MANCHESTER, INDIANA – The Baldwin Wallace University wrestling team placed first of 10 schools, won the team championship and three Yellow Jackets won individual titles today (Saturday, January 12, 2013) at the Manchester (Ind.) College Tournament in the Manchester Physical Education and Recreation Center. It marked the first invitational tournament title for a BW wrestling team since it won the 10-team Heidelberg University Invitational Tournament on January 4, 2003.
BW scored 158 points as a team and was led by freshmen 125-pounder Jesse Gunter (Akron/ Coventry), 133-pounder Zach Walker (Fairlawn/ Copley) and 165-pounder David Shapiro (Beachwood). Each of them posted a 3-0 record on the way to earning their own individual title, respectively. BW also had four other place finishers.
"We had an excellent tournament and we are excited about winning a team championship and for all the outstanding performances," said second-year Head Coach Jamie Gibbs. "To have such a young team and win a team title is excellent.
"We have a number of youngsters on this team," said Gibbs of the fact that 15 of his 18 grapplers on the roster are freshmen. "This is a confidence builder heading into a very tough Ohio Athletic Conference dual match schedule. It is another step in the right direction for our program.
"I am extremely proud of our entire team," said Gibbs.
Gunter now has a record of 20-1 this season, including winning four championships in six tournaments. On his way to the finals, Gunter pinned his first two opponents before defeating Nick Santos of North Central (Ill.) College in the finals by a 10-4 decision.
Walker reached the finals by way of a 13-2 major decision over Alejandro Varela of Knox (Ill.) College (Ill.) and a pin in 6:13 over Paul Beck of the University of Indianapolis (Ind.). He then defeated Edward Sanders of the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio), 7-4, to claim his first individual title this season. With his unblemished mark of 3-0, Walker is 18-8 overall.
Shapiro improved to 19-9 overall as he defeated Tyler Goldman of Indiana Technical University (Ind.) by technical fall, 19-3 in his first match. He then won his semi-final match over Weston Davis of University of Indianapolis (Ind.) by a 5-4 decision. In the finals, Shapiro defeated Luke Sims of Wheaton (Ill.) College by a decisive 11-4 decision.
In addition, junior 141-pounder Andrew Taylor (Columbus/ Worthington Kilbourne) and freshman Garrett Chase (Erie, Pa./ Cathedral Prep) placed third. Freshman 174-pounder Ben LeBrun (Strongsville) placed fourth and freshman 285-pounder Joe Belford (Berea/ Lakewood St. Edward) placed sixth.
Taylor finished with a mark of 3-1 to improve his overall record to 14-10. In his first match, he pinned Bryce Roberts of Manchester (Ind.) in 1:04 before falling in his next match to Tyler Major of Heidelberg by a pin in 4:35. Taylor would then go on to defeat Josh Juarez of Manchester, 7-5, and beat Mark Carosella of Heidelberg in the third place match by major decision, 12-4.
Chase went 4-1 in the tourney and now is 25-8 overall. He had a first round-bye, then defeated Toby Mosley of Wheaton, 7-2; topped Timofey Savenok of Wheaton (Ill.) by major decision, 14-5; and then lost to Peter Huang of Wheaton in the semifinals, 14-8. Chase bounced back with a 12-2 major decision over Isaac Bray of Wheaton in the consolation semifinal. In the third place match, he beat Brent Browner of Indiana Tech by technical fall, 15-0.
LeBrun finished fourth in the 174 weight class as he posted a mark of 2-2. He pinned Ryan Lambert of Knox (Pa.) College in 2:06 in his first match; lost to Tyler Ray of the College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio), 14-11; then beat Greg Ventris of Knox, 7-0; before losing to Kurt Monix of Manchester, 10-6, in the third place match. He is 13-12 this season.
Finishing sixth was Belford, who posted a 1-3 mark and is now 14-12 overall.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action this Tuesday, January 15 when they begin Ohio Athletic Conference dual match action with a trip to Tiffin, Ohio to face rival Heidelberg in the Seiberling Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.