No. 5 Men’s Wrestling Runner-Up at Spartan Mat Classic

Jacob Decatur and Brett Blaess Claimed Individual Championships

Posted: Jan 14, 2023

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The No. 5 nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University men's wrestling team was the runner-up at the annual Spartan Mat Classic hosted by Manchester University inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

BW was second of 23 teams with 143.5 points. No. 8 Wabash (Ind.) College was the champion with 153.5 points. The Yellow Jackets had 14 wrestlers finish in the top seven, including two champions, two runners-up and 11 finishers in the top 5

Senior All-American and No. 7 nationally ranked 125 pounder Jacob Decatur (Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) - Champion

Won an 11-5 decision over Jeffrey Bailey of Cornerstone (Mich.)
Won by pinfall in 2:58 over Trevor Hisey of Lourdes
Won a 16-2 major decision over Michael Tharpe of Indiana Tech
Won a 21-3 technical fall over Tyler Hisey of Lourdes University
Won a 3-2 decision over Noah Cantu of Indianapolis

Sophomore 133-pounder Brett Blaess (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) – Champion

Bye in the first round
Won an 11-2 major decision over Devan Johnson of Cornerstone (Mich.)
Won an 18-2 technical fall over Kody Kretzer of Fontbonne (Mo.)
Won a 12-3 major decision over Dru Wilson of Lourdes
Won a 6-1 decision over David Gelman of Wabash (Ind.)

Junior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference 165-pounder Hunter Kupniewski (North Royalton) – 2nd Place

Bye in the first round
Won a 6-3 decision over Cade Sousa of Huntingdon (Ala.)
Won a 12-5 decision over Tommy Mabry of Lourdes
Won a 17-1 technical fall over Dylan Baron of Wabash (Ind.)
Loss a 9-7 decision to Mawuli Nevis of Wabash (Ind.)

Sophomore 174-pounder Carter Lloyd (Brecksville-Brecksville-Broadview Heights) -2nd Place

Bye in the first round
Won a 6-3 decision over Othman Taha of Ohio Wesleyan
Won a 16-1 technical fall over Nick Kendrick of Huntingdon (Ala.)
Won a 4-3 decision over Caden Kenworthy of West Liberty (W.Va.)
Loss a 6-3 decision to Jeff Dunasky of Marian (Ind.)

Junior 125-pounder Johnny Novak (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) – 3rd Place

Won an 18-0 technical fall over Cole Renier of Heidelberg

Won a 5-2 decision over Jacob Blawat of Muskegon (Mich.) Community College
Won a 3-1 decision over Donovan Ortiz of Ohio Wesleyan
Lost a 15-0 technical fall to Noah Cantu of Indianapolis
Won an 11-7 decision over Tyler Hisey of Lourdes

Senior 149-pounder Conner DeBoe (Mentor) – 3rd Place

Bye in the first round
Won a 12-1 major decision over Christopher Wilkerson of Indianapolis
Won a 19-2 technical fall over Kyle Borthwell of Indiana Tech
Loss by pinfall in 1:58 to Hunter Noland of Lourdes
Won a 10-7 decision over Ian Heath of Marian (Ind.)

Senior All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC 285-pounder Drew Levis (Elyria) – 3rd Place

Won a 4-3 decision over Sterling McLaughlin of Cornerstone (Mich.)
Won by pinfall in 1:01 over Jason Orr of Manchester (Ind.)
Won a 3-1 decision over Excell Brooks of Marian (Ind.)
Loss by pinfall in 1:06 to Jack Heldt of Wabash (Ind.)
Won a 3-1 extra time decision over Sanders of Baldwin Wallace

Junior 285-pounder Mitch Sanders (Newbury) – 4th Place

Won by pinfall in 0:50 over Lesly Fleurissaint of Defiance
Won an 8-6 decision over Gabriel Martinez of Heidelberg
Won a 2-0 decision over Jay Thompson of Indianapolis
Loss by pinfall in 2:59 to Jack Haury of Huntingdon (Ala.)
Loss a 3-1 extra time decision to Levis of Baldwin Wallace

Junior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference 141-pounder Robby Palmieri (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) -5th Place

Bye in the first round
Loss a 12-6 decision to Evan Burge of Wabash (Ind.)
Bye in the third round
Won a 13-7 decision over Dylan McKelvey of Marian (Ind.)
Won a 16-1 technical fall over Hunter Cottingham of Indianapolis
Won a 13-12 decision over Landon Bertsch of Marian (Ind.)
Won an 8-7 over Panda of Baldwin Wallace

Freshman 157-pounder Manny Scordos (Brecksville-Brecksville-Broadview Heights) – 5th Place

Won by pinfall in 1:29 over Bryan Richardson of Marian (Ind.)
Won by pinfall in 3:39 over Joe Beck of Fontbonne (Mo.)
Loss a 4-1 decision to Toby Abbott of West Liberty (W. Va.)
Won a 6-0 decision over Zach Wilson of Marian (Ind.)
Won an 8-0 major decision over Jacob Horsch of Heidelberg
Won by forfeit over Jonah Smith of West Liberty (W. Va.)

Senior Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference 174-pounder Luke Hopkins (Cuyahoga Heights) – 5th Place

Bye in the first round
Won a 16-0 technical fall over Jaybreon Litsey of Ancilla (Ind.)
Lost a 5-3 extra time decision to Caden Kenworthy of West Liberty (W. Va.)
Won a 5-0 by decision over Sammy Saunders of Wabash (Ind.)
Won a 5-1 by decision over Burkhart of Baldwin Wallace
Won an 8-1 decision over Gabriel Pittman of Huntingdon (Ala.)

Junior 141-pounder David Panda (Columbia, Md./Atholton) – 6th Place

Bye in the first round
Won a 23-7 technical fall over Bryson Neidigh of West Liberty (W. Va.)
Loss a 10-7 decision to Asa Garcia of Marian (Ind.)
Won a 16-3 major decision over Luke Miller of West Liberty (W. Va.))
Won by medical forfeit over Corbin Walston of Indiana Tech
Loss an 8-7 decision to Palmieri

Sophomore 174-pounder Brandon Burkhart (Olmsted Township/Olmsted Falls) – 7th Place

Loss a 3-2 decision to Jeff Dunasky of Marian (Ind.)
Bye in the second round
Won a 6-2 decision over Elliott Apps of Manchester (Ind.)
Won a 17-0 technical fall over Jaybreon Litsey of Ancilla (Ind.)
Won by pinfall in 2:09 over Nick Kendrick (Huntingdon College) (Fall 2:09)
Loss a 5-1 decision to Hopkins of Baldwin Wallace
Won by pinfall in 0:49 over Brandon Kiser of West Liberty (W. Va.)

Sophomore 285-pounder Ben DeGuzman (North Canton/Hoover) – 7th Place

Won by pinfall in 3:47 over Liam Begley of Marian (Ind.)
Won by injury default over Ryan Latimore of Indiana Tech
Loss a 7-6 decision to Jack Haury of Huntingdon (Ala.)
Won a 6-3 decision over Gabriel Martinez of Heidelberg
Loss a 3-2 decision to Sterling McLaughlin of Cornerstone (Mich.)
Won a 10-1 major decision over Victor Lee of Manchester (Ind.)

BW is back in action on Tuesday, January 17 when it hosts an OAC match against Otterbein University in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets host the 36th Annual John Summa Invitational on Saturday, February 4 inside the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse at 10 a.m.