Wrestling: Comets beat Buena Vista, lose to Coe and Wartburg at Desert Duals

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The Olivet College wrestling team had a 1-2 record today at the 2014 Desert Duals, hosted by Wartburg (Iowa) College and held inside the Flamingo Resort in Las Vegas. The Comets, ranked No. 21 in the most recent National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, fell to No. 4 Coe College (26-9) and No. 7 Wartburg (33-9) before ending the day with a 19-18 win over Buena Vista (Iowa) University.

Coe won the first two bouts by minor decision. Olivet came back with two straight minor decisions – 4-2 by junior Matthew Watson at 133 pounds and 3-2 by senior Kyle Witgen at 141 pounds – to tie the team score at 6-6. The Kohawks responded with five straight wins to take a commanding 26-6 lead. Senior Ryan Steverson slipped past his opponent, 3-2, at 285 pounds for the final three Comet team points.

Wartburg won the first seven bouts to take a 29-0 lead. Olivet scored its first three team points when sophomore Rodney Harvey won a 6-4 overtime decision at 184 pounds. The Knights won my major decision at 197 pounds to make the score 33-3. Sophomore Jesse Judge pinned his opponent 38 seconds into the second period for the last six Comet team points.

Buena Vista and Olivet split the 10 bouts, with a 9-0 major decision win by sophomore Michael Schmidt at 125 pounds being the difference in the match. Senior Matt Darling made the score 7-0 with a 2-1 victory at 133 pounds. The Beavers gained a 12-7 lead with three straight wins – 7-5, 6-3 and pin.

The Comets took the back, 16-12, when senior Dan Fleet won 5-3 at 165 pounds and senior Nick Allen pinned his opponent in the first period. Buena Vista claimed an 8-5 win before junior Thomas Hall put Olivet back up four points with a 6-4 win at 197 pounds.

In the 285-pound bout, the Beavers needed a technical fall or pin to win the match. However, they were only able to manage a 3-1 minor decision win.

The Comets are now off for the holidays and will return to the mats on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2014, at the Ashland (Ohio) University/Wendy's Mid-Atlantic Duals. Action gets started at 9 a.m.