The Gannon University wrestling team recently traveled to Ashland, Ohio, to take part in the Ashland Open tournament and 21 Knights’ wrestlers competed, including one in each of the 10 different weight classes.
Although Gannon’s two nationally ranked wrestlers – redshirt seniors Matt Turek (125 pounds) and Zack Zelcs (184 pounds) – did not wrestle, the Knights saw success from several of their younger wrestlers.
Gannon had 14 wrestlers finish the tournament with a record of .500 or better including five wrestlers who placed in the tournament.
Those place winners included redshirt freshman Nate Reckner at the 133-pound weight class (fourth place), redshirt senior Adam Weinell at the 141-pound class (sixth place), true freshman Jake Stratton at the 184-pound class (fifth place), sophmore Gunner Loughman at the 197-pound class (fourth place) and sophomore heavyweight Nick Budd (fourth place).
One of the best performances of the tournament was turned in by Reckner as he compiled an impressive record of 4-2 record on his way to achieving a fourth-place finish at 133 pounds. Reckner said he was pleased with the Knights’ performance as a whole, and noted there is a bright future for Gannon’s wrestling squad.
“Our team wrestled very well, and we had a great showing from our incoming freshmen,” Reckner said.
A solid showing from several of Gannon’s younger wrestlers should be a sign of good things to come as the team will be back in action Saturday at the 2014 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships that will be hosted by Bloomsburg University.
The Knights finished 10th overall at last year’s conference championships that featured four NCAA Division I programs and eight NCAA Division II programs.
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