Tournament Results (.pdf)
 
ADA, Ohio (Dec. 1) – The Waynesburg University wrestling team enjoyed a very successful day at the talent-laden Ohio Northern Invitational on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets finished in seventh place with 87.5 points in a field that included two of the top 14 teams in Division III and several strong scholarship teams.
 
Waynesburg finished just behind two points behind sixth-place Heidelberg (89.5) and seven points behind fifth-place Ohio Northern (94.5), which is ranked 13^th in the country, according to the National Wrestling Coaches Assocation (NWCA). The Jackets also finished ahead of Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Thiel, which placed 16^th as a team (32.5 points).
 
The Yellow Jackets were led by junior Sam Lombardo, who placed a team-high third at 157 pounds. Lombardo, the fifth seed, opened things up with a pin over Ohio Northern's Cory Neel in just 1:42. Back-to-back decisions moved the Waynesburg standout into the semifinals, where he was stopped short of a title by top-seeded Conor Young of NAIA Campbellsville. Lombardo rebounded in consolations with a pin of Washington & Lee's Dan Igel to move into the third-place bout. He wrapped up the bronze medal with a 6-4 victory over Mitchell Judkins of NAIA member Lindsey Wilson.
 
Also reaching the semifinal round of his weight class was senior 184-pounder Cody Catalina, who picked up three-straight decision wins in the championship bracket, before dropping a match to Jameel Bryant of Lindsey Wilson. After falling into consolations, Catalina wound up placing sixth following a 6-2 decision loss to Derrick Williams of Division II West Liberty.
 
Senior 133-pounder Alex Crown rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to advance to the third-place bout in his weight class. After back-to-back wins to open his day, the fourth-seeded Crown dropped into wrestle-backs, where he scored back-to-back pins, including a 1:01 fall over Thiel's Nick Sutton. The Jacket veteran advance to the third-place match after upsetting second seeded Jacob McCombs of Lindsey Wilson. He settled for fourth place after coming up short against top seeded Tyler Alsip of Campbellsville.
 
Junior 149-pounder Luke Lohr also made it to his third-place bout. Lohr got off to a fast start with a 9-2 decision win in his opening match followed by a win by pin in 5:36 over number-eight seed Kyle Brezovec of Ohio Northern. Unfortunately, Lohr couldn't get past Gage Pederson of Olivet and dropped into consolations. Not only was Pederson the top seed in the bracket, but he came into the invitational ranked third in the country according to d3wrestle.com. Once in wrestle-backs, Lohr picked up a 12-6 decision before picking up a 14-4 major decision over fifth seeded Travis Luft of Heidelberg. The Jacket junior beat yet another Heidelberg wrestler, Andrew Johnson, to reach the third-place bout. Johnson, who defaulted while trailing 12-1 to Lohr, was not only the third seed at the weight, but he was also listed 10^th in the d3wrestle.com rankings. Unfortunately, Lohr ran into Pederson in the third place match for the bronze and wound up in fourth place.
 
Waynesburg scored another fourth-place finish thanks to junior Anthony Bonaventura. Bonaventura started his run at 174 pounds with a pin in 2:43 over Ron Tassoni of Washington & Lee. After a respectable 8-0 loss to the number-one ranked 174-pounder in the country, ONU's Kyle Kwiat, Bonaventura picked up three-straight wins by decision, including a 3-2 victory over Olivet's Josh Crawford, who was listed as a “contender” for the d3wrestle.com top 10. Unfortunately, the junior's day ended in a tough 3-0 loss to Thiel's Jerrold Roosa in the third-place bout.
 
Another junior 174-pounder, Cameron Fine, gave Waynesburg two place winners at the weight. He placed sixth after going 3-3 with two wins coming by pin. Sophomore 133-pounder Jake Vitolo added a sixth-place finish of his own after going 5-3 on the day. Two of his losses came by four points or less to the number-one seed in the weight, and the third was by default.
 
The Jackets will look to carry its momentum from a strong showing at ONU into their home dual match against West Liberty on Friday, Dec. 7. WLU finished in third place (116) on Saturday. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.