Mandell and Piggott win titles at season-opening Muskegon Open

MUSKEGON, Mich. – The Olivet College wrestling team opened the 2018-19 season by participating in the Muskegon Community College Ben McMullen Open.

• The Comets crowned two individual weight class champions.
• Overall, Olivet had 11 wrestlers finish in the top six of their weight class.
• Team scores were not kept, and wrestlers were placed randomly in the brackets.

• Olivet had three of the top four finishers in the 184-pound bracket, led by junior Donny Mandell's first-place finish. Mandell won a 16-0 technical fall before pinning his next two opponents to reach the championship match against teammate Clayton Higelmire. Mandell used a reversal to start the second period to beat Higelmire.
• Higelmire reached the championship match via a fall in the first round, 2-1 decision in the quarterfinals and 4-1 decision in the semifinals. Kamyab Kamali placed fourth. He had a pin prior to the 4-1 loss to Higelmire. In the consolation bracket, Kamali pinned his opponent in 31 seconds before getting pinned in the third-place match.
• Three Comets also finished in the top six of the 285-pound bracket. Sophomore Trevor Piggott had a 5-0 record to win the title. He started his day with an 8-2 decision and pin. Piggott followed that with a 5-2 decision in the quarterfinals and 8-4 decision in the semifinals. In the championship match, a takedown in the first period was the difference in a 3-1 decision.
• Freshman Owen Miller was the runner-up at 285 pounds. He pinned his first round opponent, won 5-4 decision in the quarterfinals and pinned his opponent in the semifinals. Miller lost the 3-1 decision in the championship match. Freshman Dominick Wilson placed sixth at 285 pounds with a 2-2 record.
• Sophomore Andrew Castaneda finished second at 141 pounds. After getting a bye in the first round, he won two straight decisions. Castaneda fell 11-7 in the championship match to the second-seeded wrestler.
• Freshman Hunter Murphy was the runner-up at 149 pounds. He pinned his opponent in the first round, posted an 18-2 technical fall in the quarterfinals and won a 15-2 major decision over the No. 1 seed in the semifinals. Murphy was pinned in the championship match.
• Freshman Liam Kinjorski placed fifth at 157 pounds. He recorded a first-period pin in the quarterfinals before losing 13-6 in the semifinals. Kinjorski lost 8-3 in the consolation bracket before pinning his opponent in the first period of the fifth-place match.
• Sophomore Cameron Mahlich was sixth at 125 pounds.
• Junior Haydn Kinjorski finished sixth at 174 pounds. He had two pins before losing 3-2 in the semifinals. He medically forfeited his last two matches.

• Olivet participates in the Trine (Ind.) Invitational next Saturday, Nov. 10.