Over Thanksgiving break, the Eastern wrestling team traveled to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the Missouri Open. The Panthers placed two wrestlers in the tournament.

Sophomore Kenny Robertson (13-2) took third place in the 174-pound weight class. In Robertson’s first two meets he finished first and second.

“Robertson had a good tournament and has some much tighter matches than the score indicated,” Eastern head coach Ralph McCausland.

Robertson’s only loss of the day came to Illinois’ No. 5 Pete Friedl (174 lbs.) 8-4.

“I was down by two and tried a desperation shot at the end and gave up two more points,” Robertson said.

Robertson had two pins on the day – each coming in the first period of the match.

“Sometimes I can torque them over pretty quick,” Robertson said.

In the third-place match Robertson beat Indiana’s Brady Richardson 6-3. Robertson had lost to Richardson twice before finally defeating him in his final match Saturday.

“(Being familiar with a wrestler) does help because you know his strong points but he knows your strong points to so it evens out,” Robertson said. “I was just happy to beat him finally.”

The other Panther to place in the tournament was redshirt freshman Greg Perz, who took fifth at 184-pound class in the freshman-sophomore open. Perz sat out last year after shoulder surgery and is getting his first collegiate experience this year.

“I was nervous at first because I thought everyone would be bigger and stronger than me,” Perz said. “But at the freshman level, I’m evenly matched.”

Perz was 4-2 on the day, and all his wins came by pin -three in the first period of the matches.

All six of Perz’s wins this season have come by way of fall.

“I work right away at the pin,” Perz said. “I like to get off the mat as fast as possible.”

Perz’s first loss of the day was to Brandon Jolley of Missouri Valley in the quarterfinals. Perz would go on to avenge that loss when he pinned Jolley in the fifth-place match.

“I was gassed and lost him by one point,” Perz said. “I was pretty mad going into the last match.”

McCausland is happy with Perz’s development thus far and expects him to be in the starting lineup when dual meet season comes around.

“He’s a go-getter,” McCausland said. “This will be a good confidence builder for him.”

This year Eastern has wrestled several of their open tournaments on Sunday because they have been pushed back from Saturday because of conflicts with football, McCausland said.

“It’s unfortunate because normally it’s nice to travel on Friday and then wrestle on Saturday then the guys can rest up on Sunday,” McCausland said.