ALMA, Mich. – Hosting their annual Bruce Dickey Open, the Alma College men's wrestling team took to the mats inside Art Smith Arena bright and early on Sunday, January 18th. The Scots wrestling team had three placers for the tournament including a runner-up in the 285-weight division.
Starting with the heavyweights, Cayden Bell collected a second-place finish for the open, compiling a 3-1 record. Bell opened the tournament up with a match against Franklin Stevens of Siena Heights University, where Bell was able to make work of his opponent and grab his first victory of the day by fall in 4:10. Bell then took the mat against Joshua Smith who was unattached, and again Bell dug in a came away with his second victory by fall for the day, clinching in 5:20. In the semifinals, Bell met on the mat with David McCarthy Jr. of Central Michigan University where Bell was defeated for the only time of the day, falling in 1:10. Bell's championship bout loss gave him the Scots highest placer of the day finishing runner-up.
Going down a weight class, in the 197 division, Paul Wilson secured a sixth-place finish with a tournament record of 3-3. Wilson began his tournament facing off against Max Riney who wrestled as unattached, securing his first victory of the day, coming by fall in 2:50. Wilson would find a speed bump in the road during his second match, wrestling close with Brandon Rau of Siena Heights, but ultimately falling by decision, 11-6. The Close loss did not stop Wilson from battling back though as Wilson then found himself in another close match in the consolation bracket, meeting up with Steven Andreone from The University of Olivet, where he was able to stay strong and pull out a victory in extra time, winning 2-1 sudden victory. Wilson then continued the success on the day with a match against Nick Meli of Rochester Christian University, where he was able to pin Meli to the mat and secure his third victory of the day, winning in 6:48 time. Wilson then met up with Cole O'Boyle of Central Michigan, where Wilson picked up his second loss of the day, but still had one more bout left in the fifth-place match. In his last match of the day, Wilson competed against Aaron Coverdell from the University of South Carolina Club wrestling team, in a close match, Wilson dropped the final bout of the day by decision, 7-4, ending his day in sixth place.
Dropping down a couple weight classes, Luke Martin, wrestling in the 174-division finished 5th on the day, compiling a 2-2 record. Martin opened the tournament up against Juluis Polk who was unattached, dropping his first match by major decision, 14-5. Martin then rebounded with a win by technical fall over Cage Miller who was also unattached, scoring 20 to Millers four for the win. Martin ended up dropping the third match of the bracket against Kyan Larson of Olivet in a close match by decision, with the final score standing 13-9. Martin again rebounded with a win to put him at 2-2 on the day, collecting a win by medical forfeit, placing him in fifth place.
Other Scots that collected victories on the day included Joseph Abramovitch scoring two, Aiden Tornberg, Jaymes Wildfong and Waylon Lamkin who all recorded one.
Alma will now return to dual action as they will host their Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association home opener on Thursday, January 18th, welcoming Albion College to town. Alma will look to add a conference win as Albion will take to the mat for the first time in conference action this season. Matches are set to begin at 7:00 PM.
