Courtesy Alma College
The Alma College Wrestling team embarked on Illinois over the weekend to take part in the 2015 “Pete Willson” Wheaton Invitational hosted by Wheaton College. The Scots placed four wrestlers in the semifinals en route to claiming fourth place in the 32-team tournament.
In the four years Alma has entered the Wheaton Invitational, the Scots have improved each year, going from 29th in year one to 17th, then 10th and now fourth in 2015. Individually, the Scots had five placers in Illinois, improving on their previous record of three.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater won the event for the second-straight year, finishing the two-day tournament with 173 points.
“We wrestled a very solid 2 days overall,” said Alma Head Coach Todd Hibbs. “To place top five in this tournament with 10 or eleven ranked teams is very respectable … we finished higher than some teams ranked ahead of us.”
“We didn’t close it out in the finals. That’s the last step for us to take. We need to close things out.”
Entering the tournament as the fifth seed at 149, Sr. James Carey (Ithaca/Ithaca) claimed two decision victories before falling to the eventual champion in the semifinals. Carey finished the two-day event in sixth place in a very tough 149 bracket.
“James Carey also wrestled well, through some injuries,” commented Hibbs. “In the end we needed to protect his health for the future, so we pulled him out midway through the second day. He’ll heal up and be a threat for regionals.”
Jr. Shawn Brewer (New Boston/Huron) claimed a top-five finish at 157, claiming fourth after starting the event ranked sixth in his bracket.
“We asked Shawn Brewer to step up and show us a breakout weekend and he did, said Hibbs. “He notched his first ever win over an All-American and finished in fourth. It’s time for Shawn to be an All-American now.”
At 197, Sr. Jared Groeneveld (Allendale/Allendale) claimed two victories on day one to advance to day two in Illinois. He finished day two in third place after falling to the sixth ranked wrestler in the bracket in the semifinal round.
“Jared Groeneveld grinded his way through some serious illness this weekend to have a strong performance. He’s getting to where he needs to be.”
Jr. Jamie Jakes (Dearborn/Divine Child), the second ranked wrestler at 174, rolled through the first day of competition, gaining an 11-3 major decision and a 7-3 decision to advance to the second day of action. Jakes gained an 8-4 decision over the sixth ranked wrestler to advance to the finals. Jakes looked to become the first Alma wrestler to be named individual champion and at Wheaton Invitational, but he fell short in the finals to the fourth-seeded wrestler to take second place.
Entering the tournament as the second seed at 165, Sr. Matt Tuttle (Reading/Reading) started the event to two-straight falls to advance to day two with relative ease. On day two, he earned a 14-2 major decision and a fall to set him up against the eight seed for the 165 championship. In a highly contested bout, Tuttle would fall 8-7 to take second in his weight class.
“Matt and Jamie know what mistakes they made,” stated Hibbs. “They’ve won these matches before and can win them again. They will get better from it.”