TEAM SCORES  ---  BRACKETS

Wheaton, Ill. – The Thunder wrestling team hosted the 84^th Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational this weekend inside King Arena. The Thunder wrestling team finished 16^th place for its highest finish at its own tournament since an 11th-place effort in 2023.

Roanoke College, in third place with 89 points at the end of day one, won their first Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational Championship. The Maroons scored 154 points to finish 5.5 points ahead of the second-place effort of UW-LaCrosse (148.5 points). UW-Eau Claire scored 137.5 points in third place, UW-Whitewater tallied 133 points in fourth place and Cornell College (Iowa) rounded out the top-five with 112.5 points.

Carson Trotzer of UW-Stevens Point was named the winner of the George Olson Outstanding Wrestler Award. Trotzer won the tournament title at 174-pounds as three of his five victories this weekend came via fall, including his win over top-seeded Eddie Simes of UW-La Crosse. University of Chicago 141-pounder Sean Conway received the Brett Stamm Sportsmanship Award and Blake Delsman of UW-Platteville received the Jack Swartz Award for the the most falls in the least amount of time.

Taggart Kazmierczak's performance in the 165-pound weight class highlighted Wheaton's effort in the tournament. Kazmierczak won all three of his matches on Friday to advance to the semifinals at 165-pounds. Kazmierczak opened Friday with one of the biggest upsets of the tournament as he won an 8-5 decision against UW-Whitewater's Brayden Peet, the No. 2 seed at 165-pounds. Kazmierczak then won via a fall at the 2:26 mark in the second-round match against Trev Halsey of Nebraska Wesleyan. Kazmierczak defeated No. 7 seed Ben Hegler in a 15-6 major decision in the quarterfinal.

Messiah College's Keegan Demarest earned a fall against Kazmierczak in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Kazmierczak joined the consolation bracket and drew another matchup with Peet. The Thunder junior won a drama-filled match over Peet with a 10-6 decision. Kazmierczak finished fourth overall at 165-pounds as Brian Petry of Concordia-Moorhead defeated Kazmierczak in a 20-8 major decision.

Sophomore Zeke Harris earned three wins on Friday in the 197-pound bracket. Harris opened by winning via a fall at the 3:49 mark of his first-round match against Imanol Taveras of Rhode Island College. Messiah's Tucker Seidel won a 12-3 major decision against Harris in the second round. Harris then earned a pin in the final minute of his first match in the consolation bracket. He picked up the win via fall against Ellott Black of Wilkes University at the 6:12 mark. Harris' next victory was an impressive win via fall just 30-seconds into his match against Connor Kelly of Elmhurst. Myles Johnson of Ohio Northern ended Harris' tournament with an 8-2 decision against the Thunder sophomore.

Garrett Boyd and Caleb Cox each earned two wins in the consolation bracket of their respective weight classes on Friday. Boyd won a 10-7 decision against Nebraska Wesleyan's Emilio Chavez to open the consolation bracket at 174-pounds. He then earned a fall against Mount Union's Jake Starke with just 23-seconds remaining in their match. Cox opened his participation in the consolation bracket at 157-pounds with a victory via a fall at the 2:36 mark of his match against Mount St. Joseph's Rylee Nealeigh. He then defeated Ben Messier of MSOE in a 15-0 technical fall (7:00) before bowing out of the tournament in his next match.