Wrestling team is 2-1 after day one of Bud Whitehill Duals

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Led by three first-period pins by junior Curtis Blackwell at 141 pounds, the Olivet College wrestling team posted a 2-1 record today in the first day of competition at the 2016 Bud Whitehill Duals, hosted by Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania,. The Comets defeated Ohio Northern University (26-15) and Oswego State University of New York (28-15) but lost to Messiah (Pa.) College (29-13).

Against Ohio Northern, Olivet built a 16-0 lead behind four straight wins to start the match. At 125 pounds, sophomore Trevor Skinner needed the riding time point to tie the match at 4-4 and then scored a takedown in the first overtime period to win it, 6-4. Sophomore Jared Brickley used seven takedowns and a riding time point to win 15-5 at 133 pounds.

Blackwell wasted no time, as he took his opponent down only five seconds into the match, and got the pin one minute and 31 seconds later. At 149 pounds, junior Austin Kelley scored a takedown in the first period and hung onto win 2-0.

The Polar Bears got nine points back with a pin and decision at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. At 174 pounds, senior Nicholas Africano battled to a 6-4 sudden death victory, with a takedown in the overtime period being the difference in the match. Ohio Northern recorded a fall in the 184-pound match to make the score 19-15. Senior Thomas Hall sealed Olivet's win with a 5-0 shutout win at 197 pounds, and junior Jesse Judge capped the victory with an 8-0 major decision at 285 pounds.

Against Messiah, Olivet won three bouts. Brickley posted a 14-6 major decision at 133 pounds. At 141 pounds, Blackwell won his second straight bout by fall, this one was even faster in one minute and seven seconds. He scored an early takedown before his opponent got a reversal. Blackwell countered with his own reversal and earned the pin a short time later. After giving up a takedown to go down 4-3 with 23 seconds left, Hall quickly got out to tie the score at 4-4. He had built up enough riding time in the bout to earn the extra point and win the bout, 5-4.

Against Oswego State, Skinner and Brickley gave the Comets an early 6-0 lead with 5-3 and 6-3 decisions at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Blackwell doubled Olivet's lead with his pin in one minute and 20 seconds. At 149 pounds, Kelley won with his own pin in one minute and 53 seconds.

After losing the 157-pound match, the Comets put four team points on the scoreboard when freshman Tyler Grimsley won a 15-5 major decision at 165 pounds to make the score 22-6. The Lakers closed the game to 22-15 with a 5-1 decision at 174 pounds and pin at 184 pounds. Hall put Olivet ahead for good with a 10-4 decision at 197 pounds. Judge ended the match with a 3-1 win at 285 pounds, with a two-point nearfall in the second period being the difference. 

With today's record, the Comets will wrestle tomorrow against Waynesburg (Pa.) University in a semifinal match of the fifth-place bracket at 10:30 a.m. Wrestling in the other semifinal match will be Wesleyan (Conn.) against Millikin (Ill.) University. The winners face off for fifth-place, while the losers will battle each other for seventh-place, starting at 1:30 p.m.