The Alma College Wrestling team traveled to the Cutler Event Center on Saturday to take part in the 2014 Olivet College Comets Wrestling Duals. The Scots went 1-2 on the day, defeating Heidelberg University (OH) 19-15, before falling the #1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (WI) 25-9 and Muskegon Community College 23-20.
"We competed today," said Alma Head Coach Todd Hibbs. "We competed hard and we will take what we learned from today and use it to get better."
The Scots took on Heidelberg in the first match of the day, a team that Alma has lost to every year at this tournament since the Scots wrestling program was reinstated in 2011.
Alma got off to a quick start against the Student Prince, jumping out to a 6-0 lead thanks to victories by Sr. Tyler Foley (New Hudson/South Lyon East) at 125 and Jr. Zac Case (Battle Creek/Pennfield) at 133.
Heidelberg would win the next two bouts to tie the score at 6-6, before the Scots went on a run to take control of the match.
Jr. JJ Sadler (Westmore/Munising) got the win at 157, followed by a victory at 165 by Fr. Travis Heller (Escanaba/Escanaba). #6 Jr. Jamie Jakes (Dearborn/Divine Child) capped off the streak with a win at 174, to put Alma up 15-6.
The Student Prince would answer right back, earning a fall in the next match to cut the Alma lead to 15-12.
Sr. Jared Groeneveld (Allendale/Allendale) was victorious 197, to extend the Scot lead to 19-12 with one match remaining.
Heidelberg would take the final bout of the match, but Alma would get the victory 19-15.
The Scots would then face off with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the top-ranked team in the country.
Alma lost to the Warhawks 25-9 but did earn three victories, including a showdown between two nationally-ranked opponents.
Jakes entered the Olivet Duals undefeated on the year and ranked sixth in the nation at 174. His opponent would be Wisconsin-Whitewater's Jordan Newman, the seventh-ranked wrestler at 174 in the country.
This match lived up to all the hype, with both competitors wrestling to a stalemate. The match went into overtime, where Jakes would execute a take down to win 5-3.
Alma ended the day by taking on Muskegon Community College, the eleventh-ranked program in the NJCAA.
This match came down to the final bout, with the score tied 20-20. The Jayhawks would win the match by a 6-0 decision to claim the 23-20 victory.
Foley won his third match at 125 to go 3-0 on the day, while Jakes also came out victorious-earning a 9-0 victory to go 3-0 on the day and remain undefeated on the year.
The Scots will travel to Ada, Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 6, to participate in the Ohio Northern Invitational hosted by Ohio Northern University.
