Wrestling competes on Day 1 of Pete Willson Invitational

January 29, 2010

WHEATON, Ill. — Junior Luke Miller and freshman Kyle Kwiat advanced to the semifinals of their respective weight classes to lead the Ohio Northern wrestling team Friday on Day 1 of the two-day Wheaton (Ill.) Pete Willson Invitational.

Miller stands at 3-0 and Kwiat has a 2-0 mark heading into the semifinals Saturday morning.

Miller, the No. 2 seed and No. 3-ranked nationally at 157 pounds, is now 30-2 on the year.

Kwiat, the No. 3 seed and No. 2-ranked nationally at 174 pounds, is now 32-3 on the season.

Sophomore Mick Letcher and Billy Painter are both 2-1 in the tournament and need one more victory Saturday morning to clinch a top-8 finish in the tournament.

Letcher, the No. 7 seed at 149 pounds, improves to 21-5 on the year and Painter is 16-14 this year at 165 pounds.

Junior Justin Southwick posted a 1-2 record at heavyweight and now stands at 17-14 on the season.

The Polar Bears, who have wrestlers in just six of the 10 weight classes, are 12th out of 30 teams with 33.5 points in the team standings.

The final day will get underway Saturday at 10 am EST.

Ohio Northern Individual Results by Weight Class

149

#7 Mick Letcher (2-1)
#7 Mick Letcher def. by dec. Bobby Dorn (Wis.-LaCrosse), 9-4
#7 Mick Letcher def. by fall Nick Leon (Olivet), 3:22
#7 Mick Letcher lost by tech. fall to #2 Isaac Dukes (CWR), 20-4, 6:00
#7 Mick Letcher v Domineak Commodore (Messiah), Sat. 10 am

157

#2 Luke Miller (3-0)
#2 Luke Miller def. by fall Vincent Pizulli (JCU), 3:48
#2 Luke Miller def. by dec. Tim Gingerich (NCentral), 8-1
#2 Luke Miller def. by tech. fall Ryan Farwell (Wis.-LaCrosse), 16-0, 5:57
#2 Luke Miller v #3 Dillon Bera (UW-Parkside), Sat. 10 am

165

Billy Painter (1-1)
Billy Painter lost by fall to #1 Trent Zempel (Messiah), 4:52
Billy Painter def. by maj. dec. Clay Criss (CWR), 9-1
Billy Painter def. by dec. Mike Lussier (Elizabeth), 9-6
Billy Painter v Yousef Al-Ghoul (Elmhurst), Sat. 10 am

174

#3 Kyle Kwiat (2-0)
#3 Kyle Kwiat def. by maj. dec. Ryan Pieper (Trine), 13-2
#3 Kyle Kwiat def. by fall #6 Greg Rhoads (Wabash), 1:27
#3 Kyle Kwiat v #2 Mike Schmitz (UW-La Crosse). Sat. 10 am

184

Drew Swick (0-1)
Drew Swick lost by fall to #4 Nick Kraus (Trine), 6:01
Drew Swick lost by medical forfeit

285

Justin Southwick (1-2)
Justin Southwick def. by fall Travis Pagel (Concordia), 2:38
Justin Southwick lost by tech. fall to #1 Dan Laurent (Wis.0LaCrosse), 18-2, 7:00
Justin Southwick lost by fall to Jason Laplante (Wis.-Oshkosh), 3:41