Fort Wayne, Ind. - The Alma College wrestling team posted a 3-2 record in the NWCA National Duals, held on Friday (Jan. 8) at the Fort Wayne Convention Center. The Scots, ranked 13th in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, defeated Merchant Marine, Coast Guard, and No. 23 Wilkes, and fell to No. 5 Ithaca and No. 10 SUNY-Cortland. Alma advanced to the round of 12 for the second year in a row before suffering its second defeat.
In the first dual of the day, Alma downed Merchant Marine, 27-17. The feature match took place at 197 pounds, where senior Jamie Jakes (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child), took on Ricky Fisher, a NCAA Division III national qualifier a year ago. Jakes took the match, 5-2, and secured his 100th career victory.
Alma advanced to the next round where it faced fifth-ranked Ithaca, falling by a 24-18 margin. Sophomore Taylor McPhail (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores) was able to score a huge upset in the dual, defeating fifth-ranked Nick Velez by a 16-4 major decision.
With the loss to Ithaca, the Scots fell into the consolation bracket and faced Coast Guard for their third dual. Alma scored a 24-12 victory to advance and face No. 23 Wilkes, where it won by a 21-17 margin.
The Scots then saw their day ended at the hands of 10th-ranked SUNY-Cortland, falling by a score of 39-6. Jakes was involved in the feature match against Cortland, taking on the defending national champion Joe Giaramita, who was ranked second nationally at 197-pounds. The match went into a overtime, where Giaramita won, 4-2, to hand Jakes his only loss of the day.
Alma will travel to Adrian, Mich., on Thursday, Jan. 14, to take on the Adrian College Bulldogs. The meet is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.
NOTES
• Alma is ranked 13th in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll.
• The Scots are 10-5 this season in dual meets. Four losses have come to teams ranked in the top 10.
• Jamie Jakes was 4-1 in five duals and picked up his 100th career victory in the dual against Merchant Marine. Jakes now has 103 career wins.
• Jakes was ranked sixth in the 197-pound weight class in the latest MyHOUSE/d3wrestle.com rankings.
• Travis Heller is ranked 10th at 174 pounds and went 4-1 at the duals, with his only loss coming at the hands of Cortland's Lou Puca, who is ranked fourth.
• Trevor Maresh is listed as third in the latest rankings for 285 pounds and posted a 3-0 mark in his matches.
• Taylor McPhail was undefeated for the day, posting a 4-0 record.
QUOTES
Head Coach Todd Hibbs
"It's a brutal tournament. You wrestle the nation's best all day long and we wrestled very well at times and there are other things we need to improve on. We had a breakout performance today by Taylor McPhail who has done a great job and has really matured as the season has gone along."
RESULTS
#13 Alma College defeated Merchant Marine 27-17
125 - Victor Sosa-Sevilla (Alma College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
133 - 'Kimo' Taylor Dial (Merchant Marine) over Anthony Pizzo (Alma College) Fall 2:01
141 - Daniel May (Merchant Marine) over Travis DeRossett (Alma College) Dec 6-5
149 - Nathan Twito (Merchant Marine) over Evyn Bryant (Alma College) TF 15-0
157 - Shawn Brewer (Alma College) over Erik Beshada (Merchant Marine) Dec 5-0
165 - Taylor McPhail (Alma College) over Matt Hiltz (Merchant Marine) Fall 3:00
174 - Travis Heller (Alma College) over Blake Bunce (Merchant Marine) Dec 4-0
184 - Caleb Huff (Alma College) over Dan Dubinsky (Merchant Marine) Fall 6:30
197 - Jamie Jakes (Alma College) over Ricky Fisher (Merchant Marine) Dec 5-2
285 - Brandon Joest (Merchant Marine) over Cameron Lee (Alma College) Dec 4-1
#5 Ithaca defeated #13 Alma College 24-18
125 - James Kaishian (Ithaca) over Victor Sosa-Sevilla (Alma College) Dec 4-0
133 - Bryan Israel (Ithaca) over Anthony Pizzo (Alma College) Fall 1:09
141 - Nick Wahba (Ithaca) over Romeo Riley (Alma College) Dec 5-4
149 - Daniel Pak (Ithaca) over Jarrett Sadler (Alma College) Fall 0:34
157 - Shawn Brewer (Alma College) over Nikolas Hansen (Ithaca) Maj 9-1
165 - Taylor McPhail (Alma College) over Nick Velez (Ithaca) Maj 16-4
174 - Travis Heller (Alma College) over Jaison White (Ithaca) Maj 11-2
184 - Carlos Toribio (Ithaca) over Trent Hullett (Alma College) Fall 1:14
197 - Jamie Jakes (Alma College) over Daniel Glinko (Ithaca) Dec 5-3
285 - Trevor Maresh (Alma College) over Matthew Booth (Ithaca) Dec 7-4
#13 Alma College defeated Coast Guard 24-12
125 - Earl Roberts (Coast Guard) over Victor Sosa-Sevilla (Alma College) Dec 11-10
133 - Dominick Summers (Coast Guard) over Anthony Pizzo (Alma College) SV-1 5-4
141 - Romeo Riley (Alma College) over Adam Wilhelm (Coast Guard) Maj 11-2
149 - Christian Gosch (Coast Guard) over Evyn Bryant (Alma College) Dec 7-3
157 - Christopher Sullivan (Coast Guard) over Shawn Brewer (Alma College) Dec 3-2
165 - Taylor McPhail (Alma College) over Michael Palomba (Coast Guard) Dec 13-6
174 - Travis Heller (Alma College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
184 - Trent Hullett (Alma College) over Marc Wagner (Coast Guard) Dec 3-1
197 - Jamie Jakes (Alma College) over Phil Azzari (Coast Guard) Dec 6-2
285 - Cameron Lee (Alma College) over Kevin Painten (Coast Guard) TF 18-0
#13 Alma College defeated #23 Wilkes 21-17
125 - Michael Fleck (Wilkes) over Victor Sosa-Sevilla (Alma College) TF 16-1
133 - Anthony Pizzo (Alma College) over Samuel Mass (Wilkes) Dec 7-1
141 - Thomas Stokes (Wilkes) over Romeo Riley (Alma College) Dec 5-4
149 - Pankil Chander (Wilkes) over Evyn Bryant (Alma College) Dec 7-2
157 - Nicholas Racanelli (Wilkes) over Shawn Brewer (Alma College) Dec 4-2
165 - Taylor McPhail (Alma College) over James Ilvento (Wilkes) Dec 6-1
174 - Travis Heller (Alma College) over Matthew Judge (Wilkes) Fall 1:40
184 - Kyle Diesel (Wilkes) over Caleb Huff (Alma College) Dec 5-0
197 - Jamie Jakes (Alma College) over Nicholas Dawson (Wilkes) Dec 5-0
285 - Trevor Maresh (Alma College) over Kelly Pullen (Wilkes) Fall 2:53
#10 SUNY-Cortland defeated #13 Alma College 36-9
125 - Alex D'Angelo (SUNY-Cortland) over Victor Sosa-Sevilla (Alma College) Maj 16-4
133 - Mat Bradice (SUNY-Cortland) over Anthony Pizzo (Alma College) TF 17-0
141 - Derak Heyman (SUNY-Cortland) over Romeo Riley (Alma College) Fall 2:42
149 - Austin Whitney (SUNY-Cortland) over Evyn Bryant (Alma College) Fall 1:36
157 - Adrian Berry (SUNY-Cortland) over Shawn Brewer (Alma College) Dec 2-1
165 - Colin Barber (SUNY-Cortland) over Kevin Briscoe (Alma College) Dec 7-4
174 - Lou Puca (SUNY-Cortland) over Travis Heller (Alma College) Fall 3:40
184 - Trent Hullett (Alma College) over Mike Beckwith (SUNY-Cortland) Dec 13-11
197 - Joe Giaramita (SUNY-Cortland) over Jamie Jakes (Alma College) TB-1 4-2
285 - Trevor Maresh (Alma College) over Tyler Lilly (SUNY-Cortland) Fall 4:59
