SANDUSKY, Ohio – The Alma College men's wrestling team struggled early on at the Kalahri Duals hosted by Heidelberg University on Saturday, December 16th, before winning back-to-back matches to finish the weekend 2-2. Jushawn Ferrel Jr wrestled had the best showing for the Scots as he ended the weekend with a 4-0 record.
In Alma's first match of the day, the Scots faced off against Alvernia University, and were ultimately defeated in the closest losses of the day, 34-13. Ferrel Jr opened the wrestling in the 125 division and put Alma on the board with a win over Ethan Staples by decision (10-4), the first of four for the freshman. Alma then saw Gabriel Sultzbach in the 133 division score a win over Robert Philpot by major decision, which scored four team points towards the Scots total. In the 184 division, Blaise Armstead was the third and final wrestler that notched a win for Alma against Alvernia as he was credited a win by injury over Taylor Burton, scoring six points and giving Alma their 13 team points.
Alma would then face off against Loras College, where Alma saw two wrestlers collects wins in a 34-9 defeat by the Duhawks. Again, Ferrel Jr battled in a close match against Robert Vokobratovich that came down two points, but Ferrel Jr was able to hold on a win the match by decision, starting the day 2-0. Brody Miskimon recorded the other victory by the Scots, wrestling in the 285-weight class. Miskomon found success early and took advantage of it in his match as he defeated Garvin Crews by fall in less than one minute (0:57), scoring six points for the Scots.
The Scots first of two dual victories for the day came against Waynesburg University as seven wreslter's scored a victory against the Yellow Jackets, giving Alma a marginal victory, 42-18. Ferrel Jr again kept his foot on the gas as he tallied six points with a win over a Gavin Novak by fall in just 2:37. Sultzbach and Gage Vincent then both scored six more points each as they were awarded victories by forfeit, giving the Scots 18 points in three matches. Samuel Rickman recorded his first win for the day over Brayden Barbao also by fall (2:04) adding another six points to the Alma team total. In the 197 division, Doug Morris collected his first victory of the matches as he took down Ayden Blshoff by fall in 4:49. Matthew Johnson rounded out the Alma total with his victory in the 285 class as he defeated Jaron Polk by fall in just over one minute (1:01). All of Alma's win against the Yellow Jackets wrestlers were won by fall, a solid showing for the Scots, as they dominated the match.
In the Scots final dual of the day, Alma was met head-to-head with Washington & Jefferson College, where in a closer match, Alma came away with another team victory, 34-20 over the Presidents. In his final bout of the day, Ferrel Jr rounded out the matches with an undefeated record as he left no doubt in his final match against Brandon Dami, winning by technical fall (23-8) and tallying five team points. Vincent recorded his second victory of the day in the 133 division as he took down Michael Cruz by fall in 2:41, adding another six points. Owen Atienza placed his name in the win column as he found his stride and collected a win by fall (3:41) over Jiovanni DeChicchis, bringing the match score to 17-11. Rickman then helped the Scots pull away from the Presidents with his victory also by fall (1:23) over Joshua Searle, sending the match score to 23-11. Will Vernier also collected his first win of the day as he battled against William Mitchell and was awarded a victory by technical fall (20-3), scoring five additional points. Rounding out the final dual of the day, Johnson collected the final win of the day by fall over Isiah Payne in 1:06, giving Alma a 34-20 win and finishing the day 2-2 as a team.
Scot's wrestlers recorded 10 victories by fall on the day, with five of them coming in the dual against Waynesburg. Alma also had five wrestlers score two or more win in their matches for a solid weekend on the mats.
Alma will now take some time for the holidays before returning to action on the mats on January 13th, 2024 at Manchester University for the Spartan Mat Classic.
