Olivet College’s Hersch named MIAA Wrestler of the Week

FREELAND, Mich. – Olivet College junior Cole Hersch has been named the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Wrestler of the Week.

Competing at 157 pounds, Hersch finished with a 5-0 record last week to help the Comets post a 4-2 record, including a 3-2 record at the 2020 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Multi-Divisional National Duals. He started his week with a 15-6 decision in Olivet's 21-12 win over Adrian College in its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) match.

Hersch followed that performance with a 4-0 mark at the national duals. In his first match, he won 3-2 over Taylor Shay from Roger Williams (R.I.) who is ranked No. 8 in the NWCA rankings and No. 7 in the d3wrestle.com rankings at 165 pounds. Hersch followed that with back-to-back technical falls – 18-1 over Muzi Siseltha from Wis.-Oshkosh and 18-0 over Michael Egan from Luther (Iowa). He ended the national duals with a come-from-behind 16-14 win over two-time NCAA All-American Cole Erickson from (Coe) who is ranked No. 6 in the NWCA rankings and No. 7 in the d3wrestle.com rankings.

"Cole has been having a stellar season, but this weekend he really showed he is ready to bust into All-American contention," said Olivet head coach Brandon Brissette. "What I love about Cole is he has an array of skills in each position. In one match, he used a ride out to win 3-2 against a returning All-American and against another All-American, Cole used reversals on the mat and superb conditioning in neutral position to score 10 points in the final period. We tell our guys you must be great in all areas to contend and right now he is showing how that is true!"

Olivet resumes its MIAA schedule Thursday at Trine (Ind.) University. The match will get started at 7 p.m. from inside Hershey Hall in Angola, Indiana.