Trine’s Seniors Lead the Way on Senior Night

-Trine comes away with a close 21-18 victory against Indianapolis

Trine University came away with a 21-18 win over the Indianapolis Greyhounds in the first ever meeting between both teams.  Trine is still in the infancy of their program, but have matured at an accelerated pace under head coach Dan Callahan and assistant Mike Ester.  On Tuesday, the Thunder got two big wins from their seniors and added two forfeits to seal the victory over the visiting Greyhounds.

The match started out at 125lbs with Jimmy Nichols(Westfield, IN) utilizing 1:57 of riding time and an escape to come away with a narrow 2-1 victory over Brandon Harvey(Elkhart, IN).  Harvey had two near takedowns in the first period, but the veteran Nichols funked out of the attempts both times.  Harvey's only point came on a late stalling call, but it was not enough for the freshman to upset the senior.  Indianapolis was out to a 9-0 lead after a forfeit at the 133lbs weight class.

The 141lbs match featured two Northeast Hooser Conference products in former Homestead wrestler Bryan Wight of Trine and former Bellmont state champion Matt Irwin from Indianapolis.  After a scoreless first period Irwin was out quick to start the second period.  Irwin then finished a beautiful double leg to go up 3-0.  Wight escaped after the takedown and to start the third period, but could not garner any more points as Irwin squeaked out a close 3-2 decision.

Senior Kyle Pittman(Greensburg, IN) stepped out on the mat for Trine against Indianapolis' freshman David Lopez(Napanee, IN) at 149lbs.  Both wrestlers were of identical short and stocky builds which made for a very entertaining match with lots of scrambles and near takedowns.  Pittman scored a takedown with 22 seconds left and Lopez's late desperation scramble could only muster an escape point as time ran out.  The decision by Pittman closed the gap to 12-3 after four matches.

At 157lbs Indianapolis' Corey Fornal(Rochester, IN) squared off with Trine freshman George Markou(Peru, IN).   Fornal scored an early double leg and racked up 1:57 of riding time in the first period.  In the second period Markou rode Fornal for nearly the whole period, but a late escape extended Fornal's lead to 3-0.  To start the third period, Markou chose the top position and Fornal didn't waste time as he got an early reversal.  Fornal didn't let Markou escape his grip as he regained his riding time to come away with a 6-0 victory.

The 165lbs match was by far the most entertaining of the night as Indianapolis' Jacob Blackwell(Indianapolis, IN) barely got by Trine's Kyle Long(South Bend, IN).  After a scoreless first period, Blackwell put Long to his back for a three count, but Long rolled through and gained a reversal to tie things up at two.  Blackwell got a reversal 30 seconds into the third period and rode Long out until he got another reversal to tie things up.  The reversal was too little, too late as Blackwell had barely enough riding time to garner the extra point and the 5-4 victory.

Trine then utilized their experience in the next two weight classes as they had junior Nick Kraus(Rolling Prairie, IN) going to the mat at 174lbs and senior Louis Posa(Tecumseh, MI) at 184lbs.  Kraus got the ball rolling early executing a great single leg finish to start the scoring in the first period.  He later added a double leg to take a 4-1 lead in the first period over JT Jenkins(New Albany, IN).  Kraus then put the hurting on Jenkins with a backbow to score three nearfall and almost come away with the pin in the second period.  After two periods, Kraus had a 7-1 lead along with 2:46 of riding time.  In the third period Kraus got a takedown and then three nearfall and a near pin before letting Jenkins up again to go for the tech fall.  Jenkins held off the late throw attempts to save the team valuable points as Kraus won 15-2.

Nothing was more suiting for senior night than for the match to come down to Trine's all-time win leader Louis Posa.  Posa has racked up 94 wins on his career and could be the first(and only) Trine wrestler to eclipse the 100 win mark.  Posa has been a mainstay in the line-up since his freshman year and has steadily improved each year, including just barely missing out on going to nationals last year.  Posa sprinted out of the gate with three takedowns in the first period on Indianapolis' Kevin Smith(Boggstown, IN) including an absolutely amazing low single off the whistle that excited the crowd.  Posa got his fourth takedown of the match to stretch his lead to 8-3 in the second period.  Posa then reversed Smith in the third period before a late escape by Smith kept the match to a regular decision.  Posa's 11-4 victory made the team score 9-18, but two forfeits by Indianapolis at 197lbs and heavyweight made the final score 21-18 in favor of the home Thunder.

The crowd at Hershey Hall on the Trine campus was filled with many coaches and wrestlers from South Bend, Northwood, Northrop, Jimtown, Leo and many more area schools.  Many fans came out to watch some of the best small school college wrestling in the state.  With the state series just around the corner, there is nothing like going down memory lane watching some of the former high school stars at the collegiate level.

On a personal note, I want to say congratulations to the Trine seniors that were honored tonight.  Levi Mundy, Bryan Wight, Kyle Pittman, Cory Boyles and Louis Posa were a part of the first team in Trine(Tri-State) history and laid the foundation for a very exciting future.  I coached all of these great young men as freshman and saw the fire in their eyes as they stepped out on the mats as inexperienced freshmen at the collegiate level.  There is nothing better than seeing how they have matured into very good wrestlers and even more importantly, great young men.  Congratulations and good luck in the future to all of you.