CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - Freshmen Dylan Stroud and Caden Kenworthy earned their first tournament victories of their careers with 2-0 outings at the Wabash College Invitational Saturday.

Both Stroud (141) and Kenworthy (174) received byes to the semifinals. Stroud earned his championship with a 16-1 tech fall in the semifinals and a hard-fought 4-3 decision in the title bout. "I felt like the group of guys we brought with us had the energy to help drive me to winning my first college tournament," said Stroud. "It felt good to be able to come back to the home state and collect some wins."

Kenworthy pinned his opponent just over two minutes into his semifinal match, then got to the top of the podium with a 13-0 major decision in the championship. "It felt good to get to come out and wrestle again and finish on top and it was also great to see everyone bring it today," said Kenworthy.

10 Hilltoppers competed in the tournament with seven making at least the third place match.

Brock Wygle (149), Blake Miller (157), and Parker Bentley (197) joined Stroud and Kenworthy in championship bouts, however they came up short placing second in their respective brackets. Wygle and Miller recorded falls in the semifinals after quarterfinal byes before dropping championship decisions. Bentley tech falled his opponents in both the quarterfinals (25-7) and semifinals (17-0) before falling in the title match.

Bryson Neidigh bounced back from a loss in the semifinals and won a pair of matches by fall and major decision to claim third at 141. Chance Morgan placed fourth at 197 going 1-2 with a tech fall (19-4) in the consolation semifinals.

West Liberty will return to the mat next Saturday (January 28) hosting the Mountain East Conference Championships inside the ASRC.

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