Wrestling team places second at North Central Tournament

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Olivet College wrestling team finished in second-place at the 2018 North Central (Ill.) College Tournament held today inside the Merner Fieldhouse in Naperville, Illinois.

• The host Cardinals captured the team with 163.0 points.
• Led by junior Drew Mandell's championship in the 149-pound bracket, the Comets totaled 118.5 points.

• Mandell posted a 4-0 record at 149 pounds. In the first round, he broke the school record for fastest-pin in the 149-pound weight class at just 15 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Mandell had another pin, this one at 4:39. In the semifinals, he won 14-11 and then defeated Danny Terronez from Augustana, 12-8, in the championships.
• Junior Cole Hersch had a 3-1 record to finish second at 157 pounds. He won a 16-0 technical fall in the first round before posting back-to-back 5-0 shutouts before losing the championship match.
• Sophomore Trevor Piggott was the runner-up at 285 pounds. He pinned his first opponent, followed by back-to-back decision victories, 8-4 and 2-0. Piggott lost the championship match, 19-9.
• Senior Tyler Grimsley was third at 165 pounds. He started his day with two wins, 8-1 and 18-3, before losing a close 5-2 decision in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Grimsley beat Logan Sears from Dubuque, 22-9.
• Freshman Hiram Robinson had a 2-2 record to finish in fourth-place at 197 pounds. His wins were 9-5 and 6-3 decisions.
• Freshman Reese Wallis placed fifth at 133 pounds. He won his first match 11-2. After losing in the quarterfinals, Wallis bounced back to win three matches in the consolation bracket, including two major decisions (16-6 and 10-0) and a 5-0 in the fifth-place match.
• Sophomore Dylan Briggs finished fifth at 165 pounds with a 4-1 record. One of his wins was a pin at the end of the second period and a second win was a 17-2 technical fall.
• Freshman Owen Miller was fifth at 285 pounds. After losing his first match, he rebounded to win five straight matches. The first two wins were pins at 24 seconds and 1:26, and the last three wins were decisions 8-2, 3-2 and 2-0.

1. North Central (Ill.), 163.0; 2. OLIVET, 118.5; 3. Concordia (Minn.), 109.0, 4. Wis.-La Crosse, 92.0, 5. Adrian, 65.0, 6. Alma 62.5, 7. Chicago (Ill.), 59.5; 8. Augustana (Ill.), 57.0; 9. Wabash (Ind.), 51.5; 11. Milwaukee (Wis.) School of Engineering, 50.0; 10. Dubuque (Iowa), 46.5; 12. Trine (Ind.), 25.0; 13. MacMurray (Ill.), 21.5; 14. Wheaton (Ill.), 15.0.

• The Comets will wrestle four matches next Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Kalahari Duals in Sandusky, Ohio. Action gets started at 9 a.m.