Elmhurst, Ill. – The Wheaton wrestling team returned to action on Saturday at Elmhurst University's Al Hanke Invitational. Today's event was the first competition for the Thunder wrestling program since December 14^th. Wheaton placed ninth at today's tournament.

University of Chicago finished first today at the Al Hanke Invitational as the Maroons scored 151 points, followed by second-place North Central College with 130.5 points. MSOE scored 122.5 points in the third place, UW-Whitewater scored 103 points in fourth place, and Carthage finished fifth with 91.5 points. Elmhurst scored 83.5 points in sixth place, Triton College was seventh with 81.5 points, Harper College scored 69 points in eighth place, Wheaton was ninth with 46 points, and UW-Stevens Point finished 10^th with 11.5 points.

A pair of fourth-place finishes highlighted Wheaton's performance on Saturday.  Garrett Boyd finished fourth in the 174-pound weight class, while teammate Zeke Harris was fourth in the 197-pound weight class.
Boyd started his day in the 174-pound bracket with a 15-0 techincal fall against Harper's Dalton Simmons. In the second round he earned a fall at the 4:19 mark of his match against Elmhurst's Max Comas. Boyd earned another fall, this time at the 1:36 mark of his third-round match against UW-Whitewater's Caden Kirchner. Chicago's Tyler Joseph defeated Boyd in a 9-4 decision in the semifinal round. Joseph went on to win the 174-pound weight class and Boyd lost on a medical forfeit in the third-place match.

Harris began his effort in the 197-pound weight class by earning a fall at 6:34 of his match against Joe Raineri of MSOE. He also earned a fall in his second match as he defeated North Central's Casey Aikman at the 1:22 mark of their match. Triton's Ghee Rachal won a 10-3 decision against Harris in the semifinal round. Harris lost to Harper's Ali Adel via a medical forfeit in the third-place match.

The Thunder wrestling team returns to action next Saturday as it competes in the CCIW Duals at Carthage College. The event is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. in Kenosha.