Coming off a third place finish this past weekend at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational, the Waynesburg University wrestling team will have a busy couple of days. After facing off against Muskingum on Thursday in New Concord, Ohio, the Yellow Jackets (3-2) will host The Apprentice School, Baldwin Wallace and Penn State Behrend for the Waynesburg Quad this Saturday, Dec. 9.

With three wrestlers finishing in second in their respective weight classes and three more taking home fourth place honors, head coach Ron Headlee said he saw a lot of quality things from his team in Mechanicsburg during the two-day tournament.

“One of the reasons we go there is that it’s a two-day tournament and get a look so that you know you can be prepared for that in regionals,” Headlee said. “So, we did that and I thought we wrestled really well in the morning…Overall it wasn’t just our starters, even our backups were wrestling well and giving themselves a chance to win.”

Looking towards the upcoming matchups, Muskingum is a team that Waynesburg defeated 34-12. Although the Yellow Jackets had the edge last season and are off to a solid start, Headlee does not want to take the Muskies lightly.

“We’re trying not to overlook Muskingum,” said Headlee. “We have three tough matches I know for sure at 125, 149 and 165 that are real good for them. [We] can’t let them slip past us.”

Moving ahead to the weekend, The Apprentice School and Baldwin Wallace (6-0) are two teams that Waynesburg squared off against last year. The Yellow Jackets edged the Builders by a score of 27-21, but came up shy 31-18 against Baldwin Wallace, who were ranked 20th in the country at that time.

Headlee expects The Apprentice School to be strong test in the first match of the Waynesburg Quad, just as the Builders were last season.

“Right off the bat Apprentice this weekend—they have a really good 125 pounder too that’s been wrestling real well. They gave us all we could handle last year, so they are going to come in and wrestle tough and they have a new coach,” said Headlee.

The Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace come into the matchup ranked just as they were in 2016, but this year they are currently sitting at No. 9 in Division III. Waynesburg enters the matchup as the No. 24 team in Division III.

“They’re tough, this is probably their best lineup that they’ve ever had overall. It’s going to be another good test for us,” said Headlee. “Our guys always get up for Baldwin Wallace, I thought we wrestled them well here last year. They were definitely the better team and they’re probably the better team again this year, but it’s a good time and it’s a good quad for us…we’re looking forward to it.”

Also on the slate for Waynesburg will be Penn State Behrend (1-7), who the Yellow Jackets do not have a recent history with.

For Headlee, a big focus for his team this weekend will be making sure wrestlers are finishing opponents and finding a balance within the match that will lead to success.

“We are getting in on guys legs a little bit and we just aren’t able to finish. That’s what happens the higher level you go, the better the competition and it makes it a little bit harder to score,” Headlee said. “We definitely need to work on that and that’s what we’re going to work on in practice. [Also] just managing matches a little bit better—what we need to do at the end of matches when we’re up and when we need to shut it down a little bit, where we need to get to and those kinds of things.”

One of the other interesting parts about the Waynesburg Quad will be the recognition of four former Yellow Jacket standouts that won national championships during their time at the school, and two former coaches as well. The plan, according to Headlee, is to introduce a new plaque that will be on display in the wrestling room to pay homage to the history of Waynesburg wrestling.

“Before the match, we’re going to recognize that and we’re going to talk about that a little bit this week and just what it’s taken [for those wrestlers and coaches to get to that level],” he said. “It’s pretty neat to have four national champs and their families here to represent them. We’re going to try and do something on that part.”

Among others, look for senior Tristan Buxton, sophomore Ken Burrs, junior Jake Evans and freshmen Mike Mahon, who was recently named PAC Rookie of the Week, Josh Kuslock, and Caleb Baxter to put together solid showings at their respective weight classes this upcoming weekend as they build off second-place and fourth-place finishes at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational last weekend.

The Muskingum match will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, while the three matches this Saturday will be at 12 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.