(INDIANOLA, IOWA) — Mules wrestling had its strongest tournament showing of the season Saturday at the Simpson Invitational, placing five wrestlers and finishing fourth as a team.
Laramie Allembaugh highlighted the Mules place-finishers, finishing runner-up at 125 pounds. Nick Viterisi and Tim Tuaquoi both placed third, with Viterisi in the 149-pound bracket and Tuaquoi at 285 pounds. Nolan Smith placed fifth at 285 pounds while Todd Brier rounded out the Mules place-finishers, placing sixth at 184 pounds.
Allembaugh started off his run to second place in the second round after receiving a round-one bye. There he faced Truman’s Jabez Zinabu and won the match after a pin (1:13) to advance. Allembaugh’s next opponent was Max Malave of Division I South Dakota State. Allembaugh claimed victory after a 7-2 decision to place him in the semifinals.
Robert Boesch of Wartburg College was Allembaugh’s semifinal opponent. The freshman from Cleveland, Okla., made quick work of Boesch, rolling to an 8-1 decision to place him in the championship match against Coe’s Jared Parvinmehr. In a hard-fought match, Allembaugh came up just short of claiming the title, finishing on the short end of a 10-7 decision to finish second. Allembaugh finished the day with a record of 3-1.
Viterisi claimed third after advancing to the 149-pound championship bracket semifinals where he lost to drop him into the consolation semifinals. Viterisi battled Wartburg’s Brandon Welter and came away with the 3-2 decision, earning him a spot in the third-place match where he defeated Grand View’s David Kellogg via a 7-2 decision.
Like Viterisi did at 149, Tuaquoi placed third after falling in the semifinals of the 285-pound bracket. He faced Frank Ayala, of Concordia, Neb., in the consolation semifinals and advanced to the third-place match on an 8-3 decision. The junior from Yahanna, Ohio, came away with a 7-4 decision over Wartburg’s Benjamin Nagle to claim third place and finish with a record of 4-1.
Smith claimed fifth at 285 pounds after defeating Ayala via a 3-1 decision, finishing with a record of 4-2, while Brier took sixth at 184 pounds after falling to Coe’s Ryan Sheldon in the fifth-place match via a 8-3 decision, finishing with a record of 3-3.
As a team, the Mules placed fourth out of 13 teams with 82 points.
The Mules return to action Thursday when they travel to Lexington, Mo., to face Wentworth Military Academy in their second dual of the season.