ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's wrestling team picked up their first victory of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) season defeating visiting Alma College 30-13.
After dropping the first match of the day, things looked grim for Ben Edwards at 133. After an early takedown by the opposition, he trailed through most of the match, including the Scots amounting a commanding three minutes of ride time. In the final thirty seconds of the match, Edwards scored a reversal followed by a near-fall count to three to steal a 5-4 decision and give the team its first three points.
Tommy Miller carried the momentum into the 141 match, recording a dominate start to his day. After leading off with ten points in the first minute of the match, he finished off a tech fall victory in at 1:48 with seven more near-fall counts. The first bonus points of the day gave Trine an 8-3 lead.
At 149 Christopher Briner seemed to let the momentum swing back to Alma after surrendering an early takedown and near-fall points to tail 6-0. Late in the first period he pulled the reversal and then quickly let his opponent off the mat, just to score a takedown of his own. Still on top late in the period, he deployed a risky roll that worked perfectly, scoring four near-fall points as time expired and giving himself a 10-7 lead. He dominated the second period building a 21-7 lead for the final break. Another takedown came just seconds into the final period, followed by the four near-fall points that would have ended the match in a tech fall, if Briner hadn't finished the move for a full six points instead. His pin made the score 14-3.
Looking to extend that lead in the 157 match, Lakin Webb found himself in a battle through the first period with the score nearly tied throughout. In the middle of the second period, he scored a huge takedown followed by a long near-fall, that barely missed out on six more points for the Thunder. The long stalemate wore out both grapplers and Webb ultimately finished with just a major decision, 14-3.
After the next two matches went to Alma cutting the lead to 18-10. The Scots looked primed to shorten the deficit further with the 184 match decidedly in their favor well into the second period. It was then that Gavin Malone rolled for a reversal right into a near fall, that he turned into a pin. His comeback victory put the dual out of reach with the score 24-10 with just two matches remaining.
Xander Matz-Lachance finished off the scoring for Trine despite falling behind in the opening seconds of the 197 match. The short-lived lead for the Scots evaporated when he scored a takedown that went right into a victory by fall at the 2:15 mark. His six points gave the team their final tally of 30, making the final score 30-13 after the team lost the heavyweight bout.
The team improves to 7-4 overall and 1-2 in MIAA competition after the victory. The Thunder will finish the dual portion of their season when they head to Albion College on Thursday, February 13. That match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
