Senior Art Martinez won his second bracket of the season to lead the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team to a third-place finish at the BW Invitational held at the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, on Saturday.

The Spartans placed third out of 16 teams competing at the event, scoring 151.5 points. In addition to Martinez, 13 Spartans finished in the top eight in their weight classes, including six finishing in the top four and four finalists. Host BW won the event with 191.5 points with both the Spartans and Yellow Jackets having five wrestlers reach championship bouts.

Bracket Winners

• Martinez, 133 pounds, 4-0
  • Martinez won two matches by fall and one by technical fall
  • He started the day with an 18-1 win in 2:09 before following with pins in 1:20 and 4:04
  • In the championship, Martinez defeated Albion's Cade Odrobina by major decision, 14-4

Top Placers

• First-year Hunter Keane, second, 141 pounds
  • Keane went 4-1 with his only loss in the final of the bracket
  • He won two matches by fall and one by technical fall
• First-year Alexander Goldman, second, 197 pounds
  • Goldman earned his highest-career finish with a 4-1 record
  • He pinned one opponent and secured two technical falls
• Senior Thomas Wagner, second, 157 pounds
  • Wagner went 4-1 in his bid for a second consecutive bracket victory
  • Of his four wins, one was by fall and one by technical fall
• Junior Mathew Gummere, second, 184 pounds
  • Gummere went 3-1 in his advance to the championship bout
  • He won his first two matches by major decisions and reached the final with a 5-1 decision
• First-year Cole Rose, fourth, 141 pounds
  • Rose went 3-2, reaching the semifinals
  • He had two pins and one win by technical fall
• Senior Marty Landes, fourth, 165 pounds
  • Landes went 2-2
  • He won his first two matches before falling in the semifinal and dropping a 8-3 decision in the third-place match
• Sophomore Chase Crutchley, fifth, 174 pounds
  • Crutchley went 4-1 with his only loss coming in the quarterfinals
  • He won his first bout of the day by technical fall
• Junior Mike Valerino, sixth, 141 pounds
  • After splitting his first two matches, Valerino advanced to the fifth-place match with four wins in a row
  • Of his five wins, three were by pin and one by technical fall
• Junior Louka Babic, sixth, 174 pounds
  • Babic had a 4-2 record, losing in the fifth-place match to Crutchley
  • Two of his wins were by fall and one was by technical fall
• First-year Kodi Pfeiffer, sixth, 184 pounds
  • Pfeiffer went 3-2, losing in the championship quarterfinal before responding with a pin in the consolation semifinal
  • He started the day with a 17-0 technical fall in 3:23
• Senior John Conover, seventh, 157
  • Conover went 4-2, winning his first two matches of the day
  • He picked up a pair of wins by fall in 6:41 and 2:17
• Junior Dillon O'Keefe, seventh, 149 pounds
  • O'Keefe went 4-2 during the invite
  • He won his second bout of the day by fall in 1:29
• Sophomore Robert Minden, eighth, 149 pounds
  • Minden went 3-3 in his bracket, losing to O'Keefe in the seventh-place match
  • He secured a technical fall, 19-2, in 6:03 in the consolation quarterfinal

Notable Performances

• First-year Christopher Bezzeg won three matches, including two by fall, in the 157-pound bracket to improve to 9-6 this season
• Sophomore Alexander Greene Barrios split his four bouts at 133 pounds, earning both of his wins by fall
• Senior E.J. Alizio earned his fourth pin of the season at 125 pounds
• Senior Justin Sweeney (165 pounds) and first-year Thomas Trout (184 pounds) both picked up technical fall victories

Spartan Notes

• Martinez improved to 11-1 this season, and won his second bracket of the campaign after taking first at the Bob Del Rosa Open on November 9
• Keane won his team-leading 13th match of the season in the semifinals
• Goldman's win by fall and technical fall were the first of his career
• Wagner improved to 12-2, securing his team-leading fourth technical fall
• Bezzeg extended his team lead to seven with his two pins on Saturday
• Sweeney earned his second career technical fall, and Greene Barrios secured his first and second pins of the season
• Trout won his first collegiate match and secured his first career technical fall

Up Next

After a week off from intercollegiate competition, the Spartans will return to Berea for three duals on Saturday, December 5 with the team facing UNC Pembroke at 4 p.m., 20th-ranked Baldwin Wallace at 5:30 p.m., and Wilmington at 7 p.m.