WHEATON, Ill. – Coach Brent Hamm's Rams showed their depth by claiming seven placewinners in a tough 30-team field at the Pete Willson Invitational, held Friday and Saturday.  
 
Cornell accumulated 112.5 points during the two-day tournament and finished fifth overall, behind four Top 25 teams. No. 2 Roanoke won the event with 154 points.
 
Junior 11th-ranked Brian Petry headlined Cornell's performances with a third-place showing at 165 pounds. Petry (24-6) was among five ranked wrestlers in his loaded bracket, where he went 5-1. His lone blemish was a 16-0 semifinal loss to UW-La Crosse's third-ranked Tanner Gerber.
 
Petry beat UW-Eau Claire's eighth-ranked Jon Harvey in the quarterfinals, 7-6. He later defeated Roanoke's ninth-ranked Cade Parent in the consolation semifinals, 5-4. Petry capped his impressive tournament with a 20-8 major decision over Wheaton's Taggart Kazmierczak in the third-place bout.
 
The Rams landed a pair of senior fourth-place finishers in Jase Van Pelt at 125 and Jackson Brinker at 197. Van Pelt (19-11) went 5-2 with a pin and two technical falls. He came up just short against Whitewater's Brady Phelps in the third-place match, 9-7.
 
Brinker (23-5) finished 5-2 in the 197-pound bracket. Both of his losses came against UW-Eau Claire's fifth-ranked Ian Pepple, a pin in the quarterfinals and a 12-4 major decision in the third-place match. Brinker scored bonus points with a pin, technical fall and major decision.
 
Cornell's 13th-ranked AJ Parrish (23-7) took fifth in the 157-pound division with a 4-2 mark. After dropping a tight 4-2 decision to Roanoke's ninth-ranked Casey Smith in the consolation semifinals, Parrish bounced back with a pin in 6:45 over Ohio Northern's Londen Murphy in the fifth-place bout.
 
At 184, senior Austin Wilkins (16-8) placed sixth with a 5-3 record. He reeled off four consecutive wins on the consolation side.
 
Senior Eli Sneed placed seventh at 133 with a 5-2 mark, which included two falls and two major decisions. He pinned Mount Union's Nolan Frye in the seventh-place bout in 1:33.
 
Freshman 149-pounder Owen Adlfinger went 4-3 and finished eighth. He posted two pins and a major decision in the consolation rounds before falling 9-1 to MSOE's Alex Morales in the place match.  
 
Cornell results
125 – Jase Van Pelt (4th, 5-2). 133 – Eli Sneed (7th, 5-2). 141 – Dylan Heater (DNP, 1-2). 149 – Owen Adlfinger (8th, 4-3). 157 – AJ Parrish (5th, 4-2). 165 – Brian Petry (3rd, 5-1). 174 – Nolan Howell (DNP, 3-2). 184 – Austin Wilkins (6th, 5-3). 197 – Jackson Brinker (4th, 5-2). 285 – Braydon Hoffman (DNP, 0-2).
 
Coming up – The Rams (4-6) host UW-Oshkosh (2-9) for Senior Night Friday in the Small Athletic and Wellness Center. First match is 7 p.m.