The Wayne Trace Raiders sent three wrestlers to the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbird Invitational on January 27-28th. With just three wrestlers representing the Raiders, the team placed 23rd out of 42 teams at the Invitational.
Graiden Troth, the 144-pounder finished in third place for Wayne Trace. Troth had a rough start to the weekend losing to Biddle from Lakota just 5-3. Troth did not let that stop him from battling back however. From there, Troth pinned Hartman from Otsego in 1:36 and then pinned Velazquez in just 48 seconds. While on a roll, Graiden pinned Bryan from McComb in 2 minutes and 32 seconds and then narrowed out Mills with a 2-1 win. Troth then had to wrestle Biddle from Lakota again to go for the Third place match, this time pinning him in 1 minute and 55 seconds. Troth then faced Lewis, beating him 3-0 to take the third place spot on the podium.
Corbin Kimmel, the 120-pounder finished in fourth place for the Raiders. Kimmel faced Hernandez from Delta, beating him 2-1 in Overtime. From there, Corbin pinned Kibble in 5 minutes and 58 seconds to press forward and see Nathan Attisano. Attisano knocked Kimmel to the consolation bracket with a 12-4 win in the semi-finals, forcing Kimmel to battle back for placements. Kimmel went on to defeat Earles in a 14-12 defeat in another overtime match to press forward to the match for third place. Corbin was defeated by Trevor Wilcox from Otsego with a pin in 1:14 and finished in fourth place overall.
Nate Osborn also represented the red, white and blue in the 175-pound weight class. Osborn won his first bout against Christ Smith with a pin in just 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Osborn then defeated Zellman with a win of 11-7. In the quarters, Nate fell to Awsom Mitchell 11-2 and dropped to the consolation bracket. Osborn then lost to Roginski in a close match of 4-2 and then fell to Parkins, landing in eighth place for the invitational.
The Raiders appreciate the support shown and continue to work on areas on improvement for the upcoming weeks.
