Wrestling team finishes in second-place at Mid-States Conference Tournament

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Olivet College wrestling team crowned five champions but still finished in second-place at the 2012 Mid-States Conference Tournament, hosted by College of Mount St. Joseph in Cinicinnati, Ohio.  The Comets collected 181 total team points, which was 37 points behind champion Wabash (Ind.) College. The rest of the team scores were the host Lions with 163, followed by Alma College, 128; Trine (Ind.) University, 67; and Manchester (Ind.) College, 46.

Winning titles were junior Jake Ceslick (Alpena) at 285 pounds, sophomore Michael Gancer (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 133 pounds, sophomore Justin Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 141 pounds, sophomore Connor Sharp (Schoolcraft) at 174 pounds and sophomore Andrew Simpson (Tecumseh) at 197 pounds.

Ceslick had a 4-0 record, with two major decision wins, a pin and a minor decision. He beat Gabe Zimmerly from Manchester, 16-6, and James West from Trine, 6-2; and pinned Brock Neeson from Alma in 2:37 to advance to the championship match. In that match, Ceslick beat Jason Pedigo from Manchester, 13-3. Gancer went 3-0, with two minor decisions and a major decision. He beat Pat Parham from Wabash, 11-3, Eddie Sanders from Mount St. Joseph, 3-2, and Marc Escobedo from Wabash, 12-10.

Sharp also had a 3-0 record. After receiving a bye in the first round, he won 7-3 over John Roberts from Alma and pinned Drew Songer from Wabash in 2:29. Sharp then beat Nick Manning from Mount St. Joseph, 12-10, in the championship match. Simpson posted a 4-0 mark. After pinning Nathan Hayden from Alma in 1:35, he won three straight matches by minor decision – 10-3 over Nathan Islamovsky from Mount St. Joseph, 6-3 over Conrad Bovee from Alma and 3-1 over Maxwell Begovich from Trine.

Freshman Kyle Witgen (Romeo) placed second at 149 pounds with a 3-1 record. He started his day with a 14-0 shutout over Diego Camp from Alma, and followed that with a 7-1 win over Justin Dickey from Wabash and 3-2 decision against Joe Conrad from Mount St. Joseph. Witgen fell to Jake Strausbaugh from Wabash, 15-6, in the championship match.

 Sophomore Dan Fleet (Ada/Lowell) took fifth at 157 pounds. Freshman Wade Schlosser (Lowell) was seventh at 184 pounds. Senior Evan Cusumano (Armada) and sophomore Matt Willming (Chesterfield Twp./Anchor Bay) finished in eighth at 125 and 165 pounds, respectively.

The aforementioned 10 wrestlers were the scoring wrestlers for the Comets. Sophomore Jeremy Ward (Washington Twp./Romeo) was the best non-scoring finisher, as he placed second at 141 pounds. Sophomore Henry McKeown (Bellevue/Olivet) had a 3-2 record to finish in third-place at 125 pounds.