Six Blue Jay wrestlers competed in the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational to place sixth overall, the highest rank Elizabethtown College has ever received at this Invitational in Wheaton, Illinois. In the two-day tournament culminating on Feb. 2, sophomore Phil Landis placed third in the 197 weight class, sophomore heavyweight Jeremy Reith placed fourth, first-year Chad Lammer (133) and first-year Jesse Meaney (141) each placed fifth and first-year Mike Lammer (149) placed sixth. This year five individuals placed; in any past year, the most was three.
Landis, a contender for National Division III Top Ten and ranked ninth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, won third at the invitational when he faced Darren Faber of Wheaton with a 7-4 decision. Despite his 6-0 loss to Faber on the first day of the tournament, he responded with a 9-2 decision over Messiah’s Travis Ebersole. On the second day, Landis went on to defeat Olivet’s Andrew Simpson and nationally ninth-ranked Andrew Lovins during the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals.
Reith is also a national contender for Division III Top Ten individuals in the heavyweight. On Feb. 1, he solidified this claim over Nick Terifaj of Mt. Union during the quarterfinals with a 7-2 decision. He remained in the championship bracket to face nationally tenth-ranked Anthony Edgren with a close loss of 3-1. A victory of 12-8 against Messiah’s Charles Jones brought Reith to the consolation match against Adam Robinson of Almar. However, another close loss of 4-3 placed Reith fourth in the invitational.
The Lammer twins are making quite an impression in their first season of college wrestling. Chad Lammer finished fifth in the 133 weight bracket of the Wheaton Invitational. He faced rather high-ranked competition, putting up strong fights against the nation’s second-ranked Nathan Fitzenreider of North Central, losing 9-6, and sixth-seeded Wisconsin-La Crosse’s James Bennett, ending close at 5-4. However, he defeated Heidelberg’s Justin Kihn (7-3), Concordia-Wisconsin’s Kevin Amborcio (4-2) and Messiah’s Kyle Cobientz for his fifth place finish.
Meanwhile Mike Lammer placed sixth in his 149 weight class after his second loss against John Carroll’s Daniel Mirman, 16-10. The Lammer brothers are performing very well despite their first-year status. They have quickly earned a reputation for injury default during competition, meaning that their opponent cannot compete for the remainder of the match. Landis said, “The twins are performing really well. They were decent in high school, but college is a much higher level. It’s like jumping from middle school to high school and they are really displaying their talents.”
During his fifth place match, Meaney defeated Nathaniel Benke of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a 4-3 decision. Earlier in the day, Meaney pinned Division III ninth-ranked Bryant Roby of Mount Union. Despite the close losses against Messiah’s Kaleb Loht (5-3) and Olivet’s Kenneth Richmond, Meaney prepared for his following matches with discipline. While physical warm-up in wrestling is crucial, the proper state of mind is even more important.
Although sophomore Zeke Zimmer did not place overall, he remains the team leader in wins and had two major decision victories on the first day of competition.
To prepare for the invitational, these six participants had extra pool workouts, exercised by jump roping and sprinting, and made additional weightlifting sessions after practice. This particular meet is considered the “mini nationals” because it has so many nationally-ranked participants. This tournament gave our Blue Jays the opportunity to see where they stand in order to continue working hard and improving for the NCAA Regional Championships coming up on March 2 in Ada, Ohio and NCAA DIII Championships March 15-16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Although the Jays have many younger, less experienced athletes, they are a team of strong individuals. Landis said, “I really see us stepping up to the plate this season.”
As time draws nearer to qualifying for Nationals, the wrestlers must step up while other opponents may step down as they burn out after the strenuous season or are injured. Our team has a solid chance to make school history.