Manchester Black and Gold capture SMC title

NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – Paced by four individual weight class champions, Manchester University gave the home crowd at the 2015 Spartan Mat Classic plenty to cheer about Saturday, Jan. 10.

Freshman 125-pounder Ruben Rodriguez, Jr., (Hammond, Ind.) and junior 141-pounderJosh Juarez (South Bend, Ind.) rolled through their round-robins with unblemished marks. Sophomore 174-pounder Dylan Lauffer (Fairfield, Ohio) and junior heavyweight Dustin Kult (Lafayette, Ind.) each worked their way through traditional brackets for championships.

The Spartans posted 131 points, besting the five team field competing inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena by 43.5 points. Wabash College placed second (87.5 points), and Ohio Northern University was close behind in third (72 points).

Lauffer, en route to Outstanding Wrestler honors, picked up his team-leading eighth fall in the semifinals after registering a 7-0 shutout in the first round. In the championship, against Heidelberg College of Ohio's Patrick Brown, he led from the start, piling up 10 points as part of a 10-4 decision. The three wins moved his season record to 17-11. Kult, also capturing three victories, registered a major decision and fall to match up with Ohio Northern's Greg Biben in the final. After working to a 2-2 tie over the regulation seven minutes, Kult, improving to 8-5, brought the MU crowd to its feet with an overtime takedown on the edge of the mat for a 4-2 victory, marking his second invitational title of the season. Rodriguez, Jr., marching towards leveling his season record (8-9), pieced together a decision, fall and injury default, while Juarez, moving over .500 (8-7), reeled off a technical fall, major decision and decision.

MU continues traditional tournament competition Saturday, Jan. 17. They travel to Elmhurst College of Illinois for the Al Hanke Invitational.

NOTES: Freshmen Chase Wilson and Matt Ruddick just missed adding to the home squad's individual champion total. Wilson, a native of Peru, Ind., went 3-1 in the 133-pound robin, with a hard-fought 4-2 loss to Wabash's Jacob Cottey sending him to second. Ruddick, a native of Seymour, Ind., and the second seed at 165, roared into the finals with a fall and major decision before Heidelberg's Myles Wright caught him for a first period pin.