Wrestling team to host Trine for MIAA dual match

When: Thursday, Jan. 10

Where: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

The dual match is serving as a benefit to support the Out of the Darkness organization. The OC athletic department will donate $1 per fan in attendance toward the organization. All of the money raised will support implementing mental health programs on campus for all Olivet College students.

Olivet's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has declared the match as a "White Out," so Comet fans are encouraged to wear white! All OC students, faculty and staff will be admitted for free. You just have to show your ID card.

Prior to the match, Olivet will recognize its two seniors, Tyler Grimsley and Jacob Harvey.

At the intermission, the Comets will recognize the 11 student-athletes who earned All-MIAA honors during the fall season. A couple academic awards will also be presented.

Olivet has a 16-1 record all-time against Trine. The Comets won the first six meetings, lost the seventh and won 10 straight. In the 17 matches, Olivet has outscored the Thunder, 540-159, with an average margin of victory of 22 points.

Trine's head coach is Tom Hall, a 2016 Olivet graduate.

It will be the first official Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) dual match since the 1983-84 season.

It will also be one of three MIAA dual matches for the Comets this season. Upon the conclusion of the three duals, the league school with the best record will be crowned the 2019 MIAA champion.

The MIAA previously sponsored wrestling from 1969-1984. Of those 16 years, the Comets won nine outright titles (1972-79, 1984) and shared another (1980).

At the conclusion of the three dual matches, the four league coaches will gather to vote and select an All-MIAA team. The All-MIAA team will consist of one wrestler in each weight class for a total of 10 selections. Any wrestler who wins all three of his dual matches (at the same weight class) are automatically added to the All-MIAA list.

The wrestling team wants to FILL THE GYM for the dual match since it is the ONLY home event for the Comets this semester!