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Trine University Wrestling
2008-09 Outlook
In only its fourth year, the Thunder wrestling team looks to have a break-out season. The team is returning four NCAA regional runner-up wrestlers including Junior Thomas Pompei 133lbs, Junior Nick Kraus 174lbs, Senior Louis Posa 184lbs, and Sophomore Alex Fleet 197lbs.[view]
The Trine University wrestling program put the final touches on the best season in program history with its annual awards banquet.
“These awards honor great efforts and outstanding performances by our wrestlers,” Head Coach Dan Callahan said. “I’m especially pleased with the academic recognition. We tell our kids you can’t be truly successful if you don’t succeed in the classroom.”
Eight Trine University wrestlers earned academic all-conference honors from the Mid-States wrestling conference and one wrestler was recognized nationally.
Here are the awards:
National Wrestling Coaches Scholar All-American: Louis Posa, (184, Sr., Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton, Math Education)
To be eligible for NWCA Scholar All-American honors, the student-athlete must have a 3.2 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for the previous, full academic year. The student-athlete must also have met one of the following three criteria: was a national qualifier; placed at a national qualifying tournament at least sixth for Midwest Regional and at least fourth for all other national qualifying tournaments; the student-athlete must have competed in 50% of the school's total scheduled NCAA sanctioned events and have a .670 won/loss record.
Mid-States Conference Academic All-Conference:
Bryan Wight (141 lbs, Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead, Mechanical Engineering)
Louis Posa, (184, Sr., Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton, Math Education)
Nick Kraus (174, Jr., Rolling Prairie, Ind./New Prairie, Health/Physical Education)
George Markou (149, Fr. Peru, Ind./Peru, Undecided)
Josh Patterson (149, Fr., Granger, Ind./Penn, Undecided)
Jason Alber (165, Fr., Manchester, Mich./Manchester, Management)
Jake Allen (165, Fr., Medina, Ohio/ Medina, Mechanical Engineering)
Matt Kulbida (Fr., Orland Park Ill./Carl Sandberg, Mechanical Engineering)
The coaching staff also awarded several team awards.
Most Improved Wrestler: Tye Bowman (133, Fr., Michigantown, Ind.,/Clinton Central, Undecided)
Mental Attitude/Sportsmanship Award: Brandon Harvey, (125, Fr., Osceola, Ind.,/Elkhart Memorial, Biology)
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Outstanding Wrestler: Nick Kraus (174, Jr., Rolling Prairie, Ind./New Prairie, Health/Physical Education)
The Thunder finished tied for second at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, climbed as high as 21st in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Top-25 poll, won their first ever tournament (Spartan Mat Classic at Manchester College) and finished 11-5 in dual meets.
“We are seeing the fruits of our labor. Guys like Bryan Wight and Louis Posa are the guys who helped build the program from the ground up.”
Plan to attend the 2009 NCAA Division III Midwest Wrestling Regional
Saturday, February 21 at 9am, at Hershey Hall. Some of the best wrestlers in the country
will converge on Trine University. Click here for results.
OLIVET, Mich. - Three Trine wrestlers won individual weight classes and four others finished second as Trine claims second place at the Mid-States wrestling tournament at Olivet College. Olivet won the event scoring 168 points, Trine had 150, Wabash was third with 106.
Louis Posa (184 lbs), Alex Fleet (197) repeated as tournament champs. Thomas Pompei won 141.
Brandon Harvey, who finished second in 125, was named outstanding freshman. Tye Bowman (133) Kyle Long (165), Nick Kraus (174) also finished second. For more information click here.
OLIVET, Mich. - Trine wrestlers are looking to send the regular season out with a bang Saturday in the Mid-States wrestling tournament at Olivet College.
The six-team tournament is the last match before the NCAA Midwest Regional, Saturday February 21 at Hershey Hall.
Thunder coach Dan Callahan said there is a spirit of urgency. “We want to be wrestling at our peak and that our intensity and intelligence is high,” he said. “We are working on strategy and tactics and making sure the kids are listening to us as coaches. We won’t have this chance again. This is our final warm-up.”
Trine finished third last year and Callahan said his team could challenge for first place. “We’ve set the goals and expectations and so high. The overall of what we’ve done is amazing. We have high expectations. The kids made us that way. They’ve performed so well they spoil us and we expect them to be at that level all the time.”
Trine will face 16th ranked Olivet. The Comets feature several nationally ranked wrestlers. At 141 pounds, Vince Tucker is ranked fifth in the NWCA Individual poll, Jason Brew at 157 is ranked second. Kyle Vanderhyde also garnered second at 174.
WHEATON, Ill. - Trine scored 64.5 points to finish in the top ten Saturday at the Pete Wilson-Wheaton Invitational. Thirty teams -D-II and D-III - participated with no less than eight nationally ranked teams represented.
Four Trine wrestlers posted top seven finishes. Nick Kraus (174, Rolling Prairie/New Prairie) finished second and Brandon Harvey (125, Osceola/Elkhart Memorial) finished third. Kyle Long (157, South Bend/Washington) and Alex Fleet (197 Lowell, Mich./Lowell) both finished seventh.
Wisconsin-Parkside was first with 145 points, Wisconsin-La Crosse at 133, North Central College was third at 125.5 and Wisconsin-Whitewater rounded out the top four with 91.5 points. For more information click here
The Thunder is back in action Saturday at the Mid-States Conference tournament Saturday at Olivet College.
WHEATON, Ill., - Thunder wrestlers will get a preview of post-season wrestling Friday and Saturday at the annual Pete Willson Invitational at Wheaton College. It’s a collection of D-II and D-III programs coming together to make 30-team block buster that features no less than nine ranked teams, familiar rivals Manchester, Ohio Northern, Olivet, Rose-Hulman, University of Indianapolis and Wabash. Follow the Thunder on the road in the Pete Willson Invitational at Wheaton College. Click here for more information.
More than an hour after Trine’s 22-18 comeback win over Indianapolis, Coach
Dan Callahan was still analyzing the win.
“When the matches are that close, and could have gone either way in just a fraction
of a second. We didn’t really have much room for error,” Callahan said. “But that’s
the type of kids we have. They are tough, hard-nosed and give all they got for the
full match.“
Trailing 12-0 to start the night the Thunder rallied winning six of the final seven matches to grab the win over the Division II Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds built their lead to 18-3 late in the match before the Thunder scored the final 19 points of the match. Four out of the seven wrestled matches were decided by one point. Indianapolis won the 133 pound weight class by forfeit. Trine won 197 and 285 by forfeit.
Kyle Pittman (Greensburg/Greensburg) gave the Thunder an emotional charge defeating David Lopez 3-2 at 149 to put Trine on the scoreboard, at 12-3. Louis Posa (Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton) secured the win besting Keith Smith 11-4 in 184.
Trine returns to action Saturday in the Monon Bell Duals at Wabash College, in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
NORTH MANCHESTER -Trine University’s wresting team needed a spark of sorts to
regain focus. On Saturday, the Thunder won the Manchester Spartan Mat Classic
at Manchester College.
It’s the first ever tournament championship for the Thunder program. The event featured
more than 180 wrestlers and 14 varsity and junior varsity squads.
“I told the kids winning the tournament was icing on the cake,” Trine coach Dan Callahan said, “Coming together again as a team is just what we needed.”
The Thunder climbed as high as No. 22 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Brute Top 30, dropping out of the poll last week.
“We had a rough stretch. Today we wrestled together as team. It’s nice to know the guy in your corner was there for you,” Callahan said.
Trine captured first place, with 158 points, NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis 137, Heidelberg 135, Wabash College 79, and Heidelberg JV at 77.5 rounded out the top five. Trine’s JV team finished ninth with 57 points. Missing the top five by 20 points, Callahan noted.
All ten varsity starters placed, including five wrestlers who took first place (125 Brandon Harvey, 174 Nick Kraus, 184 Louis Posa, 197 Alex Fleet.)
The victory sets up an interesting rematch of sorts, as the Thunder face Indianapolis in a dual match Tuesday at Hershey Hall beginning at 7 p.m.
ELMHURST, Ill. - No. 23 Trine had its struggles against ranked teams Wednesday 
losing
both its matches in a double-dual meet at Elmhurst College.
No. 13 Elmhurst dominated Trine 33-10, the Thunder also fell in a 29-11 decision to No. 28 Lakeland.
Alex Fleet (197 Lowell, Mich./Lowell) won both of his matches in Wednesday’s double-dual with No. 13 Elmhurst and No. 28 Lakeland. Fleet was the only Thunder wrestler to notch wins in both matches. Nick Kraus recorded a pin against Garrett Washington of Elmhurst in the 184 pound class. Trine is now 8-3 on the season in head-to-head events. [more]
Thunder drop one place in recent poll [more]
Click here for the latest individual D3Wrestle.com rankings
ADA, Ohio. - It was the best battling the best Saturday in the 28th annual Ohio Northern University wrestling invitational at Ada, Ohio. Twenty NCAA Division II, III and NAIA programs - including seven ranked teams - faced-off in a preview of what the post-season could look like.
When the dust settled, Trine Team 1 finished 5th with 97 points. Trine Team 2 was 28th with 14 points.
Five Trine wrestlers posted top-four finishes. Louis Posa (184, Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton) finished second. Thomas Pompei (133, Fishers/Hamilton South Eastern) and Nick Kraus (174, Rolling Prairie/New Prairie) finished third. Bryan Wight (141, Fort Wayne/Homestead) and Kyle Long (157, South Bend/Washington) finished fourth.
No. 23 Olivet (D-III) was first with 128 points, Ohio Northern (D-III) at 111, West Liberty (W.Va, D-II No. 14) was third with 108, and Limestone (S.C, D-II No. 14) rounded out the top four with 104.5 points. [more]
Trine climbed six spots to No. 22 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III poll. [more]
CRAWFORDSVILLE - Nick Kraus won in the 174-pound class pinning JT Jenkins in 4:27. Kraus, a junior Health/PE major, is from Rolling Prairie and a graduate of New Prairie High School.
Tye Bowman (133, Michigantown/Clinton Central), Louis Posa (184, Tecumseh, Mich./Clinton) and Alex Fleet (197, Lowell, Mich./Lowell ) each finished third.
Brandon Harvey (Osceola/Elkhart Memorial) was fourth in 125. Thomas Pompei (Fishers/Hamilton Southeastern) was sixth in 133. David Hernandez (North Lake, Ill./West Leyden) was eighth in 141. Kyle Pittman (Greensburg/Greensburg) was sixth in 149. Kyle Long (South Bend/Washington) took sixth place in 157. Max Begovich (New Palestine/New Palestine) was seventh in 184. Alan McClure (Keystone/Southern Wells) was eighth in 197. Kyle Brown (Livonia, Mich./Franklin) finished 8th in 285.
Click the weight classes for final results and brackets.
No. 28 Trine improved to 8-1 with a 54-0 sweep over Manchester College Tuesday night at Hershey Hall. Six Thunder wrestlers scored pins in the 149-pound class, George Markou scored a :37 pin over Torryn Heffelfinger. Kyle Long (157), Nick Kraus (174), Louis Posa (184), Alex Fleet (197) and Kyle Brown (285) all recorded pins. Trine will compete Friday and Saturday at the Little State Tournament at Wabash College in Crawfordsville.
Olivet, Mich. - Trine went 4-0 to finish first in the Olivet Duels Saturday. The Thunder defeated Ohio Northern (26-16), Thiel (39-4), Baldwin-Wallace (34-10) andSaint Joesph (31-12). Nick Kraus (Rolling Prairie/New Prairie) and Alex Fleet (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) won all four of their matches.
Kraus led all Trine wrestlers with two pins while Alex Fleet(Lowell, Mich./Lowell), George Markou (Peru/Peru), Kyle Brown, (Livonia, Mich./Franklin), Bryan Leig (Braidwood, Ill./Reed-Custer) and Jason Alber (Manchester, Mich./Manchester) each recorded pins.
Trine (7-1) host Manchester Tuesday, Decemeber 2 at 7 p.m. for their first home duall of the season
Jumping to a 3-1 start in the season, Trine wrestlers have grabbed a No. 28 ranking in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll. It's the tearns first-ever national ranking.[poll]
MUSKEGON, Mich. - Trine University defeated Grand Valley State University, 40-6 and Niagra College, 42-6 at the Muskegon Community College Duals on Saturday. Leading the way for the Thunder was Thomas Pompei (Fishers/Hamilton South Eastern) who recorded falls in both of his 133 weight class matches. Their next duel will be at Olivet on Saturday
OLIVET, Mich. - Typically success is measured in small steps. Trine University’s wrestling program took a giant step Tuesday night scoring a 21-18 win over No. 16 ranked Olivet. (National Wrestling Coaches Association Poll)
Five years ago the program was born; four seasons ago the program actually sported its first official NCAA team. Last season the Thunder was competitive against nationally-ranked programs posting an 11-8 overall record.
Against the Comets, Trine finally caught the one that got away.
“This is a huge win for our program, “Head Coach Dan Callahan explained. “(For us) to come in and to compete with one of the best programs in the country, year in, year out and beat them at home is a big deal. It’s a barometer of where we are as a team.” [view]
NAPERVILLE, IL - Trine opened the 2008-09 wrestling season with a 27-9 loss to North Central in Suburban Chicago. For Trine Kyle Long outlasted North Central's Cowan Brown 3-2 in the 157 pound weight class. Nick Kraus (174) scored a 5-4 decison over George Schroeder and Alex Fleet (197) defeated Vinnie Sapienza 8-2.
The Thunder return to action Tuesday at Olivet.
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