WHEATON, Ill. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire wrestling team is in third place after the first day of the Pete Willson Wheaton Invite on Friday.
The Blugolds tallied a team score of 69.5 on the day while North Central (IL) leads the field with 72 points and UW-Whitewater is second with 70 points.
Four Blugolds went undefeated on the day, Tyler Demo (So. – Loves Park, IL/Belvidere North), Jake Drexler (So. - Stratford), Evan Lawrence (Jr. - Hugo, MN/Mahtomedi) and James Huntley (Jr. – Woodbury, MN/Stillwater).
At 141, Demo went 2-0 after receiving a first round bye. In his first match, the sophomore won by tech fall over Alexander Smith of Defiance College (TF-1.5 5:55 (17-2)). In his quarterfinal bout, Demo defeated Olivet's Andrew Castaneda by decision, 1-0.
Drexler went 3-0 at 149 with two pins. Drexler defeated Defiance's Cortez Bradley by fall (5:00) and tallied his second pin over Chicago's Grant Morrison (1:53). In the quarterfinal, Drexler won by a 3-1 decision over Anthony Rink of North Central.
Lawrence recorded three pins in as many matches at 174, taking down Scott Bauer of Millikin (2:00) in the first round and Nick Miller of Trine in the second (2:35). In the quarterfinal bout, the junior pinned MSOE's Drew Matticks at 4:34.
At 197, Huntley defeated Cameron Sauerwein of Mount St. Joseph by fall (6:15) before winning by major decision over Trayveyon Williams of Concordia (WI), 10-1. In the quarterfinal, Huntley won by a 9-6 decision over Devon Pingel of Adrian.
The Blugolds will wrap up the invitational on Saturday.
