February 4, 2006

Two Maroons Place at Wheaton Invite

WHEATON, Ill. -- Junior Mike Bishof (Oak Brook, Ill./ York) and freshman Tom Nero (Carlisle, Ind./ Sullivan) earned top-eight finishes as the University of Chicago wrestling team finished 17th among 30 teams at the 64th annual Pete Willson Invitational Friday and Saturday at Wheaton (Ill.) College.

Seeded eighth at 165 pounds, Bishof split six bouts and notched an eighth-place finish. He dropped a 5-3 decision to the seventh-seed, Case Western Reserve University's Mike Sanchez, in the seventh-place contest.

Nero, who was unseeded at heavyweight, lost his first bout before winning three of his next five en route to an eighth-place finish. Nero fell to the #8 seed, Mark Van Den Hoogen of Lakeland College, 11-7 in the seventh-place contest.

The 30-team field featured six nationally-ranked teams. Truman State University, currently ranked 17th in the NCAA Division II, won the event with 134.5 points. Three teams -- the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse (#5, NCAA III), Heidelberg College (#12, NCAA III), and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (#10, NCAA II) -- tied for second place with 128.0 points.

With 30.5 points, Chicago tied for 17th place, edging Augustana (Ill.) College (#20, NCAA III) and Manchester College (#24, NCAA III), which finished 19th and 20th, respectively, in the final team standings.

Results