Briggs and King lead wrestling team at Trine Invitational

ANGOLA, Mich. – Senior Dylan Briggs and sophomore Donovan King took first-place in their weight class to lead the Olivet College wrestling team at the 2021 Trine (Ind.) University Invitational, held today at the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center in Angola, Indiana. Ten other Comets finished in the top four of their respective weight class.

• No team scores were kept, as competing schools were allowed unlimited entries in each of the 10 weight classes.
• The nine-team field included five fellow NCAA Division III schools along with three NAIA schools.
• Olivet crowed two individual weight class championships. Briggs won the 165-pound bracket, while King was first in the 285-pound bracket.

• Sophomore Dylan Phelps placed second in the 133-pound bracket. He won his first three matches (15-0, 4-2, 4-3) before suffering an injury and defaulting the championship match.
• Senior Reese Wallis and freshman Tyler Herrema were third and fourth, respectively at 141 pounds. Wallis his first-round match, 18-1, before suffering a 2-0 loss in the quarterfinals. He came back to win four straight wins, including a pin in 3:56 and two major decisions (10-0, 9-0). Herrema started his day with two pins before losing 4-3 in the quarterfinals. He then won three consecutive decisions (11-4, 7-4, 6-3) and forfeited the third-place match to Wallis.
• Briggs started his day with an 11-2 major decision, followed that with a pin in the third period and 6-3 decision. In the championship match, he beat Donovan Palmer from Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University, 12-5.
• Junior Owen Guilford finished third in the 174-pound bracket. He won 12-0 and 17-0 before falling 10-9 in the semifinals. Down in the consolation bracket, Guilford won 9-3 and earned a medical forfeit win in the third-place match.
• Sophomore Justin Carnahan was third at 184 pounds. He pinned his first-round opponent before getting pinned himself in the quarterfinals. Carnahan rebounded with two pins, followed by a pair of forfeit victories.
• Three Comet freshmen placed in the 197-pound bracket. Isaac Hall was the runner-up, followed by Zakary Foster in fourth and Dylan Kuschel in fifth. Hall had two wins before losing 9-2 in the championship match.
• King won all four of his matches via pin.
• Also in the 285-pound bracket, senior Dominick Wilson was second and freshman Boe Eckman finished fourth. Wilson started his day with a 5-2 decision victory and followed that with a pin in the final seconds of the match and then won an 18-2 technical fall before losing to his teammate in the championship match.

• Olivet hosts the 2021 Comet Duals next Saturday, November 20. Ten other schools – six NCAA Division III, three junior colleges and a club program – are competing. The Comets will face Millkin (Ill.) University, University of Mount Union and Ohio Northern University. Action from the Cutler Event Center gets started at 10 a.m.