The work in progress that is the John Carroll wrestling team saw some encouraging signs at the 45th annual Rochester Institute of Technology Wrestling Invitational, staged Saturday in Rochester, New York.

JCU brought 15 wrestlers to the tournament and eight earned a top six finish in their respective weight classes. As a team, the Blue Streaks placed fifth with 84 points.

Last year, John Carroll had four placewinners and scored 56.5 points.

SUNY Cortland won this year's tournament with a team score of 148.5, well ahead of Wesleyan, who had 103 points.

Complete Results

The Blue Streaks had three wrestlers in the finals, but all three were underdogs in their championship match and could not pull off upsets. Seventh seed David Malkus (Troy, OH, Berkshire) took out the #2 and #3 seeds to reach the title bout at 149 pounds, but suffered an injury against Isaac Dukes of Case Reserve, and was unable to continue against the defending Division III national champion.

Clarence Semple (Cleveland, OH, Lakewood St. Edward) was a surprise finalist at 165 pounds. Seeded sixth, he opened up the tournament with a sudden victory win over third seed Marc Collins of Oswego State, then rolled over #2 seed Korey Leonhard (9-3) in the semifinals. He dropped a 10-6 decision to top-seed John Conroy of Cortland State in the final.

Another surprise in the championship round was freshman Todd Gaydosh (North Royalton, OH, Parma Padua Franciscan) at 174 pounds. Unseeded, Gaydosh won three matches -- including a stunning 8-0 shutout of #2 seed William Maldonado of Cortland State -- to reach his first collegiate title match. he lost to top-seed and two-time Ohio Athletic Conference champion Andrew Scavuzzo of Baldwin-Wallace, 5-1.

Bryan Steinmetz (Port Washington, WI, Port Washington) had a third-place showing at 184 pounds. Although the top seed suffered a loss in the semifinals, he finished the day 4-1 and won his four matches by a combined score of 26-6.

Also placing for the Streaks were Greg Ryan (Warren, OH, Howland) (fourth, 141), Vinny Pizzuli (North Olmsted, OH, Lakewood St. Edward) (5th, 157), Connor Suba (Middleburg Heights, OH, St. Edward) (6th, 165) and Alex Garred (Willoughby, OH, Willoughby South) (4th, 197).