Myers and Tyler help wrestling team win NCAA D3 Midwest Regional title

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- Behind championships by sophomore James Myers (Wintersville, Ohio/Indian Creek) and Trevor Tyler (Roscommon), the Olivet College wrestling team won the team title at the 2011 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional today at Wabash College's Chadwick Court in Crawfordsville, Ind. With their championships, Myers and Tyler advance to the 2011 NCAA Division III National Championships March 11-12 at the University of Wis.-LaCrosse. In addition, Brandon Brissette was named the region's Coach of the Year, and Jeff Therrian was selected as the region's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Olivet collected 155.5 total team points. The host Little Giants were a close second with 144.5 points. Waynesburg (Pa.) College slipped past College of Mt. Joseph (Ohio) for third-place, 112.5-111.5. Trine (Ind.) University was fifth with 95.5 points, followed by Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College, 88; Thiel (Pa.) College, 67.5; Manchester (Ind.) College, 53; and Case Western Reserve (Ohio) University, 38.5.

At 165 pounds, Myers won the championship with a perfect 4-0 record. He pinned his first two opponents in the first period and then edged Sam Lombardo from Waynesburg, 4-2, in the semifinals. Myers defeated Jake Moore from Wabash, 3-2, in the championship match.

At 174 pounds, Tyler had a 3-0 record en route to winning the regional championship. After getting a bye in the first round, he posted a 17-1 technical fall victory over Kurstin Jensen from Case Western in the second round and 16-6 major decision win over Jared Roberts from Waynesburg in the semifinals. Tyler beat George Markou from Trine, 6-2, in the championship match. He scored all six points in the third period.

At 184 pounds, senior Jim Neal (Marysville) finished in second-place with a 3-1 record. He had two major decision wins to start the day, 12-2 over Peter Heggs from Case Western and 14-3 over Cody Catalina from Waynesburg. Neal defeated Nolan Karowski from Mt. St. Joseph, 4-1, in the semifinals and fell to Greg Rhoads from Wabash, 7-3, in the championship match.

At 285 pounds, sophomore Logan Renas (Big Rapids) posted a 2-1 record for a runner-up finish. He pinned Taylor Potts from W&J and then beat Sean Brooks from Mt. St. Joseph, 3-1. In his final match, Renas was defeated by Brandon Fedorka from Waynesburg, 3-1.

At 125 pounds, senior Adam Wilson (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) received a bye in the first round and then defeated #2 seed Josh Boyer from Wabash, 8-1, in the semifinals. In the championship match, he lost a heartbreaker, 1-0, to Alex Crown from Waynesburg.

At 133 pounds, sophomore Kenny Richmond (Brighton) also posted a 1-1 record to finish in second-place. He defeated Spencer Tuttle from Mt. St. Joseph, 6-0, in the semifinals and fell to Corey Brown from Thiel, 6-3, in the championship match.

At 141 pounds, senior Vince Tucker (Clio) finished in third-place. He received a medical forfeit in the first round and then lost 12-6 to Josh Etzel from Washington & Jefferson (W&J) in the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, Tucker came back to beat Forrest Romer from Trine, 13-3, and Garrett Payne from Wabash, 4-1, in the third-place match.

At 157 pounds, junior Steven Mena (Martin) had a 3-1 record to finish in third-place. He pinned Brian Snyder from Case Western in the first round and lost 7-6 to Garett Johnston from Waynesburg in the semifinals. Mena bounced back to pin Alec Miller from Thiel in the consolation bracket semis and then pinned Graham Youngs from Wabash in the third-place match. With his three pins, Mena won the award for the Most Falls in Least Amount of Time.

Freshman Gage Pederson (Hastings) and junior Justin Leonard (Webberville) each split their four matches to place fifth at 149 and 197 pounds, respectively.