Manchester, Ind. – The Thunder wrestling team had a strong outing on Saturday at Manchester University's "Spartan Mat Classic" The Thunder finished second in the 22-team field, as Wheaton had two weight-class championship with a second-place finish and a third-place effort.

Fourth-ranked Wabash College finished first at the tournament with 164.5 points. Wheaton placed second with 118.5 points as the Thunder and Little Giants were the only two programs to produce to championship in the tournament. Bellarmine scored 111 points in third place, Indiana Tech finished fourth with 103.5 points, and Waynesburg scored 98.5 points in fifth place. Baldwin Wallace finished sixth with 93.5 points, Manchester scored 86.5 points in seventh place, Mount Union finished eighth with 76.5 points, Marian (Ind.) placed ninth with 72 points and Alma tallied 71.5 points to round out the top-10.

Carlos Fuentez (PICTURED LEFT) won the title at 125-pounds today as he won four of his five matches via a pin. The Thunder All-American opened with a pin at 5:16 of his first-round match against Mott Community College's Tommy Malloy. Fuentez pinned Indiana Tech's Devon Johnsen at the 3:54 mark of their second-round match and he defeated Lukas Blaine of Mount Union via a pin at the 2:55 mark of their quarterfinal matchup. Fuentez won a 12-5 decision against Nicholas Berry of Baldwin Wallace in the semifinal round. Fuentez secured the title with his quickest pin of the day. He pinned Eric Pawlacztk of Mott C.C. at the 1:33 mark of their championship match. Fuentez, the top-ranked wrestler at 125-pounds, improves his season record to 21-1.
 
Isaac Odell earned the Spartan Mat Classic title at 184-pounds with four victories by pin and a one technical fall. Odell pinned Baldwin Wallace's Dominic Shelley just 1:32 into their first-round match. Odell won a 16-1 technical fall in his second-round match against Defiance's Hunter McNutt. Bellarmine's Brett Bryant was pinned by Odell at the 3:34 mark of their quarterfinal matchup. Odell pinned Mount Union's Jaden Mendeluk just 1:52 into their matchup in the semifinals. The Thunder senior secured the title with a pin of Bellarmine's Andy Dobben at the 4:20 mark of their championship match. Odell, the sixth-ranked wrestler in Division III at 184-pounds, improves his season record to 24-2.
 
Jonavan Huggins (PICTURED RIGHT) placed second at 165-pounds for the Thunder. Huggins opened with a first-round bye and he pinned Ohio Wesleyan's Matt Hall at the 2:33 mark of their second round match. Huggins won a 14-2 major decision against Anthony Cicciarelli of Wabash in the quarterfinals.  In the semifinals, Huggins edged Wabash's Dylan Schurg by winning a 7-6 decision to advance to the championship match. Wabash's Kyle Hatch won a 13-3 major decision against Huggins in the championship match at 165-pounds.
 
Senior Max Gierke placed third in the 197-pound weight class. Gierke opened with a first round bye and he pinned Wabash's Sam Hansen at the 5:52 mark of their second round match. Gierke pinned Heidelberg's Austin Smith at the 4:05 mark of their quarterfinal match. Beau Yineman of UW-Oshkosh defeated Gierke in a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinal round. Gierke defeated Thomas More's James Caniglia in a forfeit in the third-place match.

Wheaton travels to Naperville next Saturday to compete in the North Central Duals with matches against Lakeland, Harper C.C. and North Central.