Wrestling finishes season at WHAC Championships

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Defiance College wrestling team traveled to Cornerstone University to compete at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships for the program's final competition of the season.

Freshman Drew Matthews grappled at the 141-pound level for DC. After he received a bye to start the day, he was downed in the quarterfinals by fall to Lourdes' Cole McKinley. Matthews went to the consolation bracket and went the distance, but his day ended with a 13-3 loss to Dakota Quinlan from Rochester Christian. Matthews finished the season 8-9.

Brian Swinehart represented Defiance at the 165-pound weight class. He took on Marian's Braden Getz and was pinned in 2:02. In the consolation bracket, Swinehart faced Lee Borders and was beaten by technical fall to end the tournament 0-2. For the season, Swinehart carried a record of 1-10.

Junior Brilliance Swift battled in the heavyweight class and shouldered two straight defeats. He was dealt with a pair of Indiana Tech wrestlers who pinned him in just over a minute.

Defiance's wrestlers all faced tough competition while all three had opponents reach the championship bout in their weight class. Swift's first opponent of the day, Johnny Cruz from Indiana Tech captured the heavyweight title. Indiana Tech won the overall team championship and secured five individual titles.

The invitational marked a meaningful milestone for DC's wrestling program as a trio of wrestlers had the opportunity to compete for conference championships for the first time since 1986. Defiance won four team titles and captured numerous individual titles as a member of the Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference from 1971-86. While the Yellow Jackets competed with other HCAC schools at the Division III level, the conference had not sponsored a conference championship since Defiance's program restarted in 2018.

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