After a three-year absence, the biggest tournament of the regular season for the Triton College wrestling team made its return. The Trojans hosted on Dec. 10 their first Art Kraft Memorial Tournament since 2019 as the pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 and 2021 events. In addition to the Art Kraft Memorial, No. 5 ranked Triton hosted a dual meet the night before against No. 11 Ellsworth Community College (Iowa).
Both days were a huge success for the Trojans.
Triton got the weekend going with a dominating 43-9 dual win over Ellsworth on Dec. 9 at the Collins Center Gymnasium.
The Panthers did forfeit bouts at 141, 149 and 174 lbs. However, the Trojans registered head-to-head victories by
Anthony Schickel (125),
Elon Rodriguez (133),
Connor Svantner (157),
Jeivan Ross (184) and
Ronald Krewer (HWT).
"I was really happy with the energy we had tonight and it started right away at heavyweight with
Ronald Krewer getting a big major decision," said assistant coach
A.J. Blahut. "Both 125 and 133 got bonus point wins for us and
Connor Svantner wrestled really well in his win over the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the country. This was a good team win."
Then Triton dominated the Art Kraft Memorial with four champions, three runner-ups, along with a pair of Trojans taking third, fifth and sixth place respectfully.
Schickel led the championship parade for Triton. The sophomore ranked fourth in the nation at 125 won his fifth individual event of the season, taking down fifth ranked Luqman Masud of Joliet Junior College by a 12-3 major decision in the finals. He went 5-0 on the day.
Rodriquez took home the title at 133 going 4-0. The sophomore has won three tournaments this season and is ranked fourth in the nation in his weight class.
Cameron White went 4-0 to win the Art Kraft Memorial crown at 157 as he defeated Reese Hamblen of Ancilla College by fall at 1:17 in the title match.
Ross was the final Triton champion, going 4-0 at 184. He defeated Kayleb Venema of Muskegon Community College in the championship bout by fall at 4:44.
Kendall Norfleet (165),
Sherman Dixon (174) and Krewer (HWT) finished second individually.
Luke Barron (165) and
Owen Gerdes (197) placed third.
Drake Campbell (149) and
Diego Sanchez (184) placed fifth.
David Capron (149) and
Cole Peterson (133) took home sixth place for the Trojans. Â
"Having seven guys in the finals is a good day," Blahut said. "We still need to clean up some stuff and work harder to finish matches on top. Shout-out to
Anthony Schickel on getting a nice 12-3 win over the No. 5 ranked wrestler in the country."
Triton will return to action Dec. 29 and 30 at the Midlands Tournament hosted by Northwestern University, The meet will be held at Now Arena in Hoffman Estates.
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