Wrestling team finishes in eighth-place at NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Olivet College wrestling team has finished in eighth-place at the 2018 NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals at the War Allen Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Today, the Comets, unranked in the NWCA Top 25 poll, upset #16 North Central (Ill.) College, 22-14, before suffering a 35-9 loss to #8 Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University and 30-6 loss to #6 University of Wis.-Whitewater.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. NORTH CENTRAL

• The Comets won seven of 10 individual matches. Six of the seven were minor decisions and the seventh was a major decision. The Cardinals, ranked No. 16 in the most recent NWCA Top 25 poll, scored bonus points in two of their three wins.
• At 125 pounds, senior Jared Brickley scored a takedown with eight seconds left in the match to win 6-4.
• At 133 pounds, freshman Spencer Fox needed a reversal and four-point near-fall in the final minute of the match to post a 6-4 decision.
• North Central won the 141-pound match by technical fall.
• At 149 pounds, sophomore Drew Mandell was down 6-2 in the second period before scoring the final nine points to win 11-6.
• The Cardinals closed the gap in the team score to a single points, 9-8, with a 6-1 decision at 157 pounds.
• At 165 pounds, junior Tyler Grimsley used six takedowns, an escape and the riding time point to earn a 14-6 major decision.
• At 174 pounds, sophomore Haydn Kinjorski stretched Olivet's lead in the team score to 16-8 with an 8-4 decision.
• At 184 pounds, senior Ryan Clark got a takedown in the second overtime to pull out a 4-2 win.
• North Central kept the match close, 19-14, with a pin at 197 pounds.
• Freshman Trevor Piggott sealed Olivet's victory with an 8-7 win at 285 pounds. The difference in the match was a penalty point awarded to him in the final seconds of the second period.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. BALDWIN WALLACE

• The Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 8 in the NWCA poll, won eight of 10 individual matches.
• Winning for the Comets were sophomore Cole Hersch with an 8-2 decision at 149 pounds and sophomore Jalen McFerrin-Pace with a first-period pin (1:21) at 285 pounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. WIS.-WHITEWATER

• The Warhawks, ranked No. 6 in the NWCA, claimed wins in eight of 10 individual matches.
• Grimsley took his opponent down in the final seconds of the overtime period to win, 3-1.
• Kinjorski picked-up a 5-2 decision.

BEYOND THE MATCHES

• Olivet finished the trip with a 4-3 record. Finishes for their losses were second by Wartburg (Iowa) College, fifth by Baldwin Wallace and seventh by Wis.-Whitewater.
• Kinjorski posted a perfect 5-0 record at the national duals.
• Clark and Fox finished with 4-2 records.
• Grimsley was the only Comet to wrestle in all seven matches, and finished with a 4-3 record.
• Clark has a team-leading 20 wins this season. Half of the victories have been by decision.
• Grimsley is 19-3.
• Brickley and Kinjorski each has 16 wins in 2017-18.

UP NEXT

• The Comets host Alma College next Thursday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m.