2012-2013 Wheaton Preview

Wheaton College Thunder (Midwest Region)
Head Coach:  Jim Gruenwald
Years at School as head coach: 4th
Career Record at school: 9 – 30
Assistant Coaches:  Eric Terrazas (University of Illinois), Scott Torppey

2011-2012 Dual Meet Record: 5 – 7
2011-2012 National Qualifiers and All-Americans: Darren Faber (197)
Returning Qualifiers and All-Americans:  Darren Faber

Top returning starters:
Mark Savenok (4x tournament finalist with 2 Tournament wins 2011-2012, 19-5)
Darren Faber, (3 tournament wins, 8th at Pete Willson, 2nd in Great Lakes, NCAA Qualifier)
Peter Huang (5th Great Lakes at 165, dropping to 157 in 2012)
Mitch Steed (22-11, missed postseason with injury)

Top incoming wrestlers:
Michael Swider (Illinois State Runner-up, Junior Nationals 2nd in Freestyle and 7th in Greco) – 197/HWT
Toby Mosley – (5th in WI State Championships) – 157

Season outlook:
As Jim Gruenwald enters his fourth season at Wheaton, the fruits of his labor are starting to show up. Darren Faber was a qualifier last year, while Mitch Steed and Mark Savenok were considered top challengers until slowed by injuries. The upper 2/3 of the lineup should be very good with a lot of returning talent and the lineup as a whole has a good number of upperclassmen. The incoming class is headlined by Michael Swider. He is the son of the Thunder football coach and was seen most recently garnering All-American awards in both styles in Fargo. He and Faber will fill the top two lineup spots in some order. Also joining the Thunder as a coach this year is former Illinois wrestler Eric Terrazas who is coming back to his hometown of Wheaton.