The No. 12 Alma College Wrestling team competed in their final team event of the year on Saturday, traveling to Wabash College (IN) to participate in the 2015 NCAA Midwest Wrestling Regional. This was a huge tournament for the Scots, with spots in the DIII National Championships in Hershey, PA up for grabs.
As a team, Alma finished fourth in the 12-team event, recording 92.5 total points. Individually, the Scots had some amazing individual performances, landing six wrestlers in the semifinals with dreams of a national championship berth.
In order to qualify for the national tournament, a wrestler must finish at least third in his weight class after the semifinal bouts. Alma featured three wrestlers that finished third in Indiana, with Jr. Shawn Brewer (New Boston/Huron) (157), Sr. Jared Groeneveld (Allendale/Allendale) (157) and Jr. Trevor Maresh (Northville/Northville) (285) each earning a spot in Hershey thanks to some great performances.
The Scots came out on a tear at Wabash, finishing first round action with a perfect 7-0 record. Alma sent seven wrestlers to the quarterfinals, each with a shot to advance to the semifinals and qualify for Hershey.
Following the some intense quarterfinal action, three Scots would emerge, as No. 7 Sr. Matt Tuttle (Reading/Reading) (165), No. 7 Jr. Jamie Jakes (Dearborn/Divine Child) (174) and Brewer each advanced with a chance to win a regional title.
At 174, Jakes would battle to force a sudden victory, before ultimately dropping the 3-1 decision to head to wrestle-backs. In the consolation bracket, he would advance all the way to the finals with another chance at nationals on the line. After becoming the first national qualifier in program history last year, Jakes would fall in the third place match with a 3-0 decision to end his year as one of the top wrestlers in his weight class.
Tuttle, the top-seed at 165, would fall in the semifinals after a highly contested 5-4 decision to head in to the wrestle-back bracket. Like Jakes, Tuttle would advance through the bracket to the finals where he would loss 4-3 to end his career as one of the best wrestlers in Alma history.
Brewer was dominant in his first consolation bout, earning an impressive 15-1 major decision victory. With a chance at nationals hanging in the balance, he cruised to a 7-1 decision win to punch his card for the national championship.
In wrestle-backs, Groeneveld had to work to get his name on the list for nationals, recording a 5-2 decision before earning two falls to place him in the third place final in the consolation bracket. A 5-1 decision in the final would give Groeneveld the third place finish and a spot in nationals at 197.
Maresh also got the job done in the consolation bracket, earning an 8-0 major decision and two decision victories to send himself to the finals of the bracket at 285. In a heavy weight battle, Maresh would come out victorious, recording an 8-6 decision victory to send him to the national championship.
The 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship are March 13-14 in Hershey, PA.
