Wrestling places five during strong showing at Mid-State Invite

OLIVET, Mich. – Defiance College wrestling had five grapplers place while the team finished eighth among 10 teams at the Mid-State Invite hosted by Olivet College on Saturday.

Alejandro Castro turned in a third-place finish and went 5-1 on the day for DC at the 157-pound class. After he was pinned in 25 seconds in his second match of the day against Alma's Wyatt Raab, Castro rallied for three wins to earn a rematch with Raab in the third-place match and won by a 5-4 decision. 

Jake Scoville lost his first match but bounced back to earn fourth place in the 141-pound class. He won three matches in a row to reach the third-place match and was beaten by Sam Ross of Adrian for the second time in the tournament. Scoville recorded a 4-2 record. Kliever Joseph gave DC a second placer at 141 when he went 2-2 with a pair of victories by fall, including the seventh-place match against his counterpart from Trine.

In the 165 weight class, Kerringten Martin took home fifth place with a 2-2 record. He made his way to the semifinal match after a first-round bye and a 7-1 decision in the quarterfinals before being downed by the tournament runner-up. Martin was beaten in a consolation semifinal before winning an 8-3 decision in the fifth-place match.

Rigo Villa picked up sixth place for the Jackets with a 3-3 mark on the day in the heavyweight bracket. He lost his first match by fall in 4:45 before winning three in a row in the consolation bracket. Unfortunately, Villa shouldered two straight disqualifications to finish the day.

Shamique Bryant, Brent Eicher, Jack Minner, Joey Perez, Kelvin Ruffin and Lesley Fleurissaint all went 0-2 and did not place.

Defiance travels to Mount St. Joseph for the HCAC Duals against the Lions and Manchester. The competition begins at 6 p.m. for Defiance's last regular-season meet.

-JACKETS-