Wrestling team stands eighth through first day at Pete Willson Invitational

WHEATON, Ill. – The Olivet College wrestling team sits in eighth-place after day one of the 2020 Wheaton (Ill.) College/Pete Willson Invitational, held inside King Arena in Wheaton, Illinois. The Comets have four wrestlers alive in the brackets.

• The field consists of 34 NCAA Division III schools, including six schools ranked in the most recent National Wrestling Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
• North Central (Ill.) College is in first-place with 72.0 points.
• The Comets, ranked No. 18 in the NWCA poll, have 54.5 points and are only 1/2 point behind Ohio Northern University and University of Chicago (Ill), who are tied for sixth.
• At 157 pounds, senior Cole Hersch posted a 3-0 record and has advanced to the semifinals tomorrow morning. He will face Rafael Roman from North Central.
• Three Olivet wrestlers – senior Haydn Kinjorski, junior Trevor Piggott and sophomore Owen Miller – are still alive and will wrestle in the consolation bracket tomorrow morning. All three are guaranteed a top-eight finish.
• In the 174-pound bracket, Kinjorski won his first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals. He bounced back to beat Nick Miller from Trine (Ind.) University and is guaranteed a top-eight finish.
• In the 197-pound bracket, Piggott also earned wins in his first two matches before suffering a close 3-2 loss in the quarterfinals. He came back to win 3-2 over Luke Hess from Otterbein (Ohio) University.
• In the 285-pound bracket, Miller was pinned in his first match. He rebounded to win four straight matches in the consolation bracket. The last two wins were falls.
• Freshman 149-pounder Zach Wells has been eliminated from the tournament. However all three of his wins were pins, including a 36-second fall in the first round.
• Freshman 133-pounder Kyle Schaaf also won three matches but bowed out of the tournament. He scored bonus points in two, with a 19-2 technical fall and 12-2 major decision.

• 125: Cameron Mahlich – 0-2 record – lost 8-3 to Ellex Williams (Augustana, Ill.), lost 4-1 to Rosendo Beltran (Defiance, Ohio).
• 133: Kyle Schaaf – 3-2 record – won 19-2 over Ben Gruenstein (Augustana, Ill.), lost 10-0 to Levi Englman (Ferrum, Va.), won 12-2 over Sebastian Iverson from Trine (Ind.), won 5-1 over Elijah Sanchez (Adrian), pinned by AJ Schoenfuss (Wis.-Oshkosh) in 2:07.
• 141: Andrew Castaneda – 1-2 record – won 6-4 over Ethan Harsted (Wheaton, Ill.), lost 1-0 to Tyler Demo (Wis.-Eau Claire), pinned by Noah Wochna (Mount Union, Ohio) in 3:48.
• 149: Zach Wells – 3-2 record – pinned Jimmy Cushman (Milwaukee School of Engineering, Wis.) in 0:36, lost 7-5 to Patrick McGraw (John Carroll, Ohio), pinned Kobe Allen (Wis.-Oshkosh) in 4:58, pinned Slade Todd (Heidelberg, Ohio) in 3:37, lost 16-8 to Anthony Rink (North Central, Ill.).
• 157: Cole Hersch – 3-0 record – pinned Jacob Horsch (Heidelberg, Ohio) in 2:43, won 7-5 over John Broughton (Wis.-Whitewater), won 14-2 over Charles Lipps (Mount St. Joseph, Ohio).
• 165: Owen Guilford – 1-2 record – lost 8-6 to Ryder Sigler (Wis.-Whitewater), won 13-6 over TJ Lunney (Augustana, Ill.), pinned by Nic Jarvis (Cornell, Iowa) in 2:22.
• 174: Haydn Kinjorski – 3-1 record – won 9-7 over Hunter Harrison (Wheaton, Ill.), won 8-3 over Josh Te Stroete (Concordia, Wis.), lost 14-4 to Cornell Beachem (Mount St. Joseph, Ohio), won 7-4 over Nick Miller (Trine, Ind.).
• 184: Kamyab Kamali – 1-2 record – pinned Diego Escarcega (Buena Vista, Iowa) in 5:25, pinned by Corbin Bunsold (Otterbein, Ohio), pinned by Kyle Emery (Adrian) in 4:03.
• 197: Trevor Piggott – 3-1 record – won 22-6 over Alecznad Moore (MacMurray, Ill.), pinned Mason Morris (Defiance, Ohio) in 2:29, lost 3-2 to Cash Thompson (Ohio Northern), won 3-2 over Luke Hess (Otterbein, Ohio).
• 285: Owen Miller – 4-1 record – pinned by Lucius Rinehart (Wis.-Platteville) in 3:58, won 9-2 over Robert Pena (Elmhurst, Ill.), won 10-2 over Daniel Skold (Augustana, Ill.), pinned Blake Jerome (Heidelberg, Ohio) in 6:10, pinned Isiah Ziegler (North Central, Ill.) in 2:03.

1. #12 North Central (Ill.), 72.0; 2. #13 Wis.-Whitewater, 70.0; 3. Wis.-Eau Claire, 69.5; 4. #16 Messiah (Pa.), 64.0; 5. John Carroll (Ohio), 57.0; 6. Chicago (Ill.), 55.0; 6. Ohio Northern, 55.0; 8. #18 OLIVET, 54.5; 9. Ferrum (Va.), 49.0; 10. #10 Mount Union (Ohio), 48.5; 11. Otterbein (Ohio), 47.0; 12. Elmhurst (Ill.), 45.5; 13. Wis.-Stevens Point, 42.5; 14. #23 Wis.-Platteville, 42.0; 15. Wis.-Oshkosh, 38.5.

• Day two action at the Pete Willson Invitational gets started tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET.