Junior Art Martinez of the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team advanced to the second day of action at the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational hosted by Wheaton College at the King Arena in Wheaton, Illinois, after action concluded on Friday.

Martinez went 3-1 in the 133-pound bracket on the first day of competition and advanced to the consolation quarterfinal. He began his day with a 17-1 technical fall over Aiden Fonder of Wisconsin Stevens Point and followed with a pin of Kwesi Amoa of Rhode Island in 1:35. In the quarterfinal, Martinez, ranked 14th in Division III by the NWCA, faced eighth ranked Coby Haney of Millikin. The Spartan led 5-4 after the first period but conceded seven points in the second frame while scoring just three. Starting on the bottom in the third period, Martinez secured a point via escape with 44 seconds left. Trailing 11-10, he needed a takedown in the final minute, but Haney prevented him from doing so to send Martinez to the consolation bracket.

Martinez rebounded in the consolation round posting a resounding 14-3 major decision over Kie Anderson of Concordia Moorhead to secure at least eighth place in the bracket. On Saturday, he will start the day by facing Ty Daugherty of John Carroll.

In the 157-pound bracket, junior Thomas Wagner also advanced to the championship quarterfinal round. He defeated Anthony Grecol of Heidelberg by major decision, 13-4 and followed with a thrilling 9-8 decision over Jaryn Hartranft of Wilkes in the second round. Trailing 8-6, Wagner earned a takedown in the final seconds of the match to reach the quarterfinals against Chicago's Darian Estevez, who is ranked fifth in Region V by the NWCA. The Spartan dropped a 12-6 decision to Estevez and bowed out of the competition with an 8-3 loss to Alexander McPhee of Concordia Moorhead in the consolation bracket.

Junior E.J. Alizio picked up a pair of wins for the Spartans in four matches at 125 pounds. Following a loss to start the day, he bested Heidelberg's Lee Woods by major decision, 14-0 and followed with a 6-3 sudden victory over Jushawn Ferrell of Alma. Alizio took down Ferrell 28 seconds into the first overtime period to keep wrestling the tournament. However, he dropped an 8-0 decision in the following round to end his afternoon.

After one day of competition, CWRU is tied for 24th out of 30 teams in the overall standings with 15.0 points. Action on Saturday is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET.

Spartan Notes

• With the three wins, Martinez improved to 27-6 on the season and recorded his team-leading ninth pin and seventh technical fall of the campaign
• Martinez also advanced to second day of competition at the 2023 edition of the invitational
• In the latest rankings released by the NWCA, Wagner was eighth in Region V at 157 pounds and Martinez slotted in at fourth in Region V at 133 pounds