The Alma College wrestling team played host to #23 Wheaton College (IL.) at Allendale High School in a match that saw the Scots secure six out of 10 victories. Alma took the match over the Thunder 23-16 to improve to 2-0 on the year.
"We are a lot more interested in where we finish this year than where we begin, said Alma Head Coach Todd Hibbs."With that said, this is a big win over a nationally-ranked program and we have been able to start this year in the way that we had hoped. We will look to continue this momentum heading into this weekend against Trine (JV only) and next weekend at the Olivet Duals."
After falling behind 0-2 to start the match, the Scots responded when Jr. Tyler Foley (New Hudson/South Lyon East) won 15-0 by technical fall at 125 followed by Fr. Dan Martinez (Westland/Benjamin Franklin) gaining the 7-2 decision at 133 to put the Scots down just one at 9-8.
The Thunder would extend the lead to 12-8 before Fr. Cody Sullivan (Camden, N.Y./Camden) earned the 7-3 decision at 149 to bring Alma within one at 12-11. With the Scots down 16-11, fifth-ranked Sr. Matt Tuttle (Reading/Reading) sparked an Alma comeback with a dominant performance at 165 - gaining the victory by pin in just 1:15. At 174, So. Jamie Jakes (Dearborn/Divine Child) defeated a nationally-ranked opponent 6-3 to extend the Scot lead 20-16.
The feature match of the evening was intentionally scheduled last by a special coach's agreement. Returning to his alma mater, Jr. Jared Groeneveld (Allendale/Allendale) defeated all-American Daniel Olson 6-1 in front of his hometown crowd to give the Scots the 23-16 victory. This was the first-career victory for Groeneveld over an all-American.
"We are very happy with Jared, he does everything right in our program …. his 3.86 GPA is the highest on the team and he's a team captain. He has one of the hardest work ethics in the room and to have him win a big match over an all-American in his high school gymnasium was a wonderful thing for everybody to be a part of."
The Scots hit the mat again on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Olivet Duals with matches scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
