Wrestlers drop two matches at Greyhound Duals, finish in sixth-place at North Central Invitational

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College wrestling team split its roster into two squads for competitions today. The first-team wrestlers lost two matches at the University of Indianapolis Greyhound Duals inside the Ruth Lilly Center in Indianapolis. The Comets fell to Lindenwood (Mo.) University, 26-15, and Indianapolis, 30-15. A select group of the remaining wrestlers on the roster finished in sixth-place of eight schools at the 52nd Annual North Central College Invitational in Naperville, Illinois.

Lindenwood won seven of 10 bouts to beat the Comets. Olivet got 12 of its 15 team points on two first-period pins. Junior Curtis Blackwell had the first with 1:02 left in the opening period of the 141-pound bout. Junior Jesse Judge had the second with 1:06 remaining in the first period of the 285-pound bout.

The other three points came from senior Rodney Harvey at 184 pounds. After a scoreless first period, David Hamil earned an escape point at the start of the second period. Harvey tied the match with his own escape point in the third period. Twenty-eight seconds later, he took down Hamil for the winning points. 

Against Indianapolis, sophomore Jared Brickley put the first three team points on the scoreboard for the Comets with a 9-6 minor decision at 133 pounds. Blackwell won his second bout of the day by fall, this one came only 18 seconds into the second period. At the time of the pin, he had a 20-8 lead in the bout. The Greyhounds claimed three straight wins to take an 18-9 lead.

Olivet got six team points after senior Nicholas Africano picked-up a medical forfeit win at 174 pounds. Indianapolis capped its win with three consecutive wins, including a pin in the 285-pound bout.

At North Central, freshman Tyler Grimsley had the most success for the Comets, as he totaled 12.5 points to place fourth in the 165-pound bracket. Seeded fifth, he won his first match, 10-5, over Alex Dague from Wabash (Ind.) College before losing a 3-1 decision to fourth-seed Trace Timmons from Augustana (Ill.) College. Dropping into the consolation bracket, Grimsley won three straight matches – 23-11, 13-3 and 2-1 – to face Timmons in the third-place match. Timmons beat him for a second time, 7-2.

Senior Youssef El-Sayed collected 10.5 points to finish fourth in the 285-pound bracket. Unseeded, he upset third-seed Jake Barclay from Wabash, 8-4, in his first match and then was edged by second-seed Emonte Logan from North Central, 9-7, in the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, El-Sayed shutout Barclay, 12-0, before dropping a 8-2 decision to Max Gierke from Wheaton (Ill.) College in the third-place match.

Olivet returns to the mat next Saturday, Dec. 19, at the 2015 Gator "Boots" Duals hosted by Luther College and at the McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee.