Senior 125-pounder Tristan Buxton and junior heavyweight Jake Evans headlined a Waynesburg wrestling team that finished third out of 16 teams at its home invitational this past Saturday, as the duo notched individual titles at their respective weight classes.

Buxton managed a pin, major decision and 12-6 decision en route to the championship bout, where he defeated Muskingum’s Jordan Burkholder 4-3 in a tie break following a 2-2 regulation tie and scoreless sudden victory period.

Evans rolled to the 285-pound title, going 5-0 with five pins. In the process, the Elizabeth, Pennsylvania native pinned Gettysburg junior Paul Triandafilou, who defeated Evans in overtime earlier this season and currently ranked sixth among DIII big men.

In addition to the two champions, Waynesburg also added three more top-five finishers during the day in freshman 174-pounder Caleb Baxter, who finished fifth, and at 197-pounds, sophomore Ken Burrs and junior Josh Sneeringer placed second and fourth, respectively.

“Overall, we found out what we need to work on coming right back into the second semester. We had two champs here and Jake looked really good in the finals,” said head coach Ron Headlee. “[Triandafilou] beat him last time out and then Jake came out and pinned him this time—he wrestled really well. There’s definitely things that we need to improve on—it’s hard coming back after Christmas and everything getting guys going like that. I thought we battled today.”

Evans and Baxter received praise from the Presidents’ Athletic Conference for their performances, as Evans was named Wrestler of the Week and Baxter was named Rookie of the Week in the conference’s most recent release.

The Yellow Jackets totaled 131.5 team points at the Waynesburg Invitational, trailing only first-place Mount Union (206.5) and second-place Wisconsin Eau Claire (172.5). Waynesburg had the top score out of all PAC schools, edging out fourth-place Washington & Jefferson (110.0), Thomas More (62.0) and Thiel (23.0).

Unfortunately for the Jackets, multiple wrestler’s days ended early because of injury complications, leaving the team a little short-handed at a few weight classes. Headlee is optimistic that wrestlers will be able to step in and fill any voids left by injured teammates.

“It was just a tough day…we have to get guys healthy and have to go with what we have,” said Headlee. “Guys are going to have to fill in and try to get through things and that’s why our depth is going to help us out this year.”

Next up for Waynesburg is the beginning of PAC competition as it travels to Washington, Pennsylvania to take on W&J this Wednesday, Jan. 10. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Headlee anticipates a tough match-up with Presidents after a strong showing at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse this past weekend.

“We’re going to have a battle with W&J on Saturday and I know with a couple of our injuries, that’s going to hurt us,” he said. “[W&J] did well here. I was pleased with our effort with guys coming back and just battling.”