The Wayne State Wrestling club has had a strong first two weeks to open the 2016-2017 season. The Wildcats finished second in the Wildcat Open, held in Wayne on Nov. 4, at the Wayne Elementary School, and won the Colorado State Invite last weekend.

Along with winning the Colorado State Invite, the team has moved into the National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s top 25 rankings, ranked as the 10th team in the nation.

“As far as the opener here at Wayne, I thought the kids competed well,” Assistant Coach Aaron Schuett said.

“We then hopped in the van and headed to CSU and the kids competed really well. That’s all I ask of the kids and the team score will take care of itself,” Schuett said.

Along with being in the top 25, Wayne State wrestlers have nine players who are ranked top 25 nationally.

“Ethan Fitzler, our outstanding freshman, has won two individual championships and has a number two ranking in the top 25,” Head Coach Greg VanderWeil said.
Devon Rupp, a senior at Wayne State College, has also had a strong start to the season and is one of the leaders for the team this year.

“The team is doing great this year,” Rupp said. “We have a bunch of freshmen that are doing great and bringing up the lighter weights for us.

“We’ve been wrestling really well as a group. We beat BYU and Arizona, and these are clubs that we will see again down the road at the national tournament,” Rupp said.

Wayne State wrestlers will be on the road again this weekend when they head to Kearney for the UNK Holiday Inn Open.

“We go down to Kearney for the Loper Open, and that will be our first time outside of the NCAA. I’m excited to see how our guys react to a different type of competition,” VanderWeil said.