Roughnecks Open Season at Eastern Michigan
Ypsilanti, MI – The University of Findlay wrestling team competed in their first event of the year at the Eastern Michigan Open on Saturday, Nov. 5. 16 teams participated in the event, ten of which are Division I teams from both Big Ten and Mid-American Conference.
Findlay wrestlers put up a 7-2 record in matches against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponenets.
The Oilers top performance came at 141 pounds where sophomore Josh Wimer took sixth place in the tournament. He finished 3-2 in the tournament with sudden victory wins over Mitch Hyrnak of Central Michigan and Angel Velasquez of Northern Illinois. His other victory was a pin at the 5:24 mark in a matchup with Jackson Renicker of Michigan State.
Senior Luke Fleming scored two pins in his matchups at 285 pounds. He took down Caleb Fry of Tiffin in the first round and then in the consolation round, pinned Zach Wood of Lake Erie College. He finished 2-2 on the day.
Sophomore Alonzo Turner also wrestled well and finished the day with a 2-2 record at 165 pounds. He won his first round matchup with a 4-2 decision over David Kasper of Eastern Michigan and won again in the consolation bracket over Richard Screptock of Tiffin University with a 4-0 decision.
Also picking up two wins was freshman Nate Vandermeer. He took a loss in his opening bout but came back with a pair of wins, one a 6-5 decision over Daniel Kruse of Michigan State, the other a 5-0 decision over Brenden Stanley of Ashland. Vandermeet wrestled at 174 pounds.
At 184 pounds, junior Randy Caris went 2-2 as he won his first two matches in the championship bracket. He first won by a 3-2 decision over Kyle Carter of Olivet College and in his next round he won 5-1 over Brendon Winning of Lake Erie.
The Roughnecks will be back on the mats on Saturday, Nov. 19 when they host the Findlay Open.