In its final tune-up before the conference championship, the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team turned in a quality performance at the 38th Annual John Summa Invitational hosted by Baldwin Wallace University at the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse in Berea, Ohio, on Saturday.

Junior Art Martinez won the 133-pound bracket and nine total Spartan wrestlers placed in the top eight in their weight classes. Overall, the team placed second out of 13 participating schools with 126.0 points. Host BW scored the most points with 197.0

Martinez started his day with a 17-2 technical fall over Zane Garner of Washington & Jefferson, his eighth technical fall of the season and 22nd of his career. He followed with a 17-9 major decision in the quarterfinal before escaping with a 2-1 win over James Armstrong Jr. of Division II West Liberty in the semifinal.

In the final, Martinez faced Baldwin Wallace's Jaden Hinton, the third-ranked wrestler in Division III according to the NWCA. The Spartan wrestler started the match strong, taking a 7-0 lead in the first period on a takedown and a four-point near fall. A reversal cut into the deficit and Hinton escaped to start the second period, making the score 7-3. He secured a takedown in the middle of the final period and earned a point of riding time to force overtime. Just 12 seconds into the extra frame, Martinez took down the nationally ranked wrestler to secure the upset and win the bracket with a 10-7 sudden victory.

It was Martinez's third bracket win this season and the fourth of his career. He improved to 33-7 with four wins with a team-leading 10 wins by fall.

Case Western Reserve had two wrestlers place in the top four of the 157-pound bracket. Junior Thomas Wagner went 4-1 during the competition with three technical falls and a pin to finish third in the bracket. He won his first two matches by technical fall (24-8 and 20-1) before dropping a 9-6 decision in the semifinal. Wagner responded with a 20-4 technical fall before pinning teammate John Conover in the third-place match in 1:49. It was his third pin this season, and the three technical falls increased his season total to five. Conover won his first match by fall in 4:32, his third pin of the season, before falling to nationally ranked Michael Petrella in the semifinal. He recovered with a major decision, defeating Ethan Bartlett of Ohio Northern 10-1.

Junior E.J. Alizio placed fourth at 125 pounds with a 4-2 record. He won two matches by fall to increase his season total of pins to four and career total to 18. Both of Alizio's losses came to Mason Drew of Alfred State. Both sophomore Mathew Gummere (184 pounds) and first-year Robert Minden (149 pounds) placed fifth in their brackets. After opening with a loss, Gummere won two consecutive matches, including one by fall, to reach the consolation semifinals. He fell in that round to drop into the fifth-place match, which he won by decision, 10-9. Minden won his first three matches, picking up a fall, before losing in the semifinal and consolation semifinal rounds. The pin was his fourth of the season.

Juniors Jacob Gregg and Marty Landes advanced to the fifth-place matches of their brackets after reaching their six-match limit for the day. Gregg, competing at 141 pounds, started the day with a pin, the 10th of his career, and a technical fall, before dropping a 5-4 decision in the quarterfinal. He won by decision and technical fall to reach the consolation semifinal, which he dropped by decision, 2-1. Landes, competing at 165 pounds, also went 4-2 on the day with three of his wins coming by technical fall. He increased his season to nine to take over the team lead in the category.

The final placer of the day for CWRU was sophomore Louka Babic who finished seventh in the 174-pound bracket. Babic recovered from an opening round loss to secure two consecutive wins by fall and one by technical fall. After a loss dropped him to the seventh-place match, he secured his fourth win of the day by pin. This season, Babic has eight wins by fall, which ranks second on the team.

Both senior Calvin Cai (149 pounds) and sophomore Mike Valerino (141 pounds) went 2-2 on the day with Cai picking up a technical fall. First-year Alexander Greene Barrios secured his sixth pin of the season at 133 pounds, sophomore Dillon O'Keefe earned his second career technical fall at 149 pounds, and first-year Chase Crutchley earned his sixth technical fall of the season at 174 pounds. In the 285-pound bracket, senior Cole Mullenix won a match by pin to earn three points for CWRU.

Next, the Spartans will host the University Athletic Association Championships inside the Veale Center on Saturday, February 15 beginning at 11 a.m.

Spartan Notes

• Martinez finished the day with 99 career wins. With one more victory, he will become the 15th player in program history to reach 100 career wins. The program record holder for victories is the two-time national champion Chris Ricklic with 147
• The pin for Mullenix was his first this season and the sixth of his career
• Cai earned his first win by technical fall of the season and the 10th of his career
• Wagner entered the competition ranked eighth in Region V at 157 pounds according to the NWCA