Wrestling: Olivet’s Allen advances to NCAA DIII National Championships

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Senior Nick Allen was the Olivet College wrestler to punch a ticket to the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championships. Allen did so with a third-place finish in the 174-pound bracket today at the 2015 NCAA DIII Midwest Regional, hosted by Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. 

As a team, the Comets finished in fifth-place with 53 total points, ½ point ahead of sixth-place North Central (Ill.) College. University of Wis.-Whitewater successfully defended its Midwest Regional championship with 133.5 points. The host Little Giants were second with 116 points, followed by University of Wis.-La Crosse, 113.5; Alma College, 92.5; and Wheaton (Ill.) College, 83.5.

Wrestling in what was called the toughest weight class at the regional, Allen started his day with a 16-0 technical fall victory over Dylan Diebetz from Wis.-Stevens Point before beating Frank Aiello from Wheaton, 5-0, in the quarterfinals. He then lost to eventual champion Conner Lefever from Wabash in the semifinals.

Dropping to the consolation bracket, Allen bounced back to beat Jarrett Hoeppner from Wis.-La Crosse, 4-1. In the third-place match, he blanked Jamie Jakes from Alma, 3-0. After a scoreless first period, Allen quickly got out from the bottom position to start the second period to go up 1-0. Jakes selected the neutral position to start the third period. Allen took advantage of that choice by scoring a takedown with 37 seconds remaining in the match.

Olivet also had five wrestlers – senior Matt Darling at 133 pounds, senior Kyle Witgen at 149 pounds, sophomore Rodney Harvey at 184 pounds, junior Thomas Hall at 197 pounds and sophomore Jesse Judge at 285 pounds – all finish in sixth-place. Of these five wrestlers, Hall had the most wins with three.

After losing his opening round match, Darling won two matches (9-0 and 6-1) to reach the consolation bracket semifinals, losing the match 6-2. In the fifth-place match, he was edged by Zac Case from Alma, 3-2, on an escape point in the third period.

Witgen pinned his first-round opponent before upsetting the second-seed, 12-3, in the quarterfinals. He then suffered three straight losses, 7-6, 8-0 and 6-1, in the consolation bracket.

Harvey received a bye in the first round before losing in the quarterfinals to Ryan Aprahamian from Wis.-Whitewater. He rebounded with two major decision wins, 8-0 and 9-1, until a pin sent him to the fifth-place match and a rematch against Aprahamian. A takedown midway through the final period pushed Aprahamian past Harvey, 6-5.

Hall won 14-9 in the first round and then suffered a loss in the second round. He then won a 6-2 minor decision and a 15-2 major decision to reach the consolation bracket semifinals against Michael Swider from Wheaton. Hall scored an escape in the final seconds of the final period to send the match to an extra period, but Swider got a takedown around the halfway point to secure a win. Hall did not wrestle in the fifth-place match.

Judge earned a bye in the opening round and then suffered a 10-2 loss to the second-seed in the quarterfinals. After a bye in the consolation bracket, he pinned his next opponent halfway through the first period. Judge was then pinned in the next two rounds to place sixth.

The other four Olivet wrestlers bowed out of the tournament with either only one win or zero wins.

The 2015 NCAA DIII National Championships will take place Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

NOTE: Allen will be making his second straight trip to the national championships. A year ago, he placed second at the NCAA Midwest Regional before posting a 1-2 record at the NCAAs.