Five wrestlers punch their tickets to the NCAA DIII National Championships
Five Olivet College wrestlers punched their tickets to the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championships by virtue of a top three finish today at the 2014 NCAA DIII Midwest Regional, hosted by Wabash (Ind.) College.
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Five Olivet College wrestlers punched their tickets to the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championships by virtue of a top three finish today at the 2014 NCAA DIII Midwest Regional, hosted by Wabash (Ind.) College. The five national qualifiers equal the most in school history, as Olivet also sent five wrestlers to the 2012, 1984 and 1986 national championships.
Qualifying for nationals are senior Robbie Bidlingmaier (Chesterfield Twp./Anchor Bay) at 125 pounds, senior Justin Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 141 pounds, senior Gage Pederson (Hastings) at 149 pounds, junior Nick Allen (Scotville/Mason County Central) at 174 pounds and senior Jeff Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 184 pounds.
As a team, the Comets finished in fourth-place with 97.5 points. University of Wis.-Whitewater won the team title with 130 points, followed by University of Wis.-La Crosse, 108; and the host Little Giants, 106.
Wrestling as the No. 1 seed, Bidlingmaier pinned third-seed Tommy Poynter from Wabash in the second period of the championship match to secure a return trip to the national championships. He began the day by pinning Alan Mock from Manchester in 1:15 in the quarterfinals and then edged No. 5 seed Nicolas Santos from North Central, 4-2, in the semifinals.
Justin Holm was also the No. 1 seed and beat second-seed Matt Adcock from Wis.-Whitewater, 5-3, in the championship match. He won a 9-1 decision over Casimer Strzynski from Alma in the quarterfinals and then beat No. 4 seed Charles Banaszak from Chicago, 5-2, in the semifinals.
As the No. 2 seed, Pederson fell to top seed Ryan Prayter from Elmhurst, 13-3, in the championship. Earlier in the day, he defeated William Byrd from Wheaton, 19-6, in the quarterfinals before beating No. 3 seed Elroy Perkin from Wis.-Whitewater, 7-4, in the semifinals.
Allen was also the second seed, and lost 14-3 to No. 1 seed Conner Lefever from Wabash in the championship match. He advanced to that match by winning 8-0 over Erik Kirkman from North Central in the quarterfinals and 8-2 over No. 6 seed Matt McCrary from Wheaton in the semifinals.
Jeff Holm was seeded third and needed to win three matches to advance to the championship match, where he dropped a 5-1 decision to top seed Riley Lefever from Wabash. Holm blanked Joseph Stasiak from Trine, 5-0, in the first round, and then won a pair of one-point decisions – 4-3 over Ryan Aprahamian from Wis.-Whitewater in the quarterfinals and 3-2 over No. 2 seed Eric Twohey from Wis.-La Crosse in the semifinals.
At 157 pounds, junior Kyle Witgen (Romeo) was the fifth seed and placed fifth. He won a 9-1 major decision in the first round before losing 8-3 in the quarterfinals. Witgen won two straight consolation bracket matches, 6-0 and 4-3, but was pinned in the semifinals of the bracket. He ended the day with a close 3-1 win over Nick DiNardo from Elmhurst in the fifth-place match.
At 197 pounds, sophomore Thomas Hall (Fife Lake/Forest Area) also finished in fifth-place with a 3-2 record. He lost his opening match, 4-1, and bounced back to win two matches, 11-4 and 3-2, to advance to the consolation bracket semifinals. Hall fell to Austin O'Neil from Wabash, 4-2, and then earned a medical forfeit win in the fifth-place bout.
