Elmhurst, Ill. - The Thunder wrestling competed in two dual matches on Friday afternoon at the CCIW Duals event inside Elmhurst's R.A. Faganel Hall. Wheaton opened its participation in the event with a 33-6 victory against Augustana College. The Thunder lost their second match, a 31-19 victory for the Aurora University Spartans.

In Wheaton's victory against Augustana, the lone Vikings' victory was a win by forfeit at 133-pounds. Aidan Laird won a 10-3 decision against Augustana's Matt Lucansky. Laird was credited with 10-consecutive points in earning the victory. Cale Coppess won a 6-3 decision against Trevlon Gilford at 149-pounds. Freshman Caleb Cox won a 7-2 decision against Gianni Panozzo at 157-pounds and Taggert Kazmierczak earned an 11-1 decision against Jack Miller at 165-pounds. Garrett Boyd won a resounding 16-1 technical fall in just 3:10 of his match at 174-pounds against William Hittinger. Jacob Kraker won by fall at the 2:56 mark of his match against Conor Phelan at 184-pounds. Zeke Harris defeated Braiden Young in a 3-2 decision at 197-pounds. Young led Harris 1-0 at the start of the third period and Harris was credited with two points on a reversal just four seconds into the final period. Young tied the match at 2-2 with an escape midway through the period. Harris was awarded a point in the closing seconds of the match as Young was stalling as the Thunder sophomore earned the 3-2 decision. Freshman Alex Copestick closed out the win for the Thunder as he earned a victory via fall at the 2:14 mark of his match against Riley Steinkuehler at 285-pounds.

Cox was the first Wheaton wrestler to earn a victory in Aurora's 31-19 win agains the Thunder, in the third round of matches. He won via fall at the 4:51 mark of his match against Aurora's Daniel O'Connell at 157-pounds. Kazmierczak followed up Cox's win by earning a 15-5 major decision against Clayton McKee at 165-pounds. Kraker defeated Aurora's Alton Mullinax in an 8-3 decision in their match at 184-pounds. Harris convincingly won his match at 197-pounds against Aurora's Denim Ashley. Harris quickly recorded a takedown and then won the match with a fall against Ashley just 48 seconds into the match.

Wheaton hosts the 2026 Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational next weekend inside King Arena. The wrestling opens on Friday at 11:00 a.m. The second day of action starts at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday and the finals will begin at approximately 2:00 p.m.