Wrestling 12-5-1

By Christine Moulton on 3/25/2011 The Olivet College wrestling team ended the season Feb. 26 with a final record of 12-5-1. Sophomore James Myers and junior Trevor Tyler were both individual champions and helped the team win the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional title. With their wins, Myers and Tyler, whose season records prior to Nationals were 26-4 and 22-8 respectively, advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships March 11-12, where Myers earned All-American honors.

"Making it to Nationals has been one of my goals since I started wrestling in college," said Tyler. "Overall, I wrestled well, but a few mistakes that I had made cost me both matches. So, making it there was satisfying in a way, but becoming an All-American would have been nice, too."

"I couldn't have been more proud of Trevor and James," said coach Brandon Brissette. "They both battled it out and earned their titles and they're both returning next year."

Brissette, who is in his second year of coaching at Olivet, was named the region's Coach of the Year. His assistant, Jeff Therrian, who is in his fifth year, was named the region's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Brissette said winning Coach of the Year makes him want to work harder and truly live up to the award. "Being named Coach of the Year, both myself and Jeff, is a nice pat on the back," he said. "You get it when the guys perform like they're supposed to, and it's excellent for recruiting, and brings recognition to the college."

Tyler spoke for the team when he said that he truly looks up to the coaches. "With the coaching staff that we have at Olivet and the awards that they have received this past year, makes it feel like our team is finally getting somewhere in the world of wrestling," he said. "We have high expectations and goals already in mind for next year and we have the coaches to do it. The rest will be achieved through hard work and dedication."

In addition to these achievements, as a team, the wrestlers received a National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar Team Award. Out of 10 schools, they were ranked ninth for their team's grade point average (GPA) at 3.381. Logan Renas, freshman, Kenny Richmond, sophomore, Tyler, and Jim Neal, senior, were named to the individual NWCA Scholar All-American team for their GPAs.

"Since coming to Olivet College in 2002, the wrestling program has been one of the most successful athletic teams," said Geoff Henson, Olivet College's sports information director. "Several wrestlers have finished in the top eight at the national championships to earn All-American honors. In addition, we have had wrestlers do well in the classroom and earn Scholar All-American honors. Anytime I get to write about our student-athletes earning an award for how well they have done in the classroom, I am happy, because they are at Olivet to get a college degree and 'go pro in something other than sports'."

The team has already started the off-season workouts, in hopes of having a similar if not better record next season.

"We definitely have some high expectations for next year," said Brissette. "We need to win Regionals again and have four or five guys at Nationals. We have two guys who are both back and everyone is hungry for the taste of success that those two experienced. I expect big jumps next year."

"Next year, the sky is the limit for the team," said Tyler. "I hope we all continue to have success. For myself, I know that I am the one thing standing in the way of a national title."