Wrestling team finishes in third-place at ONU Polar Bear Invitational

ADA, Ohio -- Led by first-place finishes by sophomore James Myers (Wintersville, Ohio/Indian Creek) at 157 pounds and senior Jim Neal (Marysville) at 184 pounds, the Olivet College wrestling team finished in third-place at the 2010 Ohio Northern University Polar Bear Invitational at the ONU Sports Center in Ada, Ohio. The Comets collected 121 team points and were the top NCAA Division III school. Campbellsville (Ky.) University, an NAIA school, won the team championship (152.5 points), and Ashland University, an NCAA Division II institution, was second (140.5 points).

Seeded sixth, Myers began his day with back-to-back-back falls, pinning Ben Giles from West Liberty (W.Va.) in the first round, Stephen Warrington from Heidelberg (Ohio) in the second round and No. 3 seed Michael Letcher from Ohio Northern in the quarterfinals. He then posted a 5-0 shutout win over Thomas Fehring from Mt. St. Joseph (Ohio) in the quarterfinals. In the championship match, Myers beat top seed Seth Phalen from West Liberty, 7-5.

Seeded third, Neal advanced his way to the semifinals with an 8-1 over Greg Baptiste from Thiel (Pa.) in the first round, pinned Mike Mullen from Tiffin (Ohio) in the second round and 4-0 win over Jeremy Stepp from Heidelberg in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he beat Pat Rigsby from Heidelberg, 5-3. In the championship match, Neal defeated Andrew Hairston from Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), 5-4.

Sophomore Kenny Richmond (Brighton) finished in fourth-place at 141 pounds. He won three straight matches by decision before dropping a 9-2 decsion to the top seeded wrestler in the semifinals. Richmond won his wrestleback semifinal match, 6-0, but lost the third-place match to the third seed, 11-1.

Senior Adam Wilson (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) at 133 pounds, freshman Gage Pederson (Hastings) at 149 pounds, junior Trevor Tyler (Roscommon) at 174 pounds and junior Justin Leonard (Webberville) at 197 pounds all finished in fifth-place at their respective weight class.

For Olivet's second team, sophomore Kam Olsen (Kentwood/East Kentwood) was unseeded at 133 pounds and wrestled his way to a runner-up finish. He won his first two matches by pin before upsetting second seed Tyler Alsip from Campbellsville, 6-5 in the semifinals. Olsen lost the championship bout, 13-6, to top seed Corey Brown from Thiel.

The Comets will return to the mats next Saturday, Dec. 11, at the North Central (Ill.) College Invitational.