Olivet College’s Bidlingmailer secures All-American honors at NCAA DIII National Wrestling Championships

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Five Olivet College wrestlers participated in the first day of the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championships inside the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Only one, senior 125-pounder Robbie Bidlingmaier (Chesterfield Twp./Anchor Bay), has advanced to tomorrow's second day of action and secure All-American honors.

Wrestling as the No. 6 seed, Bidlingmaier blanked Nicolas Santos from North Central (Ill.) College, 6-0, in the first round. He then fell to No. 3 seed Lucas Malmberg from Messiah (Pa.) College, 13-3, in the quarterfinals.

Bidlingmaier bounced back to pin Michael Mui from the United States Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.) in only 53 seconds to wrap-up All-American honors. He will face Sean Ambrocio from Augsburg (Minn.) tomorrow morning in the next round of the consolation bracket.

Senior 141-pounder Justin Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) used the riding time point at the end of the match to edge Marcus Hamer from Augsburg (Minn.) College, 6-5, in the first round. He was pinned by Michael Ferinde from Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University in the final seconds of the quarterfinal bout. Holm bowed out of the tournament after losing 5-2 to Henry Stauber from Johns Hopkins (Md.) University in the consolation bracket.

Junior 174-pounder Nick Allen (Scotville/Mason County Central) lost a 6-2 overtime decision in the first round to Dan Schieferl from University of Wis.-Oshkosh. Dropping into the consolation bracket, he beat Carlos Toribio from Ithaca (N.Y.) College, 5-2, before losing an 8-6 sudden death decision to Lou Puca from State University of New York College at Cortland.

Like his twin brother, senior 184-pounder Jeff Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) needed the riding time point to beat David Dibenedetto from Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College in the first round match. He fell 9-4 to Christopher Chorzepa from Williams (Mass.) College in the quarterfinals. In a rematch of the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal, Holm allowed a takedown in the final seconds to lose 3-1 to Eric Twohey from University of Wis.-La Crosse.

Senior 149-pounder Gage Pederson (Hastings) was eliminated from the tournament with two straight losses. He lost 6-5 in the first round to Elroy Perkin from University of Wis.-Whitewater and was pinned by Joey Gaccione from Johnson & Wales in the consolation bracket.

Bidlingmaier is the 23rd wrestler in school history to earn NCAA All-American honors. Tomorrow's session gets started at 10 a.m. CST.