SYLVANIA, Ohio – Men's wrestling won the first inaugural Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championship with 163.5 points while six individuals won their weight classes to become individual WHAC Champs and head coach Thomas Pompei earned WHAC Coach of the Year.

Nathan Orum started the day with a bye at 125 before moving on to wrestle Connor Crinigan of Rochester. Orum scrambled for the early takedown to lead 2-0 before Crinigan escaped to make the score 2-1. Another takedown for Orum put him up 4-1 before he executed a cross face on top to gain four back points to lead 8-1. Four more back points for Orum gave him the 12-1 lead to end the first period. Orum started the second period on top where he secured four more back points to end the match and gained another point for riding time to earn him the 17-1 tech fall in 3:41. This advanced Orum to the finals where he faced Ty Haskins of Marian.

The finals round was a high scoring event where Haskins scored early for a 2-0 lead. Orum quickly takes the reversal and puts Haskins on his back to earn four back points and take the 6-2 lead. Haskins then pulls a reversal to get within two (6-4) and then two back points to tie the match at 6-6. Orum was able to get a reversal before the end of the first period to lead 8-6. Orum started on top for the second period before Haskins was able to get another reversal to make the score 8-8. Orum escaped to lead 9-8 before time ran out in the second period. In the third period, Orum chose to start down and he quickly escaped to lead 10-8. In the final seconds of the third period there was a controversial takedown that was waved off by the officials causing multiple challenges around the call. Orum won the challenges and won the match 10-9 becoming the WHAC Champion at 125 in his rookie season.

At 133, both Conner Gimson and Matt Gimson wrestled for the Warriors. C. Gimson started the day against Thomas Lear of Cleary where he won via fall in 2:34. C. Gimson then went on the face Jimmy Balazy of Lourdes. C. Gimson had an early takedown to lead 2-0 and held that lead throughout the first. He started the second period on bottom and escaped quickly to lead 3-0. Another takedown in the second gave C. Gimson a 5-0 lead heading into the last period. C. Gimson opened the third with a quick takedown after the starting whistle to lead 7-0 and ended up winning the match 9-0 with a stalling point on Balazy and a point for riding time to advance himself to the finals.

M. Gimson started the day with a bye before taking on Eric Pawlaczyk of Rochester in the semis. M. Gimson had a quick takedown where he almost immediately for Pawlaczyk to his back and pinned him in just 49 seconds to advance himself to the finals as well. M. Gimson and C. Gimson had an intense rock paper scissors match where M. Gimson came out victorious and earned the WHAC Champion at 133 while C. Gimson took second.

At 141, Kyle Kantola represented the Warriors with two byes before facing Blake Mulkey of Marian in the semis. Mulkey had a quick takedown only for Kantola to work to an escape and put the match at 2-1. Kantola started on top for the second period with Mulkey escaping to lead 3-1. The remainder of the second period was scoreless with Kantola choosing down to start the third. Kantola escaped Mulkey's grasp to get within one (3-2) but was unable to get any more offense and lost 3-2. Kantola then headed over to the other side of the bracket where he wrestled Aundre Beatty of Marian for third place.

Against Beatty, the match started slow. Kantola made the first move at the end of the first with a takedown to lead 2-0 heading into the second. Kantola started the second period on top where Beatty escaped relatively quickly to put the match at 2-1. There weren't any more points scored in the second putting Kantola ahead going into the third. Kantola started the third on bottom and escaped to extend his lead to two (3-1). Kantola then recorded a takedown to lead 5-1 before rolling Beatty to his back for four back points and a 9-1 advantage. Beatty pulled a reversal for two points followed by an escape from Kantola to make the score 10-3. With over a minute of riding time Kantola took third-place at 141 with a 11-3 major decision victory.

Nate Wheeler wrestled for the Warriors at 149 where he started the day in the semis against Rico Brown of Rochester. Wheeler dominated the match winning via tech fall in just 3:42 with 17 points to Brown's zero. Wheeler then moved on to the finals against Bailey Moore of Marian who also won his semis match via tech fall. Wheeler was the aggressor of the jump with a takedown right at the end of the first period to lead 2-0. He started the second period on top which Moore escaped to make the score 2-1. The two wrestlers struggled to make advances in the second period and headed into the third period with Wheeler leading 2-1. Wheeler chose bottom to start the third and quickly escaped to lead 3-1 before recording a takedown to be up four with under a minute left. Moore escaped to make the score 5-2, but Wheeler had great defense in the last few seconds to win the match 6-2 with riding time and become the WHAC Champion at 149-pounds.

Both Nick Gates and Brice Coleman wrestled for Tech at 157. Gates opened the day against Colin Panoff of Rochester. Gates had a takedown to lead 2-0 in the first period and continued his momentum into the second period with an early takedown to lead 4-0. Gates chose to start down in the third period and escaped easily to have a 5-0 advantage. With four more points Gates won the first round with a 9-0 major decision. Gates then went on to take on Blake Montrie of Lourdes in the semis. Neither wrestler scored in the first period with Montrie choosing down to start the second. Montrie escaped followed by a takedown to lead 3-0. Gates was able to escape before the end of the period to be within two heading into the final two minutes. Gates chose down to start the third and escaped to be within one (3-2). Gates was unable to score any points after and fell 3-2. On the other side of the bracket Gates faced Garret Anderson of Lourdes. Gates had a takedown early only for Anderson to escape before the end of the first period to put the match at 2-1 in favor of Gates. Gates started the second period on bottom and worked for the reversal to lead 4-1. Anderson chose down for the third period and escaped to get within two (4-2) and then recorded a takedown to tie the match at 4-4. Gates pulled off the escape to take a 5-4 lead before the period ended to win 5-4. Gates moved on to compete against Ismael Cornejo in the third-place match where Gates won 5-2 to earn third-place.

Brice Coleman opened his day against Anthony Gonzales of Rochester. The two were evenly matched off the jump before Coleman took a shot and earned the takedown to lead 2-0 before Gonzales escaped to make the score 2-1 heading into the second period. Coleman started down in the second period and escaped quickly to get a two-point lead (3-1). Throughout the remainder of the match Coleman recorded another takedown and then gained a point from riding time to earn then 6-1 decision to advance him to the semis. In the semis, Coleman wrestled Ismael Cornejo of Marian. The match started slow, with the only point in the first period coming from a stalling call against Cornejo to give Coleman a 1-0 advantage heading into the second. In the second period, Cornejo got hit with another stalling before getting a takedown to tie the match at 2-2. Coleman escaped in order to lead 3-2 and ended up winning the match 3-2 to head to the finals. In the finals, Coleman faced Montrie. The first period ended with no score and Coleman chose down to start the second. He escaped for the only point of the second period and led 1-0 heading into the final two minutes. Montrie chose bottom for the start of the third and tied the match at 1-1 when he escaped. Coleman recorded a four-point takedown putting Montrie straight to his back in the final seconds of the match to win 5-1 and become the WHAC Champion at 157 in his rookie season.

At 165, Rahman Johnson represented the Warriors and started the day against Derick Coleman of Lourdes. Johnson had an early takedown to lead 2-0 before Coleman reversed and tied the match at 2-2. Johnson escaped for one and then turned it right into a takedown for two more to lead 5-2. An escape for Coleman put the match at 5-3 in favor of Johnson heading into the final period. Johnson started down in the third and escaped to lead 6-3. He then recorded a takedown for an 8-3 lead before Coleman escaped and earned a takedown to get within two (8-6). Coleman ran out of time and Johnson came out victorious 8-6 to head into the semis. Johnson challenged David Emch of Cleary in the semis where Johnson was in control early. Johnson recorded a takedown and rolled Emch to his back for four back points to lead 6-0 before Emch pulled a reversal for two and ended up pinning Johnson in 1:30. Johnson then went to the other side of the bracket to face Tristan Brady of Lourdes. Johnson won via decision 4-3 and claimed third-place.

Both Hunter Gasper and Kolby Ferris competed for Tech at 174. Gasper started the day against Cameron Simmons of Marian where Gasper dominated off the jump and won via tech fall (18-1) in 2:51 to advance to semis. In semis, Gasper took on Noah Clary of Lourdes. Clary took a 6-0 lead that Gasper slowly dug his way out of with a pair of escapes and two takedowns. Gasper just ran out of time and fell 8-6 with riding time for Clary and moved to the other side of the bracket. Gasper then wrestled Jacob McKnight of Cleary. Gasper started strong with a 2-0 lead just 48 seconds in before McKnight reversed it for a pin to send Gasper to the fifth-place match against Jerrod Mullins of Rochester. Gasper was explosive against Mullins and had a takedown and quickly put Mullins to his back for a pin in just 1:07 and to earn fifth-place.

Ferris started his day against McKnight where Ferris defeated McKnight 7-2 to advance to the semis. In the semis, Ferris faced Mullins where the two battled for the entire first period with no points scored. Ferris was on top to start the second and was unable to score any points while McKnight was unable to escape, sending them into the third period tied 0-0. Ferris started the third period on bottom and escaped before earning a takedown to win the match 4-0 with riding time. This win took Ferris to the finals where he wrestled Clary of Lourdes. With a takedown in the final seconds of the first period, Ferris led 2-0 heading into the second. The two started the second period in neutral where there was a lot of hand fighting but no points were scored. Ferris was on bottom to start the third period and escaped to score the only point of the third and win 3-0 to earn WHAC Champion at 174-pounds.

At 184, Eric Vermillion had one match against Sam Osho of Marian. The two ended the first period scoreless and started the second period in neutral. Vermillion recorded a takedown with just 15 seconds left in the second to go ahead 2-0. He started the third period on bottom and Osho chose to release Vermillion to give him the 3-0 advantage. Vermillion capitalized on the opportunity and defended an attack by Osho and turned it into a takedown for himself to lead 5-0. Vermillion won the match 6-0 with riding time and became the WHAC Champion at 184-pounds.

Vernon Willis wrestled for Tech at 285 and began his day against Paul Nadeau of Rochester. Just 27 seconds in Willis took down Nadeau and put him to his back to win via pin and advance to the semis. In the semis, Willis faced Alec Moore-Nash of Lourdes. The match started with back and forth points with a takedown for Moore-Nash only to be reversed by Willis before another reversal from Moore-Nash. The two ended the first period with Moore-Nash ahead 4-3. Willis started the second period on bottom and escaped to tie the match at 4-4. A series of takedowns and escapes began with Moore-Nash leading 8-6 heading into the final period. Moore-Nash escaped at the beginning of the period and by the end had over a minute of riding time and took the match 10-6 to send Willis to the other side of the bracket. Willis then faced Mike Landin of Cleary where Willis took control early with a takedown and two back points to lead 4-0. He let Landin go to make the score 4-1 before recording another takedown in the first period to lead 6-1 heading into the second. Willis started the second period on bottom and pulled a quick reversal that led to Landin on his back and Willis winning via pin in 3:39 to head to the third-place match. In the third-place match Willis battled Christian DeLuna of Siena Heights. The takedown and then escape series happened in the first with Willis leading 4-2 at the end of the first period. Willis began the second period on bottom where he pulled the reversal again and put DeLuna to his back to win third-place via pin in 4:07.

The Warriors combined for a team score of 163.5 points to win the WHAC Championship as a team followed by Marian in second (144.0), Lourdes in third (123.5), Rochester in fifth (70.5), Cleary in fifth (54.5) and Siena Heights in sixth (12.0). On top of this great accomplishment, head coach Thomas Pompei earned WHAC Coach of the Year to earn his sixth Coach of the Year award of his career.

Tech will be back in action on March 5^th and March 6^th when they travel to Wichita, Kansas for the NAIA National Championship.