Indiana Tech Opens Season at MSU Open

11/2/2014 10:18:00 PM

| Mark Jagord

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Indiana Tech wrestling team took to the mats on Sunday at the annual MSU Open at Jenison Field House. Nearly 500 wrestlers from 30 schools competed in the prestigious tournament, which features some of the top wrestlers in the nation. Tech had two wrestlers place with one losing in the championship round.

The Warriors pair took second and fifth places in the event, with Georgio Blades and Mitchell Pawlak in the freshman/sophomore division. No team scores were kept.

Blades went 3-1 in route to a second place finish in the freshman/sophomore division at 197-lbs. The sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind. won his first match over Michigan's Matthew Okaiye with a 9-2 decision before besting Lindsey Wilson's Jake Maupin by a 10-4 decision. In his semifinal match against Illinois' Colton Emmerich, Blades took another decision, 3-1. In the championship round, Blades fell to Illinois' Andre Lee in a 9-6 decision.

In the 133-lb freshman/sophomore division, Pawlak went 6-1 in route to a fifth place finish. The 5-foot-6 sophomore from Temperance, Mich. won his first match of the day by an 8-5 decision over Zachary Davis of Navy, before falling to eventual champion, Jered Cortez of Illinois in the second round by the narrowest of margins, 6-5. Pawlak fought his way through the consolation bracket with five wins from two major decisions and three falls.

Pawlak started the consolation bracket with a 12-1 major decision over Northern's Danny Carlson, and then bested Eastern Michigan's Ben Caladrino with a fall at 5:00. Pawlak took his next match against Notre Dame's David Bavery with a 12-4 major decision before getting a fall at 2:33 against Kyle Lukowich of Kent State. Pawlak then capped off the consolation bracket by beating Ohio State's Mike Hozan by fall at 0:25 for the fifth-place finish.

The Orange and Black return to the mat on Saturday, Nov. 8 when they travel to Williamsburg, Ky. to participate in the Patriot Open hosted by University of the Cumberlands.