SANDUSKY, Ohio – The Alma College men's wrestling team competed in their final event of 2024 at the Berg Holiday Duals, hosted by Heidelberg University on Saturday, December 14th, in Sandusky, Ohio. The Scots picked up their first dual win of the season while tacking on two more for a 3-1 record for the weekend.
Taking to the mat in the early morning, Alma faced off against Otterbein College to open the tournament, where the Scots came away victorious for their first dual win of the season by a score of 29-12. Alma's first match win came in the 125 division as Jushawn Ferrell Jr was awarded a win by forfeit, putting the Scots up 6-0. Colton Kennedy added three more points with his win by decision over Eric Saddler (8-6), bringing the score to 9-0. In the 141 class, Jaymes Wildfong defeated Owen Crabtree by sudden victory (7-4), giving the Scots an additional three points. Otterbein tallied their first points of the day in the 149 match, before adding wins in the 157 and 165 divisions to tie the dual up at 12's, with three matches remaining. Dakota Forgash put Alma back in the win column as he defeated Eli Cassady by major decision, scoring another four points. In his first match of the season, Eddie Williams recorded his first victory of the year by major decision (15-6) over Gary Steele, putting Alma up 20-12. Luke Martin then picked up a victory over Muhammed Jallaq by fall (4:59), scoring another six points, to then lead 26-12. In the final bout of the dual, Brody Miskimon got the job done and rounded out Alma's win with a win of his own over Billy Reed-Bodey by decision (4-3), giving Alma 29 points to Otterbein's 12.
After picking up their first team win of the day, the Scots turned their attention towards the Lions of Mount St. Joseph University. Ferrell Jr kicked off the second dual of the day with another win, this time over Dakota Phillips by tech fall (22-6), giving Alma their first five points. The Lions would take the next three matches to steal the lead from Alma, going ahead 11-5, though Joe Dawe would pick up his first win of the day in the 157 division to tighten the gap. Dawe went on to defeat Jacob Wolfe by decision (9-7) adding three more points to Alma and bringing the deficit to three. Alma would drop the 165 match, setting up a crucial match at 174 to bring the Scots back into contention. Rodrick Love was able to capitalize and score a win by tech fall over Brayden Kuhling (23-5), giving Alma a big five points to only trail by one, 14-13. Williams then picked up his second win of the day by tech fall, defeating McCaden Skeens (17-2), putting the Scots up 4. 18-14. The 197 match would end up going to Mount St. Joseph, retaking the lead 20-18 with the final match on deck. Miskimon handled business as he has all season, collecting a win by fall over Dominic Marr in 3:42, giving Alma six more points and winning the second dual of the day 24-20.
The Scots hot morning would slowly be cooled down a touch by host Heidelberg as Alma would drop the only dual of the day to the Student Princes by a score of 34-15 in match three. Tyler Demory picked up his first win of the tournament as he defeated Colin Hering by decision (4-2), giving Alma their only lead of the match, 3-0. Love would score the Scots second victory of the dual as he defeated Kyler Howard by fall, in just 29 seconds of time. The Scots final win of the match came from Matt Johnson in the 285 class as he was able to pin Khelei Tilman in 2:39 time, giving Alma their 15 points.
The Scots made sure to finish strong and recoup after a tough loss in their third match, facing off against Waynesburg University in their final match of the day. The Scots scored their largest victory of the day in the final dual, winning 45-9 over the Yellow Jackets. Demory scored the first six points with a win by forfeit. Dominic Megdanoff then added an additional six with a win by fall over Ryland Parker in 2:01. Jaymes Wildfong kept the ball rolling, also with a win by fall over Brayden Barbao in 1:57. Dawe scored the third victory by fall in a row over JT Hollyfield, with his coming around the 4:17 mark. After a bump in the road in the 157 match, Love tallied the Scots fourth victory by fall of the dual as he defeated AJ Tomaino in 1:47 time. Forgash would keep the streak going, defeating Jacob Wilson by fall in 6:25, putting the Scots up 36-5. In the 197 bout, Martin was able to defeat Ayden Bishoff by major decision, adding four more team points before the Scots final match of the day. Johnson rounded out the Scots competition by pinning Austin Fleming bringing the final score to 45-9, and three Scots wins for the tournament.
Alma will now take the holiday's off before returning to their MIAA conference opener on January 16th, against Adrian College, inside Art Smith Arena. The conference dual is set to begin at 7:00 PM.
