Behind third place finishes by
Nate Trepanier and
Colby Smith, the Lions finished ninth as a team at the 42
nd Annual Midwest Classic over the weekend. The two-day Midwest Classic is annually one of the toughest events in the country featuring 11 of the top 15 teams in the nation bringing their full lineups. Overall, Lindenwood had four place winners, as the Lions second-highest amount of place winners in school history and earned 66.5 team points.
Smith, a returning all-American from last year went 5-1 on the weekend, dropped a hard fought match 4-2 in his semi-final match to No. 5 ranked Branson Proudlock of Findlay. Despite the loss, Smith bounced back for a first-round pin Joshua Fuentes Norikiyo of San Francisco State to earn third place at 141.
Wrestling at 165, Trepanier lost his second match of the tournament to No. 10 ranked Hunter Mullin on Western Colorado but then went undefeated for the remainder of the event to finish 7-1 including two wins over ranked opponents. The unranked Oconto Falls, Wisconsin native knocked off No. 8 Drew Wiechers 5-4 in the consolation semi-finals and then beat GLVC rival Jack Eiteljorge of UINDY 6-3 in the third place match.
Tanner Hitchcock of Bonner Springs, Kansas had a thrilling 3-1 sudden victory over Mason Myers of Pitts-Johnstown in the quarterfinals and went 3-0 on Saturday, earning a place in the semifinals. He went on to win fifth place at 133 after his opponent medically forfeited.
Wrestling in his first event of the year,
Michael Kramer, a sophomore heavyweight from Lebanon, Tennessee, made a statement in his first ever Midwest Classic. Kramer had four first round pins for the tournament, including a pin in only 37 seconds over Gerardo Jaime of Mary to win 7th place. Kramer's four pins were the most by any wrestler at the event this year.
Two other Lions advanced to day two after stellar performances on Saturday.
Isaac Jacquez was the Lions entry at 125 and after dropping his opening round match-up, he bounced back to finish Saturday 4-1 including a two victories by major decision.
Elijah Mahan had a similar path as Jacquez, dropping his first round contest, but he rallied to win his next three matches at 184 before dropping his only match on Sunday to No. 16 ranked Luke Mcgonigal of Mercyhurst. Both Jacquez and Mahan ended the event in round four of the consolation bracket.
The Midwest Classic wrapped up the Lions competitions in 2021 and will return to the mat after the holidays for the NWCA National Duals in Louisville, Kentucky on January 6-7.
