Eastern Michigan University played host Saturday to a wrestling event at the Convocation Center for a plethora of teams from the Midwest. Opponents included Big Ten schools like Ohio State and Michigan State along with MAC opponents in Toledo, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan. These teams, along with other schools and universities, competed in 12 different weight restrictions. Of the 12, Eastern placed in the top four in four of the sets. Freshman Tanner Smith was the sole victor for the Eagles, placing first in the freshman/sophomore 149 pound weight division.
The Eagles’ Tanner Smith took down wrestlers from Edinboro University, Findlay, and Cleveland State on his way to a first place finish during the EMU Open. Alongside him, freshman Mason Kauffman competed in a similar weight class, this time for freshman and sophomores at 157 pound weight class. Kauffman managed to advance to the first place match however he unfortunately fell to Quentin Hovis of Navy. The final two Eagles to place were also freshman competing in a freshman and sophomore only weight division. Brandon Moen took third place in the 184 pound weight division after defeating Alex Benoit of Navy in the third place match. Wyatt Harden of EMU lost in the semifinals of the 285 pound weight class to Gary Traub of Ohio State and then was defeated again by Jonathan Spaulding of Edinboro University in the third place match, placing him at fourth for his weight class.
All in all, the Eagles hosted a successful event in which they were able to showcase some of their younger talent on the roster. Now for the Eagles, the focus shifts to Philadelphia. On Nov. 18 Eastern Michigan travels down to Philly for an all day meet hosted by Penn University.
