Triton Wrestlers Crown Two Champs and Earn Four Medals at Elmhurst

[Triton College Wrestling]

Triton Wrestlers Crown Two Champs and Earn Four Medals at Elmhurst

Team places sixth with only six point scorers

 

River Grove, IL--It was another productive week for the NJCAA 25th ranked Triton Trojans as they earned two titles and two more medals on the day while placing sixth as a team at the 30th Annual Al Hanke Invitational at Elmhurst College.

 

?This tournament went really well for us today,? Triton Head Coach Harry McGinnis stated. ?Last year, we finished 10th with eight points and no place winners. This year, even without entrants at four weight classes, we scored more than five times as many points [50 team points] as we did last year, had two champs and two more medalists. We still have a lot of work to do before the regional qualifier in four weeks from now, but I am happy with how our guys competed today.?

 

Top-seeded sophomore co-captain Jose Torres (Cicero-Morton), currently ranked ninth in the NJCAA, won his third 125 pounds championship tournament title this season. His first match was a close 2-1 decision against conference foe Javier Cabrajal of Waubonsee Valley. Torres had defeated Cabrajal 14-2 in December at the Kraft Memorial Tournament.

 

?Today we saw that a lot of teams have been scouting our guys, specifically Jose and Lenny,? said Triton Head Coach Harry McGinnis. ?The good thing is that our wrestlers are not one-dimensional. They were able to transition into different attacks, turns and escapes and get the job done.?

 

From there, Torres downed University of Chicago?s Willie Long 8-4 in the quarterfinals and then defeated Long?s teammate, Jake Schramm, 10-4 in the semifinals. In the finals, Torres used two takedowns to beat Harper College?s Tanis Arcos 5-3.

 

?I came out cold in my first match,? said Torres. ?I didn?t have my proper sweat going and I just felt tight. After that [first] match, I felt better and was able to use a number of different attacks to score from my feet and on the mat. I?m happy that I won the tournament, but I know I could have been more dominant.?

 

Torres currently leads all 125 pound wrestlers in the nation, regardless of division, in wins with 27.

 

NJCAA eighth ranked Lenny Kuspa (Oak Forest), a sophomore and Triton?s other co-captain, earned the 165 pounds championship by way of the second seed. In his opening bout, Kuspa built up a healthy lead against James Cansler or Carroll University before pinning him at 4:12 in the second period. In the semifinals, Kuspa kept his pace high and the pressure on as he used numerous takedowns and turns to defeat Milwaukee School of Engineering?s (MSOE) Pete Kootstra 11-1. Come the finals, Kuspa took on surprise finalist Casey Kenealy of Concordia-Wisconsin and disposed of him by a score of 8-5.

 

?This is my first tournament win in college,? said Kuspa. ?Outside of a few mistakes, which I will be working on immediately, I?m proud of this win.?

 

Fourth seeded freshman Chepe Mariscal (Cicero-Morton) earned a fifth place finish on the day by going 4-2. He opened his tournament with a first period fall against the lanky Adam Crist of Carroll U before dropping a seesaw 9-8 battle to eventual runner-up Dallas Schrug of MSOE.

 

?I just ran out of gas in that match,? Mariscal admits. ?My conditioning has never really been an issue and I mentally let myself slip on that one because I felt tired.?

 

Dropping to the consolation bracket, Mariscal pinned Ricky Burns of Concordia at 3:46 and followed that performance up with a 10-8 overtime win against Matt Klein of Chicago. Moving to the consolation semifinals, Mariscal was the victim of a fall at 1:13 against second seeded Josh Wengerter of MSOE. In the fifth place match, Mariscal nearly won by technical fall against Tim Grimm of Concordia, scoring an 18-4 major decision.

 

?Chepe is an immensely talented wrestler,? said McGinnis. ?He?s had some injuries this season which have limited his action, but when he does wrestle he takes a lot of risks in his matches and most times ends up with the rewards. He has some small things to work on before regionals, but I?m confident that he?s going to have a nice impact on the field come season?s end.?

 

Freshman Jason Delassandro (Chicago-Fenwick) earned a sixth place finish by virtue of a first round bye in a seven man bracket.

 

Sophomores Devantae McCloud (Country Club Hills-Rich Central) at 133 pounds, Tim Hovey (Franklin Park-Leyden) at 165 pounds and freshman Travis Fuller (Sandwich) at 141 pounds also competed.

 

The Trojans next competition will take them to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa this coming Saturday to do battle at the Pat ?Flash? Flanagan Open against opponents from the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, UW-LaCrosse, Luther College, Cornell College and many others. Wrestling begins at 8:30 a.m.

 

Triton College Wrestling is seeking hard working, dedicated student-wrestlers to become part of our historic program and compete against the best teams in the country at every college level. 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 and fill out our online recruitment form, http://www.triton.edu/Content.aspx?id=6939. You may also find us through 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.