Triton Wrestlers Crown Champion and Third Place Finisher; Place Four in Top Eigh

[Triton College Wrestling]

Triton Wrestlers Crown Champion and Third Place Finisher; Place Four in Top Eight

Still battling through injuries, the Trojans improve at deep tournament

 

River Grove, Ill.--The NJCAA 24th ranked Triton Trojans wrestling program crowned a champion and a third place winner this past weekend as they hosted the 22nd Annual Art Kraft Memorial Tournament.

 

Wrestling with only 12 athletes, four Trojans placed in the top eight at the tournament.

 

?This was a good test for our wrestlers,? said Triton Head Coach Harry McGinnis. ?Naturally, we would have liked to have more place winners, but with four of our guys wrestling for the first time in more than a month, I?m not unhappy with our results.?

 

Winning his first Kraft Memorial title was Jose Torres (Cicero, Morton HS) at 125 pounds. Torres opened his tournament with a fall at 5:11 against Jon Areanas of Harper College. Torres followed it up with a 14-2 major decision against Javier Cabrajal of Waubonsee Community College before racking up a 20-8 finals victory against Aaron Smith of Mercyhurst North East.

 

?I felt good,? Torres said. ?Finally winning a tournament this year means that my training is paying off.

 

I still have a lot of room for improvement and know that there?s a lot of hard work to be done between now and February,? Torres went on to say. ?My goal is to be a National Champion. Not a qualifier; not a place winner, but a Champion.

 

Oak Forest native Lenny Kuspa wrestled all the way back to earn third place following a quarterfinal loss to eventual 165 pounds bracket champion, Mike Ryan of Elmhurst College. Kuspa recorded a fall and a pair of major decisions, outscoring his opponents by a total of 26-6, to bring home the bronze medal.

 

?Third place is not what why I came here,? Kuspa stated. ?I am disappointed that I didn?t win the title, but after I lost I had to focus on what was in front of me and not worry about the rest.?

 

Kuspa is currently ranked 12th at 165 pounds by the NJCAA Wrestling Coaches Association.

 

Wrestling in his first competition of the year after coming off of an early season injury, freshman Mike Williams (Park Ridge, Maine South HS) was one win away from placing in the top six this past weekend at 141 pounds. Williams dropped his opening bout 14-6 to Brad Gapinski of Elmhurst College, but wrestled back to win by injury default against Khattab Iwainat of Wright College and Cole Hanna of Lincoln. Unfortunately, Williams would again see Gapinski in the consolation quarterfinals where Gapinski was again this victor, this time 13-5.

 

Likewise, Gybraney Onofre (Cicero, Morton HS) was back on the mat for the first time since early November and finished in the top eight at 133 pounds. He dropped a first round decision to Tim Naubert of Grand Valley State, but then won by way of 16-4 major decision against Pedro Perez of Wright College. After receiving a forfeit in the next round of consolations, Onofre fell one win short of placing top six when he ran into Prentice Thomas of Lincoln College, losing by technical fall, 21-5. The NJCAA third ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, Thomas missed weight and moved into the 133 pound bracket where he eventually placed sixth.

 

Sophomore 125 pounds back-up Devante McCloud (Country Club Hills, Rich Central) failed to place, but earned a 4-2 win against Harper College?s Louis De La Cruz.

 

?I?m proud of our guys,? said McGinnis. ?Some of our guys could have done much better than they did and we have some things to improve upon and the second half of the season won?t be any easier than the first half. I am happy with our progress and believe that our guys are going to peak at the right time this season.?

 

The next competition for the Trojans will be the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Tournament at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Receiving at large bids, sophomores Torres and Kuspa will compete in this year?s tournament. At last year?s Midlands, Torres defeated two Division I opponents from Rider University and the University of Wisconsin. Both Trojans athletes are working hard to earn spots on the medal stand at this year?s event.

 

Following Midlands, the Trojans will resume their schedule as a team on Friday, January 7, 2012 at the William Penn Open in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Host to NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA teams, the Williams Penn Open will serve as an important test to the second half of the season for the Trojan student-athletes.

 

Triton College is a two year community college located in the west Chicago suburb of River Grove, Illinois. A non-scholarship school nationally recognized for its excellence in higher education and affordability, the college hosts one of the most historic wrestling programs in the nation at the NJCAA level. Triton wrestling is home to four Team National Championships, 12 Top Three team finishes, 21 Top Ten team finishes, 15 Individual National Champions, 67 All-Americans, more than 100 Academic All-Americans and two Olympic place winners (Michael Foy wrestled for the U.S. in both 1988 and 1992). The Triton College wrestling team is lead by NJCAA Hall of Fame coach, Harry McGinnis.

 

For more information about Triton College Wrestling and Triton College, please visit us on the web at http://www.triton.edu/Content.aspx?id=7156. You may also find us through various popular social media websites such as facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trito...80827418666095 and twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Triton_Wrestlng. You may also visit us in person on campus by contacting Head Coach Harry McGinnis at (708) 456-0300, extension 3784 or by email at hmcginni@triton.edu.