Myers and Ceslick qualify for nationals, wrestling team places fifth at NCAA Midwest Regional

ELMHURST, Ill. – Seniors James Myers (Monroe/Indian Creek) at 165 pounds and Jake Ceslick (Alpena) at 285 pounds punched their tickets to the 2013 NCAA Division III National Championships and helped the Olivet College wrestling team finish in fifth-place at the 2013 NCAA Division III Midwest Regional today at Elmhurst (Ill.) College. Myers and Ceslick were third in their respective weight class.

The Comets collected 82.5 points, which was only one point behind fourth-place University of Wis.-Stevens Point and 6.5 points behind third-place University of Wis.-La Crosse. University of Wis.-Whitewater captured the regional title with 121 points. The host Bluejays were second with 108 points. The rest of the team scores were Wabash 64, Trine (Ind.) University 53.5, Alma College 53, Wheaton (Ill.) College 43.5, North Central (Ill.) College 30, University of Chicago (Ill.) 28.5 and Manchester (Ind.) University 5.5.

Myers will be making his third trip to national championships. He received a bye in the first round and then pinned No. 7 seed Peter Huang from Wheaton in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Myers lost 8-3 to Cedric Gibson from Wis.-Whitewater and came back to beat Yousef Al-Ghoul from Elmhurst, 12-3, in the consolation bracket semis. In the third-place match, he defeated Matthew Tuttle from Alma, 7-2.

Ceslick lost his first match, 2-1 in overtime, to Adam Robinson from Alma and bounced back four straight wins to earn his first-ever trip. He started with a 12-2 major decision victory over Jeffrey Tyburski from Chicago, followed that with a 3-2 minor decision over Mitchell Steed from Wheaton, 9-1 major decision over Jordan Koranda from Wis.-Stevens Point and upended Jack Lewis from Elmhurst, 7-3, in the third-place match.

At 125 pounds, junior Henry McKeown (Bellevue/Olivet) was fourth. He upset #2 seed Tommy Poynter from Wabash by pinning him in overtime and then lost in the semifinals to Trine's Brandon Preston before rebounding to beat Nicolas Santos from North Central, 5-4. McKeown allowed a reversal in the final seconds in a 4-2 loss to top-seed Miguel Venecia in the third-place match.

At 149 pounds, junior Gage Pederson (Hastings) finished in fourth-place. He defeated James Spangler from Elmhurst, 11-0, and pinned Gage Burt from Wheaton in the first period to advance to the semifinals, dropping a close 9-8 decision to No. 4 seed Elroy Perkin from Wis.-Whitewater. Pederson bounced back to beat Brady Scrupp from Wis.-La Crosse, 11-6, before getting pinned by  No. 2 seed Jake Strausbaugh in the third-place match.

At 141 pounds, senior Kenny Richmond (Brighton) finished in fifth-place. He was shutout by Jordan Kust from Wis.-Stevens Point, 2-0, in the quarterfinals before bouncing back to beat Joseph Ellis from Chicago, 11-0, and Josh Juarez from Manchester, 12-1. Richmond fell to Jake Fredrickson from Wis.-Whitewater, 5-3, in the consolation bracket semifinals but pinned Michael Venezia from Wabash in the fifth-place match. 

At 197 pounds, senior Logan Renas (Big Rapids) also placed fifth. He fell 7-5 in his first match but won the next two matches – 11-2 over Raymond Wajda from Manchester and 9-3 over Trevor Maresh from Alma. In the consolation semis, Renas dropped a 14-4 decision to Dustin Wozniak from Wis.-Stevens Point. He ended the day and his career by pinning Mario Pamisano of Chicago in the first period at 1:49.

At 133 pounds, senior Kam Olsen (Kentwood/East Kentwood) was sixth. He won by major decision, 15-2, over Lucas McGann from Wis.-Stevens Point in the first round and then edged No. 4 seed Tim Locksmith from Wabash, 11-10, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Olsen fell to top-seed Nathan Fitzenreider from North Central, 8-0. Olsen was defeated by Adam Wyeth from Chicago, 13-9, in the consolation bracket semifinals. He then lost 16-1 to Locksmith in the fifth-place match.

At 174 pounds, senior Josh Crawford (Birch Run) lost his first match, 10-4. He then beat Ryan Aprahamian from Wis.-Whitewater, 3-2. Crawford lost 11-5 to Matt McCrary from Wheaton. At 184 pounds, sophomore Jeff Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) dropped a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals before rebounding to pin Michael Conner from Trine in his first consolation bracket match. He then fell to Jared Groeneveld from Alma, 5-3.

Sophomore 157-pounder Kyle Witgen (Romeo) bowed out of the tournament after two losses.

The 2013 NCAA DIII National Championships will take March 15-16 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.