Vanderhyde is runner-up at 174 pounds, wrestling finishes in 21st-place at 2007 NCAA Division III National Championships

Led by sophomore Kyle Vanderhyde’s (Sparta) runner-up finish, the Olivet College wrestling team placed 21st at the 2007 NCAA Division III National Championships at Loras (Iowa) College. The Comets scored 18 points. Augsburg (Minn.) College repeated as national champions with 135.5 points.

With his second-place finish in the 174-pound bracket, Vanderhyde earned All-American honors. He fell to top-ranked Josh Chelf from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 9-0, in the championship match. Earlier in the championships, Vanderhyde beat Ohio Northern’s Ben Plowman, 8-2, SUNY-Cortland’s Treavor LeBlanc, 7-3, and Augsburg’s Robert Gotreau, 8-5.

Olivet was also represented at nationals by senior Ken Andrews (Swartz Creek) at 157 pounds and junior Daron Cruickshank (Inkster/John Glenn) at 184 pounds. Both eliminated in yesterday’s action. Andrews lost his first match, bounced back to pin his opponent in the first round of the consolation bracket and was pinned in the next consolation round. Cruickshank bowed out of the championships with two losses.