NAPERVILLE, Ill. -Â The Elmhurst University men's wrestling team had a strong showing at the North Central College Invitational on Saturday (Dec. 14).
Despite no Bluejay placements in the tournament, Elmhurst still placed 13th in the invitational. Overall, six Jays competed in the event against strong competition.Â
RESULTS
125 lbs: Donovin Fields
Fields bounced back after a tough opening-round loss to Luke Berktold (Wisconsin-Whitewater), who pinned him at 4:08. He advanced through the consolation bracket with a win by injury default over Ethan Aird (Augsburg) and followed that with an impressive major decision (11-3) over Quentin Keen (Wabash). Fields' run ended in a hard-fought match, falling to Brayden Parke (Coe) by pin at 6:33.
149 lbs: Diego Garcia
Garcia started his day in the preliminaries, dropping a narrow 7-3 decision to Aleksandar Pejovski (North Central). He rebounded with a quick pin over Laban Green (Wabash) in 2:26 and eked out a 3-2 decision over Xavier Carpentier (Albion). Unfortunately, his tournament concluded with an injury default loss to Tyler Starr (North Central) after 5:00 of action.
165 lbs: Nicholas Asllani
Asllani had a challenging day, facing elite competition. He lost by technical fall to Andrew Supers (Baldwin Wallace) in the opening round (15-0) and to Bransen Byrd (North Central) in the consolation bracket (20-2).
165 lbs: Mataeo Blessing
Blessing had mixed results, starting with a lightning-fast loss to Paul Kadlec (Joliet Junior College) via pin in just 14 seconds. He regrouped in the consolation bracket with a strong 5-0 decision over Jack Barracca (North Central) but was eliminated after a 13-5 major decision loss to Kael Scranton (Coe).
174 lbs: Corey Bradley
Bradley delivered some strong performances, opening with a dominant technical fall victory (19-3) over Lucas Metz (Joliet Junior College). He was pinned by Nick Alexander (Augsburg) in the second round but bounced back with a major decision (14-4) over Collin Ruiz (Carthage College). Bradley's day ended with a loss by technical fall (20-5) to Emanuel Diaz (Aurora University).
285 lbs: David Ortiz
Ortiz opened with a statement, pinning Jayden Laurence (Joliet Junior College) in just 56 seconds. In the second round, he narrowly lost a 2-1 decision to Tyler Raway (Augsburg). Ortiz earned another victory in the consolation round, defeating Andrew Vanscoy (Baldwin Wallace) 9-2, but his tournament concluded with a technical fall loss (16-1) to Jagger Schack (Augsburg).
UP NEXT
The Bluejays are off for winter vacation, and will resume action with a CCIW dual at Concordia University Wisconsin on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7pm in Mequon, Wis.
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