Etzel Claims 157-pound Title At Home Invitational
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Junior Josh Etzel (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth-Forward) racked up five victories en route to the 157-pound championship on Saturday at the 2012 Washington & Jefferson College Wrestling Invitational at the Henry Memorial Center. Final team scoring will be available later this weekend.
Etzel was W&J's lone individual champion, while freshman Jacob Spearman (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) also earned five wins in the 125-pound bracket and took third place.
Etzel, a NCAA regional champion at 141 pounds last year, opened with a 15-0 technical fall against Case Western Reserve's Evan McDowell. He then topped Washington and Lee's Dan Igel (4-2) before another technical fall (16-1) over Middlesex Community College's Dylon Mussina. In the semifinals, Etzel edged Mercyhurst Northeast's Austin Rice (4-2). He then earned a medical forfeit in the championship match when facing Mercyhurst's Tyler Berger.
Spearman piled up wins over CWRU's Josh Hall (5-1), Mercyhurst Northeast's Tyler Peck (10-4) and Heidelberg's Ryan Hornack (3-2) before falling in the semifinals to Pitt-Johnstown's Evan Link (2-0). He notched third place by blanking Waynesburg's Gordon Bieber 6-0.
Freshman 149-pounder Alex Powell (Venetia, Pa./Ringgold) finished the tournament with a 4-2 record, including three consolation bracket wins, while freshmen 141-pounder Logan Strope (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and 165-pounder Brian Haney (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) both recorded 3-2 records.
W&J is back in action next Saturday at the Mount Union Duals (10:00 am) in Alliance, Ohio.
