EVENT: Waynesburg Invitational

LOCATION: Waynesburg, PA

TEAM STANDING: 5^th out of 8

IN BRIEF: Junior Josh Rodriguez went 3-0 to win the 197-pound bracket as six Apprentice School wrestlers placed in the top six to lead the Builders to a fifth-place finish in the Waynesburg Invitational on Saturday.

ON THE MAT

• The Builders opened their 2015 portion of events with a trip to Waynesburg, PA for the Waynesburg Invitational.  Wintry weather forced a few teams to stay home as the tournament turned into an eight-team affair.
• Junior Josh Rodriguez scored the big win of the day by taking the 197 pound bracket as he took home three victories.  He opened against Max Pylayen of Alderson-Broaddus University and won by fall in four minutes.  His last two matches came against Ohio Northern University wrestlers, who as a team entered the event ranked in the top 25 by D3wrestle.com.  He defeated Kody Bellamy 7-1 and then won the bracket by defeating Dillon Brancheau 7-5 in overtime.
• Junior Derek Burhenn, in his first matches of the year, went 5-1 at 141 pounds to take third place.  After losing to Connor Maurello of Johns Hopkins, Burhenn reeled off five straight wins including a 10-0 major decision over Sam Sands of Johns Hopkins and winning the third-place match 6-4 in overtime over Dylan Dolph of Ohio Northern.
• Senior Kyle Lowry came in fourth place at 165 pounds as he scored a win over Wells Sakmaz of Johns Hopkins to advance to the third-place match.  In that match, he lost 4-3 to Eric Tuck of Waynesburg University in a tightly fought contest after losing to him by fall in 59 seconds in his first match.
• Junior Philip Porto took third at 184 pounds as he went 3-1 in his first tournament action of the year.  After losing his first match against Evan Johnson of Johns Hopkins by a 6-2 decision, he advanced via injury default and then pinned teammate Kenny Lowry in 3:45 to make it to the third-place match.  In that match he scored a 17-2 tech fall win over Nathan McCown of Ohio Northern University.
• Finishing in sixth place in their brackets were junior Kenny Lowry at 184 pounds and senior Ian Jones at heavyweight.  Lowry won his opening match 8-7 over Garrett Onderko of Alderson-Broaddus University, while Jones went 2-0 before injury defaulting to sixth place.

MAT NOTES

Ohio Northern University won the event with 188.5 points to edge out the hosts with 180.5.  Alderson-Broadus, a NCAA Division II school, was third at 103.5 points.

NEXT UP – Virginia Duals

The Builders are "home" this coming weekend as the host team for the American College Division of the 35^th annual Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum.  Pairings for the college divisions will be announced by Tuesday as the event will start at 9 am Friday morning.  

American College Division entrants include: National Junior College Athletic Association power Nassau Community College (NY), NCAA Division III Ferrum College, National Collegiate Wrestling Association members Liberty University and University of Central Florida, along with NCAA Division II members Wheeling Jesuit University (WV) and Anderson University (SC)

WAYNESBURG INVITATIONAL

Team Scores: Ohio Northern 188.5; Waynesburg 180.5; Alderson-Broaddus 103.5; Johns Hopkins 79; Apprentice School 59; Univ. Maryland Baltimore County 20; Penn State Greater Allegheny 18; Muskingum 12

APPRENTICE SCHOOL RESULTS