Ottenwess and Renas lead wrestling team at MSU Open
The Olivet College wrestling team made the short trip to East Lansing to compete today at the Michigan State University Open inside the Jenison Field House. The open had two sets of brackets, the first for freshmen and sophomores, and the second was an open bracket for all other wrestlers.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Olivet College wrestling team made the short trip to East Lansing to compete today at the Michigan State University Open inside the Jenison Field House. The open had two sets of brackets, the first for freshmen and sophomores, and the second was an open bracket for all other wrestlers. The Comets were led by junior 184-pounder Andy Ottenwess (Grand Rapids/Allendale) who placed fifth with a 4-2 record and senior 197-pounder Logan Renas (Big Rapids) who was sixth with three wins.
After being pinned in the first round, Ottenwess won three straight matches. He won 14-3 over Dylan Ryan from Duke, 11-8 over Diego Bencomb from Duke and 12-6 over Christopher Heald from Michigan. In the fifth-place match, Ottenwess won by injury default over John Rizqullah from Michigan State.
Renas started his day with a 6-4 win over Kurt Alder from Central Michigan. He lost his next match, 10-0, and then won two straight matches, including pinning Joe Miller from Tiffin in 1:26. Renas was defeated in his next match, and then lost by injury default to Nick Mills from Columbia in the fifth-place match.
Senior 133-pounder Kam Olsen (Kentwood/East Kentwood), junior 149-pounder Gage Pederson (Hastings) and junior 197-pounder Andrew Simpson (Tecumseh) each posted a 2-2 record in the open division. Olsen had the fastest fall for the Comets, pinning Jon Weinzweig in 59 seconds, and also won 6-2 over Zebulow Hilyard from Michigan.
Pederson defeated Jared Porter from Central Michigan, 2-0, and Cole Sheptuck from Pittsburgh, 12-4. Simpson beat Dustin Boyd from Indiana Tech, 8-0, and Brian Self from Duke, 6-3.
In the freshman/sophomore division, sophomore 184-pounder Jeff Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) and sophomore 157-pounder Kyle Witgen (Romeo) each had 3-2 records.
Holm won his first two matches, 3-1 over Austyn Hayes from Edinboro and 8-1 over Conor Murray from Notre Dame (Ohio), before losing in the quarterfinals. Holm won 8-1 over Andrew Hissom from Purdue in the consolation bracket but bowed out of the tournament with a 5-2 loss.
Witgen started his day with 12-3 major decision win over Robert Coukos from Northwestern. He then lost, but bounced back with two straight wins. The first an 8-0 major decision over Eddie Jennings from Edinboro and the second a 7-2 decision over Connor Sutton from Columbia. Witgen ended the day with a 9-6 defeat.
Freshman 157-pounder Edward Nuttall (Ypsilanti/Lincoln) won two matches. He beat Chris Baker from Tiffin, 3-2, and Zach Baumgartner from Edinboro, 5-2.
Olivet is back in action Saturday when it hosts the 2012 Comet Duals inside The Cutler Event Center, starting at 10 a.m. The six other participating schools are Alma College, Heidelberg (Ohio) University, Ohio Northern University, Trine (Ind.) University, University of Wis.-LaCrosse and University of Wis.-Whitewater.