McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's wrestling team participated in the Brown Terrell UD Invite held in Dubuque, Iowa, on February 8. The event was marked by a notable performance from sophomore Alexander Jackson, who achieved a second-place finish in the 285-pound weight class.

Jackson demonstrated strong skills throughout the competition. He began by pinning Hunter Hahn of Dubuque in less than 40 seconds during his first match at 285 pounds. Continuing his success, Jackson pinned Noah Carl of Cornell in the quarterfinals within 1 minute and 58 seconds. In the semifinals, he faced Mason Kochersperger of Carthage and secured another pin in just over a minute (1:16). This victory advanced him to the championship match for his weight class. However, Jackson finished second after losing to Austin Cooley of Schreiner with a score of 10-0, concluding his day with a record of three wins and one loss.

Freshman Lucas Blanton also competed in the event within the 165-pound bracket. After an initial loss, Blanton rebounded by pinning Elijah Matzke of UW-Oshkosh at 5 minutes and 50 seconds into their match. He then narrowly defeated Scott Graves with a close 3-2 decision before ending his participation with a loss to Nick Cheshier of Chicago in a 10-4 decision. Blanton completed the day with two wins and two losses.

Looking ahead, Illinois Wesleyan will participate in the CCIW Futures Championships on February 14 and the CCIW Championships on February 15. Both events will be hosted by Millikin University at the Griswold Center.