Little Giants Set Sights for Dubuque Duals after Impressive Home Showing

The Wabash wrestling team put on a great performance this past weekend when they wrestled at home in the Indiana Little State Tournament. As well as capturing 21 top-eight places, Maxwell Bishop ‘22 won the 285-pound round with a 4-0 record on the day.

Having beaten West Liberty’s Jamie Kilmer in the semi-finals, Bishop defeated Vernon Wilis in the final bout to claim the title.

Freshman Colin Baker ‘25 also put in a good performance in the heavyweight category. Baker won four rounds and managed a 5th place finish.

Max Bishop’s 1st Place finish at 285 lbs led the charge in the team securing 21 Top-Eight Finishes on the day at the Indiana Little State Tournament.
Max Bishop’s 1st Place finish at 285 lbs led the charge in the team securing 21 Top-Eight Finishes on the day at the Indiana Little State Tournament.
Colin Baker ‘25, coming off of a victory, awaiting for the referee to raise his hand.
Colin Baker ‘25, coming off of a victory, awaiting for the referee to raise his hand.

A number of Little Giants placed second in their respective brackets. At 184 pounds, freshman Chase Baczek ‘25, after earning a 12-1 major decision in his semi, lost his final bout to Marian University’s Sam Osho. Similarly, Ray Arebalo ‘25 placed second in the 174-pound bracket and Alex Barr ‘22 finished second in the 149-pound weight class.

“We had a pretty good showing,” said Barr. “It was hard coming back after the break. Some guys were sluggish, but going forward we know how to deal with coming back after these breaks because they are just an excuse at the end of the day.”

Barr also commended the efforts of the underclassmen.

“I’m impressed by the freshman. They’ve been great. Especially Ray Arebalo and Gavinn Alstott, they are both solid and wrestled some really good kids.”

Next week, half of the team travels to Dubuque, IA for the University of Dubuque Duals while the other half head to Naperville, IL for the North Central College Invitational. The Little Giants will look to continue their string of recent successes as they head into a string of tournaments during semester break.