The University of Chicago wrestling team travelled to Mequon, WI on Saturday to compete in its second tournament of the year at the 24th annual Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) Open. The Maroons posted a number of strong performances in a field of nationally ranked teams, placing three athletes in their respective weight classes, including both finalists at the 174-pound weight class. 

Saturday’s top performers were third-year Nick Ferraro and second-year Jason Lynch. Ferraro and Lynch both went 4–0 on their way to the finals of the 174-pound weight class. Their results marked the first time in program history that two Maroons of the same weight have reached the finals at the CUW Open. 

In their first matches of the day, Ferraro and Lynch each recorded technical falls, with Ferraro up 15–0 and Lynch winning 1–0. Ferraro next notched a 6–1 decision over his opponent, followed by a pin in the third round and an 18–2 technical fall in the semifinals. Lynch won 13–5 by major decision in the second round and recorded an 18–3 technical fall in the quarterfinal match. He concluded the day with a 7–2 win by decision. The two Maroons did not wrestle in the final match. 

First-year Kahlan Lee-Lermer also placed on Saturday, finishing sixth in the 149-pound weight class with an overall record of 4–3. Lee-Lermer notched one pin and one 5–0 decision in the first and second rounds, respectively, before losing 7–2 by decision. He then recorded two more pins on the day and fell by a 7–5 decision in the fifth place match. 

“We had a pretty good showing at one of the toughest tournaments on our schedule. We had a lot of strong performances out of our freshmen and definitely have something to build on,” Ferraro said. 

Ferraro maintains that the squad is in high spirits and is looking forward to improvement. “As a team, we have some things we need to work on in practice these next few weeks as we get ready for the next tournament and the bulk of the season, but all in all there were a lot more positives coming out of this weekend than negatives,” he said.

The Maroons return to competition on Saturday, December 3 at 9 a.m., traveling to Milwaukee, WI for the MSOE Invitational. Last year, UChicago placed seventh out of 11 teams with two runner-up finishes from Ferraro and current fourth-year Paul Papoutsis.