INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 2-ranked Indiana Tech wrestling closed out its fall tournament slate Saturday at the Indiana Little State Invitational, hosted by the University of Indianapolis at Nicoson Hall, with seven wrestlers finishing in the top-eight.
 
Erique Early highlighted the day for the Orange and Black as the redshirt-senior went 4-0 on the day with two tech falls and a pair of major decisions to pick up 24 team points. The Fort Wayne, Indiana native started his day with a 20-3 tech fall before picking up a 16-4 major decision in the quarterfinals. The Snider High School product followed that up with a 19-3 tech fall in the semifinals and a 13-5 major decision in the championship bout and claim his fourth Little State title.
 
Justin Atkinson and Robert Humphrey both finished atop the leaderboard in the 149-lbs. weight class with 4-0 records and meeting up in the finals before sharing the title. Atkinson picked up a fall and a tech fall while Humphrey had a tech fall, fall and major decision. Mason Gaines went 4-1 to finish second at 157-lbs. with a major decision in his opening bout. Jonathan Watkins went 5-1 to finish fourth at 157-lbs. with two falls, a tech fall and a major decision before hitting his six-match limit in the consolation semifinals.
 
Josue Hill finished third in the 184-lbs. weight class while Edward Valdez took eighth at 285-lbs. The former went 4-2 with three falls and a major decision while the latter went 2-3 with a fall in his opening match.
 
Tech returns to action next Saturday as the team hosts its annual Warrior Duals. This year's field includes Campbellsville University, Marian University, University of the Cumberlands, Oklahoma City University and Lourdes University. Action is set to get underway at 9 a.m. inside the Warrior Athletic Center.