Wrestling team finishes in seventh-place at Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational

Behind championship performances by senior Jason Brew (Sparta) at 157 pounds and senior Kyle Vanderhyde (Sparta) at 174 pounds, the Olivet College wrestling team finished in seventh-place (out of 31 schools) at the 2009 Pete Willson-Wheaton (Ill.) College Invitational. Brew was also named the George Olson Most Outstanding Wrestler (MOW). He is the first wrestler in school history to earn MOW honors at the Wheaton Invitational.

The Comets collected 79.5 points. University of Wisc.-Parkside captured the team championship with 145 points. Wisc.-LaCrosse was second with 133 points, followed by North Central (Ill.) College, 125.5; Wisc.-Whitewater, 91.5; John Carroll (Ohio) University, 87.5; and Heidelberg (Ohio) University, 86.5.

Brew, No. 2 in the latest NWCA rankings, posted a 4-0 record en route to the championship. After drawing a bye in the first round, he won by a 16-1 technical fall score over Cowan Brown of North Central in the second round. In quarterfinals, Brew defeated Joel VandeBoom of Milwaukee (Wisc.) School of Engineering, 8-3, and in the semifinals, he beat Isaac Dukes of Case Western (Ohio), 12-3. In the championship, Brew won by a major decision score of 15-4 over Zach Mizer of Heidelberg.

Vanderhyde, also No. 2 in the NWCA rankings, had a 5-0 record. On Friday, he pinned (1:36) Colin Swick of Ohio Northern in the first round, won by major decision (19-5) over Jake D'Acquisto of Wisc.-Whitewater in the second round and pinned (4:17) B.J. Greenman of Case Western in the quarterfinals. This morning, he defeated Mike Schmitz of Wisc.-LaCrosse, 9-4 in the semifinals. In the championship match, Vanderhyde defeated Nick Krause of Trine (Ind.), 6-3.

Sophomore Adam Wilson (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 133 pounds and senior Rob Yahrmarkt (Sparta) at 149 pounds each finished in seventh-place. After losing his first match, Wilson bounced back with three straight wins (12-4, 9-4, 15-3) in the consolation bracket. He fell by a 6-4 score in the quarterfinals of the wrestleback bracket, but rebounded to beat Jake Denhof of Elmhurst (Ill.), 5-2, in the seventh-place match.

After drawing a bye in the first round, Yahrmarkt pinned Matt Hart of Chicago in the second round. In the quarters, he was defeated by No. 1 seed and eventual champion Craig Becker of Wisc.-Parkside, 10-2. Dropping to the consolation bracket, Yahrmarkt beat Josh Levy of Heidelberg, 5-4, before losing to Dave Harris of Mt. St. Joseph (Ohio). In the seventh-place match, Yahrmarkt pinned Mike Bressler of Messiah (Pa.) in 5:34.

Olivet is back in action next Saturday, Feb. 7, when it hosts the 2009 Mid-States Conference Wrestling Tournament. Action inside The Cutler Event Center begins at 9 a.m.