NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Alma College men's wrestling team returned to the mats across state lines as they joined fellow MIAA schools at the Mid-States Invitational on Saturday, February 15th, at Manchester University. The Scots placed ninth overall in the tournament along with three wrestlers placing top five in the respective divisions.
Colton Kennedy placed fourth for the Scots in the 133 division after starting his day with a bye, then facing off against Dominic Sumner from Manchester. Kennedy ended up winning a close match by decision (4-3) to advance along to the semifinals. Kennedy then dropped his semifinal match, sending him to the third-place match, where he would be defeated and finish his day in fourth.
The next Scots placer was
Luke Martin in the 174 division, finishing fourth overall. Martin opened the day with a matchup against uke Dwyer of Manchester, where he would come away the winner by fall in 2:44. Martin then added another win by fall, this time beating Richard Davis of The University of Olivet, in 1:32. In the quarterfinals, Martin strung three consecutive wins together as he would win by decision (12-6) over Anthony Lahoski from Ohi Northern University. Martin's streak would come to an end in the semifinals match where he would lose a close match by decision to Carter Lloyd of Baldwin Wallace University, sending him to the third-place bout. Martin ultimately fell in his final match of the day, placing him in fourth for the tournament.
The Scots final placer of the tournament was
Eddie Williams, who finished fifth overall in the 184 division. Williams opened the tournament on a sour note, dropping his first bout of the day, sending him to the consolation ladder. Williams then rebounded with a win by major decision over Khelei Tillman from Heidelberg University (18-4). Williams would then advance along after a win by medical forfeit, sending him to the consolation semifinals. In his next match, Williams battled throughout and was able to pin his opponent Titus Ray from Ohio Northern in 4:31, sending him to the fifth-place match. After dropping his first match of the day, Williams would end the day with four consecutive wins as the fifth-place match, he was able to squeak out a narrow victory over Zach Wagner of Wabash, for a fifth-place finish.
Other Scots wrestlers that recorded victories on the day include
Jaymes Wildfong,
Aiden Tornberg,
Carter Melonio, and Dawson Studebaker, who notched two.
Alma will now have the Futures Tournament host by Adrian College as their final regular season tournament, next Sunday, February 23rd, before gearing up for the NCAA Central Regional at Wabash university, for a chance to go to the National Championship tournament. The Future tournament will begin at 10:00 AM.
