Trevor Hedges Picks Up Second Title, Red Devils Improve at MSOE Invite

MILWAUKEE, Ill. – Two weeks after their last meet, the Eureka men's wrestling team showed significant improvement at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invite on Saturday.

Freshman Trevor Hedges (Canton, Ill./Canton) picked up his second tournament title of the winter to lead a group of four Eureka placers on the day. As a team, the Red Devils finished seventh out of 13 squads with 62.5 points on the day.

Hedges took down three ranked opponents on his way to the top of the podium at 133 pounds.

He opened the day with back-to-back major decisions, beating MSOE's Liam Anderson 15-4 and Cornell's Eli Sneed 20-7. Then, in the semifinals, he pinned Wisconsin-Whiteater's John Fortugno in 38 seconds to make it to the first-place match before besting Augsburg's Wyatt Kaczrowski for the championship.

Senior Jake Jozwiak (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North/Lincoln) bested Concordia Wisconsin's Devin Gore by way of sudden victory in the third-place match. He also had a 17-1 tech fall over MSOE's Jesse Johnson and a first-period pin against Chicago's Matt Perez. in the first two matches of the day.

Nathan Berta (Channahon, Ill./Minooka/) and Gaige Owens (Marion, Ill./Marion) notched fourth-place and seventh-place finishes at 141 pounds, respectively.

Berta had back-to-back pins in the first two rounds, and after getting pinned in the quarterfinals, he wrestled back to the third-place match with a tech fall and an advancement by medical forfeit. There, Wisconsin-Whitewater's Ethan Pogorzelski beat him in an 11-7 decision.

After battling some injuries earlier in the season, Owens had a solid day, scoring two major decisions and a decision in the consolations rounds after dropping a 9-7 decision against Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Jaydon Sheppard in the first round.

At 149, Dominic Tenayuca (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Jacobs/Lincoln) had two wins on the day, and Anthony Sartori (Channahon, Ill./Minooka/Lincoln) had one at 157.

"The men looked much improved today from our last outing," EC coach Eric Biehl said. "It's exciting to see things click with the guys that we've been working on all week."

The Red Devils have two more competition dates before the holiday break.

The Eureka men and women will compete in the North Central Open next weekend and will then host Aurora in the first home dual of the season on Dec. 15.

"I'm looking forward to ending the semester well," Biehl said.