Wrestling Finishes Up Weekend at Wheaton Pete Willson Invitational

WHEATON, Ill. – The CUW wrestling team finished its weekend at Wheaton for the Pete Wilson Invitational Saturday afternoon.  Along with the Concordia Open, the Pete Willson Invite is among the premier NCAA Division III tournaments of the season.  This year was its 80th year running.

Junior Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was the only Falcon to qualify for the second day of the invitational tournament.

In his first matchup of the day, O'Donnell started quickly with a takedown at 1:11 in the first period.  His opponent scored one escape point 15 seconds later.  The two went into choice one with a 2-1 O'Donnell advantage.

O'Donnell won the choice and chose to defer.  His opponent took the bottom.  With an escape at the 1:53 mark, O'Donnell's opponent came back and scored a takedown against O'Donnell.  He was not fazed with an escape six seconds later and a subsequent takedown.  The score of the second period was a 3-3 tie.  O'Donnell maintained the 5-4 lead going into the third period.

O'Donnell chose bottom in his choice two as he looked for the quick escape point.  It was all Falcons all day in the third period with O'Donnell getting the escape point as well as another takedown with 25 seconds remaining in the period. 

The matchup ended with an 8-4 final score and O'Donnell moved on to the consolation semifinals.

In his semifinal matchup, O'Donnell started behind with a takedown and four-point near fall against him going into choice one with a six-point deficit. 

O'Donnell was given the first choice and chose to defer.  His opponent took bottom for period two.

At the 1:52 mark, O'Donnell's opponent scored a reversal to take the 8-0 lead. 

O'Donnell was able to escape three seconds later claiming his first point of the matchup.

In choice two, O'Donnell chose neutral, looking to score a quick takedown. 

The third period was back and forth with O'Donnell's opponent scoring the first takedown of the period.  O'Donnell came up with the escape but was taken down once again at the end of the period. 

O'Donnell was able to escape once again but was taken down for the third time in the period just before time expired.

O'Donnell claimed 11 total points for the Falcons who ended the weekend with 22.5 total team points.  The Falcons finished in 23rd place with 22.5 team points.  Leading the tournament was Wisconsin-Eau Claire with 136 total team points.

The Falcons look ahead toward Thursday when they take on Aurora inside the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse.