NAPERVILLE — The Carthage College men's wrestling team recorded multiple podium finishes Saturday at the 61st annual North Central (Ill.) Invite, highlighted by a second-place showing from CJ Gilbert, along with placements from Zaren Anderson and Joey Barnett.

Gilbert advanced to the championship bout after a strong run through the bracket. He opened the tournament with an 11-3 decision in round one, followed by a 17-11 decision in round two. Gilbert added an 8-5 decision in round three before edging his semifinal opponent 1-0 to reach the final. Along the way, he defeated top-seeded Jaylen Young, a top-ten ranked wrestler at 174 pounds. Gilbert closed the event with a narrow 1-0 loss in the title match, earning second place for the second consecutive tournament.

Anderson earned a fourth-place finish at 157 with a strong performance through the bracket. He began the day with a 14-1 fall at 6:24 against Wisconsin-Whitewater and added a fall at 1:27 over Eureka. After an 11-1 major-decision loss to Augsburg, Anderson responded with a fall at 1:38 against Wisconsin-Whitewater, then posted a 4-2 sudden-victory decision over the same opponent to reach the third-place match. He concluded the tournament with a 7-0 loss to Augsburg.

Barnett competed at 157 and placed fifth overall. He opened the event with a fall at 1:51 over Concordia (Wis.) in the preliminary round. Barnett later suffered a 17-0 technical-fall loss to Augsburg, followed by an 8-6 fall loss at 3:51 to Olivet. He closed the tournament with a 9-3 fall loss at 3:25 against Wabash.

Kayden Serrano placed fifth overall at 157 pounds. He dropped his opening bout by fall, then responded with a technical-fall victory in round two. Serran continued his run with a fall in round three and a 3-2 decision in round four before closing the tournament with a fall loss at 4:28 in the fifth-place bout.

Carthage will return to action after the new year participating in the Fred Johnson Duals beginning Saturday, January 3 at 9 a.m.