Results (PDF)

Six Wabash wrestlers earned top-eight finishes at the 2012 Concordia (Wisc.) Open to begin the 2012-2013 season.

Austin O'Neal posted three wins heading into the finals as the number-two seeded wrestler at 197 pounds. He opened with a pin (4:35) against James Kuczynski from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. A 6-3 victory against seventh-seeded Mario Palmisano from the University of Chicago sent O'Neal to the semifinals. The Wabash senior scored a 5-1 victory against sixth-seeded Thomas Bolday from Muskegon to advance to the finals. Top-seeded Davion Willis from Wisconsin-Parkside took the title in close 2-1 decision over O'Neal.

Tim Locksmith scored a third-place finish at 133 pounds. A pin at 1:46 into his opening match against Turner Albrecht put Locksmith up against number-one seed Kenneth Anderson from Wartburg. Anderson scored a 6-1 decision to send Locksmith to the consolation bracket, where the Wabash freshman rolled off six consecutive victories. He started with a pin at 0:59 against Donald Dargan, then scored another pin at 0:54 against Jay Muller from Wisconsin-Whitewater. A third consecutive pin, this time at the 3:55 mark of his bout against Eric Franklin sent lock to the consolation quarterfinals. He picked up an 11-2 major victory against Alex Moore from Chicago, followed by a 17-0 technical fall (2:37) over Conrad Bugay from Wisconsin-Whitewater in the semifinals. Locksmith faced Marcus Lubner in the finals, posting a 7-2 victory to take third place.

Sophomore Reece Lefever advanced to the third-place bout of the 157-pound weight class. The first-year Wabash wrestler started strong with a 17-5 major victory against Josh Lewis from Dubuque. Two pins — one 3:14 into his match against Ben Digiovani from Illinois State and a second at the 0:59 mark of a bout against Bryce Jacobs from Muskegon — sent Lefever to the quarterfinals against third-seeded Brett Yonkovic from Wartburg. Lefever scored the 4-3 victory to advance to the semis against second-seeded Drew Wagenhoffer from Wartburg. Their bout went to overtime, with Wagenhoffer scoring the one-point 4-3 victory. Lefever rallied for a 5-2 win against Jamey Simmons from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the consolation semis to advance to the third place bout, where he faced Yonkovic once again. This time Lefever was unable to score the win as Yonkovic claimed third-place with an 8-1 victory, giving Lefever fourth place.

Reece's brother, Conner Lefever, finished eighth at 174 pounds. A technical fall with an 18-1 victory in the opening round and a pin at the 1:09 mark of Lefever's second bout of the day put the Wabash sophomore up against third-seeded Danny Balderas from Elmhurst. With Lefever losing 7-1, he dropped to the consolation bracket and immediately scored a pin at 2:22 against Justin Sternweis from Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A 4-2 loss to Josh Anthony from Wiscosin-Parkside sent Lefever to the seventh-place bout. Matt McCrary from Wheaton scored a pin over Lefever in the finals (5:45).

Jake Strausbaugh moved into the fifth-place bout of the 165-pound weight class. The senior scored a pin less than a minute into his opening bout of the year, putting Brandon Smith from Muskegon down at the 0:53 mark. An 8-5 victory over Connor Cummings from Augustana put the second-seeded Strausbaugh into the quarterfinals against Wisconsin-Whitewater's Cedric Gibson. Gibson scored the 7-0 upset to drop Strausbaugh into the consolation bracket. A 9-5 victory over Jason Bonham and a 9-4 win against Lenny Kuspa in the consolation quarterfinals put Strausbaugh up against fourth-seeded Nick Fishback from Wisconsin-Parkside. Fishback picked up the 7-2 win, putting Strausbaugh up against Luke Simms from Wheaton in the finals. Strausbaugh picked up a dominating win with a technical fall in the finals to claim fifth place.

Sophomore transfer Mark Myers was the final Little Giant to earn a top-eight finish. The sixth seed in the 184-pound weight class, Myers started the day with a 13-2 win against Tyler Rios from Ellsworth Community College. A tight 2-1 victory over LaQuan Hightower from Wisconsin-Platteville advanced Myers to the quarterfinals against third-seeded Maike Benefield from Elmhurst. Benefiel advanced by pinning Myers at the 4:51 mark of their bout, but Myers responded with a pin at 1:40 against Seth Kilkelly in consolation bracket. Myers added another pin at 6:18 in the next round over Vernon Rash, but lost by pin to Jordan Richardson from Augustana at 7:24 in the semifinals. Myers defeated fifth-seeded Samuel Pennisi from the University of Chicago 6-2 in the finals to earn fifth place.

The Little Giants will compete at the annual Indiana State Wrestling Championship Tournament December 1 at the University of Indianapolis.