Four Olivet College wrestlers earn 2022 All-MIAA honors

FREELAND, Mich. – Four Olivet College wrestlers have been selected to the 2022 All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Team. They are senior Dylan Briggs, sophomore Justin Carnahan, junior Owen Guilford and senior Reese Wallis. The honors were based on a student-athlete's performance at both the MIAA Individual Championship and MIAA Dual Meet Championship.

This quartet helped Olivet win its fourth straight MIAA Championship. Overall in school history, the Comets have won 14 MIAA titles. In addition, Wallis is the third wrestler in school history to earn All-MIAA honors four consecutive years. The other two were Ron Bates (1973-76) and Joe Gibbs (1974-77).

"We never take winning a MIAA championship for granted," stated Olivet head coach Brandon Brissette. "Anybody who sat and watched the duals, whether online or there in person, knows every team brings everything they have to the duals. And it makes it special, we look forward to these competitions because of the energy. This the reason why we do it and you can never that take for granted. You must be willing to do the training and to step up to the intensity that is going to be brought on these days to win it. We are just humble we did it four times in a row. It is not about each team being the same, it is about this group coming together and finding a way to do it."

At 165 pounds, Briggs finished with a 7-0 combined record at the two championships. He pinned Damani Wallace from Adrian in 3:22 and Brenden Kurtz from Alma in 4:41, tallied 15-0 technical fall victories over Trenton DiGenova from Adrian and Ethan Nash from Trine, won two minor decisions over Zach Altman from Adrian (8-3 and 10-3), and earned a 9-3 minor decision over Chris Mills from Albion.

"By far, Dylan has been the team's leader this year," said Olivet head coach Brandon Brissette. "He brings so much knowledge and so much variety into every match. Dylan is always working on getting better and it shows through all he years. He has had many injuries but as a senior now, he puts it all together and makes his first All-MIAA team and looked dominate in all his matches. Dylan is an ultimate competitor and technician."

At 184 pounds, Carnahan collected a 4-1 combined record at the two championship events. He pinned Mitchell Moore from Adrian in 2:20 and Blake Williams from Adrian in 2:25, defeated a teammate (8-3), and Michael Jacobs from Adrian (9-5). Carnahan's lone loss was to Owen Conklin from Trine, 9-4, who wrestled up a weight class.

"The biggest word I can use to describe Justin is improvement," stated Brissette. "He had been 0-3 versus an Adrian wrestler at his weight between last year and this year. He was very close to be an All-MIAA selection last year but could not find the big win against him. Now this year, Justin came out in the biggest moment and in the biggest dual got a dominating decision against a kid who he has never beaten before. That win was what secured the All-MIAA selection for him. I could not be prouder of his improvement."

Guilford is now a two-time All-MIAA selection. Wrestling at 174 pounds, he had a combined a 6-0 record at the two championships. Guilford pinned Jonathan Ibarra from Trine in 58 seconds and William Vernier from Alma in 43 seconds, won twice by technical fall over John Browning from Trine (16-0 and 18-3), posted an 9-0 major decision over Owen Conklin from Trine, and claimed a 4-3 decision over Derrick Top from Adrian.

"Owen is tenacious when it comes to duals in general but he gets an extra burst of energy when it has to do with the MIAA duals and you can tell," said Brissette. "He really shined in the league this year because of his fire and competitiveness and explosiveness to every match."

Wallis is now a four-time All-MIAA selection. Wrestling at 141 pounds, he posted a combined 5-0 record at the two championship events. Wallis pinned Amir Crockett from Trine in 1:48, recorded major decision victories over Sam Ross from Adrian (8-0) and Zachary Platte from Adrian (11-3), tallied a minor decision win over Carter Hankins from Alma (4-0) and received a forfeit victory against Albion.

"For Reese to be an All-MIAA selection four years in a row means he is doing all the things right in his lifestyle, his recovery, and his training in order to put himself in a position to do that," said Brissette. "It's an amazing feat, one that has only been done three times in the school's history. We could not be proud of what he has done."

A select group of reserve Comet wrestlers will compete tomorrow at the Mid-States Invitational, hosted by Ohio Northern University. The starters will return to the mat next Friday and Saturday, February 25-26, at the 2022 NCAA Division III Regional Meet at Adrian College. The top three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships March 11-12 at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.