TIFFIN, Ohio – Competing in their final weekend before the holiday break and new year, the Alma College men's wrestling team traveled south to Ohio for the "Berg Holiday Duals" hosted by Heidelberg University. The Scots opened their duals with a win before losing close in their second match and dropping the final match of the day for a 1-2 record.
In the first dual of the day, Alma took the mat against Mount St. Joseph University in some morning action. Alma scored the first points of the dual as Jushawn Ferrel Jr was awarded a win by forfeit for a free six points. Colton Kennedy then added another three points with a win by decision over Reid Prenger with the match score tallying 10-8. Dominic Gumtow picked up where he left off from his championship last weekend with a win by fall over Addison Breeding in a minute and seven seconds. After dropping the next three matches, with the score knotted at 15 apiece, Luke Martin put Alma back on top with a win by decision over Brayden Kuhling, wining 8-2 in the match, and adding another three points. The Lions responded with a win by decision in the next match to again tie the dual. Paul Wilson gave Alma another five points with a win by technical fall over David Maher, 18-3, putting Alma up five heading into the final match. The Lions did not back down and again matched the Scots with a win by tech. fall to tie the match at the conclusion of the bouts. Going to the second tiebreaker, Alma was awarded the tie breaking point for having more wins by fall and forfeits, edging the Lions 24-23.
Alma's second match of the day came against the Cardinals of Otterbein University, where the Scots were narrowly defeated 28-24. Again, Ferrel opened the Scots up with a win over Marcy Olivo by fall in 4:52 for six points. Gumtow added another six with a win by fall over Reid Todhunter, finishing him off in 48 seconds. Luke Martin added the Scots third win by fall in 2:21 over Eli Cassady giving the Scots 18 points to Otterbein's 20, heading into the final three matches. Paul Wilson added the Scots fourth and final win by fall over Karson Nail in 4:26 to give Alma 24 points, though the Cardinals would score a total of eight in the other two matches to sneak past Alma by four points.
Alma's final match of the day came against the Big Blue of Millikin University as the Scots looked to finish with a win to go 2-1 on the day. Once again, Ferrel opened the Scots with some team points as he would score four with a win by major decision over Nicholas Walker, 13-5. Also going 3-0 on the day, Gumtow scored his third victory by fall over Nathan Barbee in 1:16, adding another six for the Scots. The third Scot to finish 3-0 for the duals was Martin, adding a win by fall over Vincent Fiore in 2:21, putting Alma at 16 points to Millikin's 17. The Big Blue would go on to sweep the final three matches for 13 points to defeat the Scots 30-16.
Alma will now have a break before returning to action on January 13th, as they will travel to Adrian College and open Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association duals. The dual is set for a 7:00 PM start time on Tuesday.
