Gaul takes third at Dick Walker Invite

Sophomore Carl Gaul placed third in the heavyweight division to lead Cornell at Wartburg's Dick Walker Invitational Saturday at Levick Arena.

Gaul was dominant in posting four first-period pins, including a fall in 1:30 over Iowa Central's Lonnie Brown in the third-place match. Gaul finished with a 4-1 record, accounting for half of the team's contested wins in the tournament.

Head coach Mike Duroe held out all of his regular starters, his tournament team consisting of eight underclassmen. Gaul was the lone placewinner for Cornell, which finished ninth in the nine-team field with 27 points.

"We wanted a longer training phase (for our starters) to prepare for the dual against Augustana and upcoming meets," Duroe said. "We had a good week of training and I think it will make us a better team down the road. We'll see."

Gaul opened the tournament with falls over Iowa Central's Cheven Okonoboh (2:46) and Ellsworth's Arthur O'Neill (1:51). He fell 9-3 to Iowa Central's Logan Johnson in the semifinals. Gaul came back in the consolation bracket to pin Trine's James West in 48 seconds, before recording his fourth fall in the place match.

Gaul improved his season mark to 9-10. All nine wins have come by fall.

"For the most part, I wrestled well and accomplished what I set out to do," Gaul said. "I made some simple mistakes in the match I lost that cost me. I'll work to correct those mistakes and pin that guy next time."

Duroe added, "Anytime you can place in the top three at this event, it's a strong performance."

Sophomore Ben Rosen and freshman Mitch Hood each finished 1-2 with a major decision in the 125-pound bracket. Freshman Ray Feliz went 1-2 at 141. Freshman Colin Bertucci registered an opening-round pin before losing by fall in the quarterfinals to Trine's top-ranked Elias Larson.