Wrestling team finishes in second-place at NCAA Division III Midwest Regional

The Olivet College wrestling team finished in second-place today at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Championships, which was hosted by Manchester (Ind.) College. The Comets have qualified three wrestlers for the NCAA Division III National Championships March 2-3 at Loras (Iowa) College.

Olivet, ranked No. 15 in the latest NWCA Top 30 poll, tallied 89.5 points. Fourth-ranked Delaware Valley (Pa.) College was first with 108 points. The host Spartans were third with 84 points, followed by the College of Mt. St. Joseph (Ohio) with 82.5 and Lycoming (Pa.) College with 62.5 points.

Sophomore 174-pounder Kyle Vanderhyde (Sparta) and junior 184-pounder Daron Cruickshank (Inkster/John Glenn) were crowned regional champs and earned an automatic bid to the national championships. Senior Ken Andrews (Swartz Creek) placed third at 157 pounds and was selected as one of the regional’s six wild card berths to nationals.

The No. 1 seed at 174 pounds, Vanderhyde posted a 4-0 record and sealed his first-ever trip to the national championships with an 8-2 win against Manchester’s Ben Hoover in the finals. His other three wins were 9-2 in the first round, a fall in 3:27 in the quarterfinals and 8-2 in the semifinals.

The No. 4 seed at 184 pounds, Cruickshank also had a 4-0 record but his four wins were by a combined five points. After winning his first two matches by scores of 4-3 and 4-2, he won his last two matches by tiebreaker. Each match was tied at the end of the first overtime period, which allowed Cruickshank to record a one-point escape in the first tiebreak. He then did not allow his opponent to escape in the second tiebreak.

Andrews earned 6-2 and 4-2 victories before he was pinned in the semifinals. Dropping down to the consolation bracket he won two straight matches, including an 11-5 win in the third-place match.

Also finishing in third-place for Olivet was sophomore Kyle Labrecque (Battle Creek/Lakeview) at 125 pounds. Senior Jeff Wright (Escanaba) closed out his collegiate career with a fourth-place finish at 197 pounds. A huge contributor to Olivet’s success was senior Joel Rozeboom (Mason), who dropped down one weight class and placed fifth at 149 pounds. He lost his first match and came back to win four matches, including a 19-15 decision in the fifth-place tilt. Freshman Sean Misko (Richmond) was sixth at 285 pounds.