Trevon Gray (125 lbs.) won an individual championship, while Isaiah Vance (285 lbs.) and Matt Sarbo (149 lbs.) placed second and third, respectively, to lead a group of six Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers who finished in the top-eight and help the Mountain Cats finish second in the 48-team field at this weekend's Midwest Classic in Indianapolis.
 
In one of the most grueling Division II regular season tournaments, Pitt-Johnstown held the team lead after Saturday's first day, but Wisconsin-Parkside battled back and finished with 150 points, 18 points better than the Mountain Cats' 132 to win the team championship. Central Oklahoma was third with 113 points, and Gannon and Tiffin tied for fourth-place with 109.5 points to round out the top five teams.
 
Along with Gray, Vance, and Sarbo, Chad Ozias finished fifth, and Ty Morrison (174 lbs.) and Trent Hoover (165 lbs.) placed seventh and eighth, respectively for the Mountain Cats.
 
Gray, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the country at 125 lbs., opened the tournament with a pair of major decisions and a technical fall to reach the semifinals, where he pinned fifth-seeded Isaiah Gamez (Adams State) at 6:38 to set up a match-up with Wisconsin Parkside's No. 2-ranked Shane Corrigan.  Gray jumped out to an early lead in the title bout and picked up a 7-2 decision victory over Corrigan to claim his Midwest Classic championship and close out the tournament at a perfect 5-0.
 
Vance, the 2023 Midwest Classic Champion and the top-ranked wrestler at 285 lbs., used two falls and an 11-3 major decision over No. 9 Jake Powell (Tiffin) to advance to the semifinals.  He quickly pinned Mary's fourth-seeded Luke Tweeton at 1:43 in the semis, to secure his spot in the finals.  However, third-seeded Carter Blough (Grand Valley State) defeated Vance, 10-0 in the title bout.
 
Sarbo, seeded fourth at 149 lbs., cruised into the quarterfinals with two technical falls and a fall, then won a 14-4 major decision over Isham Peace (Lander) to get the semifinals.  Following a narrow, 5-4, loss to No. 1-seeded Jalen Spuhler (Wisconsin-Parkside), Sarbo stormed back with a 21-11 major decision over Colorado Mesa's Alex Castaneda in the consolation semifinals, and a 19-4 technical fall at 3:30 over Central Oklahoma's Cole Mayfield to take the third-place bout.
 
At 141 lbs., fifth-seeded Ozias won a 7-6 decision over McKendree's fourth-seeded Roman Schuelke in the quarterfinals, then fell to eighth-seeded Ethan Hardy (Glenville State) in the semifinals.   After a loss in the consolation semifinals, Wisconsin-Parkside's Emmitt Nelson held off Ozias, 4-2, in the fifth-place match, giving him a sixth-place finish.
 
True Freshman Ty Morrison (174 lbs.) and red-shirt freshman Hoover (165 lbs.) both wrestled back to the consolation quarterfinals before suffering losses and slipping to the seventh-place match.  Morrison bounced back to defeat Tiffin's Emilio Arellano, 8-4, to claim seventh-place, while Hoover suffered a narrow, 9-8, loss to central Oklahoma's Bryce Dauphin and finished eighth.  Ty Morrison closed out the tournament at 6-2, and Hoover was 4-3.
 
Brady Baker (133 lbs.) (2-2), No. 9 Cooper Warshel (157 lbs.), 3-2), Noah Gnibus (184 lbs.) (4-2), and Brad Morrison (197 lbs.) (2-2) all advanced to Sunday's action, but suffered losses in the consolation bracket.
 
Pitt-Johnstown will break for the holiday season, before hosting a dual meet against Findlay (OH) on Jan. 4 at noon in the Sports Center.