Wabash scored a pair of victories on the opening day of the 2019 National Wrestling Coaches Association Multi-Divisional National Duals Tournament to advance to Saturday's semifinal round and a guaranteed top-four finish.
 
The fifth-ranked Little Giants defeated 16th-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater 27-16 in their opening round of competition before handling fourth-ranked Ithaca College 21-14 in the quarterfinals.
 
Carlos Champagne started the Wisconsin-Whitewater match with a 4-2 win over third-ranked Mike Tortorice at 125 pounds. Griffin Schermer scored a pin at the 2:08 mark of his 149-pound bout versus Bernard Casella after Whitewater had taken the lead in the team scoring with back-to-back victories at 133 and 141 pounds.
 
Austin Bethel extended the Wabash lead with a hard-fought 15-11 win versus Scott Schieldt in the 157-pound weight class match. Kyle Hatch added another pin two minutes into his match against Ryder Sigler at 165 pounds. Darden Schurg, the top-ranked wrestler in Division III at 174 pounds, pinned Nate Mlodzik 4:57 into their bout to put Wabash in front 24-7. Maxwell Bishop closed out the round with an 8-1 win at heavyweight over Jordan Festge.
 
The Little Giants were forced to rally for their victory over Ithaca in the second round of action. Champagne needed overtime to earn a 5-3 sudden victory against fifth-ranked Ferdinand Mase to put Wabash in front 3-0 after the 125-pound bout. The Bombers responded with a pair of wins before Schermer once again sparked the comeback with a 14-4 major decision versus Demetri D`Orsaneo at 149 pounds to tie the team score at 7-7. Bethel followed with an 8-2 decision over Jawan Jones in the 157-pound match.
 
Hatch improved to 2-0 for the day with an 11-10 win in his 165-pound contest against Austin Whitney to give Wabash a 13-7 lead. Schurg dominated his opponent, Steven Rice, scoring a technical fall 25-10 at 174 pounds. Levi Miller picked up the final win for the Little Giants with a 2-1 victory at 197 pounds in a tiebreaker against Elijah Rodriguez.
 
Wabash will face number-one ranked Augsburg University in the semifinal round of the tournament beginning at 11 a.m. Second-ranked Wartburg and third-ranked Johnson and Wales will meet in the other half of the bracket. The championship and third-place matches will both take place at 2 p.m.
 
Wabash 27, Wisconsin-Whitewater 16
125       Carlos Champagne (Wabash) over Mike Tortorice (UW-Whitewater) Dec 4-2
133       Blake Huffmon (UW-Whitewater) over Chris Diaz (Wabash) Dec 4-2
141       Hazen Rice (UW-Whitewater) over Riley Lomenick (Wabash) Maj 15-2
149       Griffin Schermer (Wabash) over Bernard Casella (UW-Whitewater) Fall 2:08
157       Austin Bethel (Wabash) over Scott Schieldt (UW-Whitewater) Dec 15-11
165       Kyle Hatch (Wabash) over Ryder Sigler (UW-Whitewater) Fall 2:00
174       Darden Schurg (Wabash) over Nate Mlodzik (UW-Whitewater) Fall 4:57
184       Nick Stencel (UW-Whitewater) over Ethan Herrin (Wabash) Fall 2:40
197       Riley Kauzlaric (UW-Whitewater) over Levi Miller (Wabash) Dec 5-1
285       Maxwell Bishop (Wabash) over Jordan Festge (UW-Whitewater) Dec 8-1
 
 
 Wabash 21, Ithaca 14
125       Carlos Champagne (Wabash) over Ferdinand Mase (Ithaca) SV-1 5-3
133       Tito Colom (Ithaca) over Chris Diaz (Wabash) Maj 15-2
141       Ben Brisman (Ithaca) over Owen Doster (Wabash) Dec 9-4
149       Griffin Schermer (Wabash) over Demetri D`Orsaneo (Ithaca) Maj 14-4
157       Austin Bethel (Wabash) over Jawan Jones (Ithaca) Dec 8-2
165       Kyle Hatch (Wabash) over Austin Whitney (Ithaca) Dec 11-10
174       Darden Schurg (Wabash) over Steven Rice (Ithaca) TF 25-10
184       Jake Ashcraft (Ithaca) over Ethan Herrin (Wabash) Maj 15-3
197       Levi Miller (Wabash) over Elijah Rodriguez (Ithaca) TB-1 2-1
285       Jake O`Brien (Ithaca) over Wade Ripple (Wabash) SV-1 8-6