas at 157).

 
Gonzalez started out flawless, pinning his first opponent in 1:53 and his second in an impressive 1:36. He didn’t run into any trouble, until round three, when he faced Zac Ferguson from Augsburg. After a long battle, Gonzalez finally fell by a decision of 7-4. He got back in gear though and pinned his next two opponents to finish up his day.

 
Thomas, on the other hand, had a little tougher start. He lost his first match to Tone Fuenffinger from Augsburg, with a major decision of 11-0. However, this did not discourage him. He came out and won his second match against Izzac Suarez from Luther and give the Wildcats another top finish.

 
Devon Rupp, wrestling at 141, had a decent day and finished third, winning 3 of his 5 matches. This included a speedy pin in round two, which only took Rupp a time of 1:19 to take down opponent Christian Oeltjen from Winona State.

 
The Wildcats overall had a sound weekend, but due to the fact they didn’t have competitors in several of the weight classes, it made it hard for the ‘Cats to come out on top.

 
“We were missing 4 guys due to conflicts and injuries, so other than that we had a great weekend,” VanderWeil said.

 
Wayne State will take a week off to practice and prepare for the Great Plains Conference National Qualifier, which is held in Ft. Collins, Colo. This will decide where they sit as far as going to NCWA Nationals in Florida.

 
The club is still raising funds for their trips to conference and nationals, and any donations would be appreciated. Checks can be sent to coach Greg VanderWeil and made out to Wayne State Wrestling.

Nic Gonzalez (125); 4-1; 2nd place
Devon Rupp (141); 3-2; 3rd place
Caleb Thomas (157); 1-1; 2nd place
Jamison Baird (165); 0-3; 4th place
Ryan Nightser (174); 0-3; 4th place
Spencer Trout (197); 0-3; 4th place
Jacob Schwartz (235/285); 2-2; 3rd place