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Warriors Show Improvement at Doane Open
Posted: Dec 02, 2023

Warriors Show Improvement at Doane Open

CRETE, Neb. – Midland University saw six wrestlers compete on Saturday at the Doane Conner/Oppenheim Wrestling Open at Fuhrer Fieldhouse. A pair of Warriors earned placings while the other handful of grapplers logged valuable mat time.

In the open division, Connor Rinn finished sixth at 184 pounds. Rinn (6-6) suffered a loss in his opening round match to Jackson King of Dickinson State by fall in 1:14. After a first-round consolation bye, Rinn picked up a major decision victory over Emilio Chavez of Nebraska Wesleyan in the consolation round two, by a score of 19-6. Rinn earned a hard-fought win in consolation round three with a 6-1, sudden victory over Garret Moser of Concordia, putting him into the medal round. In the consolation semifinals, Rinn lost to Chase Stieb of Doane by fall in 0:59. Rinn's day ended in the fifth-place bout when he lost to King of Dickinson State for the second time on the day, suffering a 17-2 technical fall.

Midland's other five wrestlers competed in the amateur division of the event. Trevin Arlt competed at 141 pounds. Arlt (5-7) began the day with a bye. In Round Two, he lost to Gunnar Henderson of Friends by technical fall, 17-2. Arlt received a bye in consolation round two and defeated Jonny Marquez of Indian Hills CC, in consolation round three, by fall at 2:53. Arlt recorded another pin in round four, with a win over Jimmy Macias of Nebraska Wesleyan, in 1:18. Arlt bowed out of the competition in consolation round five when he suffered a 7-1 loss at the hands of Angelo Reyes of Ottawa.

Zion Amerson logged the most mat time of the day for Midland, at 149 pounds. Amerson (5-5) began his day with a loss at the hands of Nikolas Slatoff of Baker by a major decision, 14-2. After receiving a consolation round one bye, Amerson picked up his first victory of the season with a win by fall over Josiah Schmidt of Friends in 1:49, in consolation round two. Amerson defeated Colin Hough of Wayne State by fall in 6:42 in round three. In the consolation round four, Amerson won a wild battle over Mason Gordon of Carl Albert State, by decision, 20-17. Amerson worked his way to consolation round five and continued his winning momentum with a 10-7 decision over Christopher Dye of Ottawa. In round six, he picked up another win by pinning Jesse Hinkle of Indian Hills CC in 2:08. Due to a six-bout limit per day, Amerson was forced to bow out of the competition and suffered a no contest versus Ryan Fox of Southeast CC.

Jabez Anderson competed for the Warriors at 165 pounds. Anderson (0-2) suffered a pair of losses by fall. In his first bout, Anderson lost to Preston Gautier of Doane in 1:29 and in consolation round one, Gavin Zoucha of Wayne State pinned Anderson in 2:16.

Nate McDonald earned Midland's second medal of the day, taking third place in the 184-pound amateur division. McDonald (4-7) earned his first collegiate win by fall over Braeden Stotts of Missouri Baptist, in 4:02. In round two, he picked up a 16-7 major decision victory over Triston Vande Velde of Bethany. In the quarterfinals, McDonald squeezed out an 11-10 decision over Brent Greenfield of Ellsworth CC to guarantee the freshman a medal. McDonald suffered his only loss of the day in the semifinals when Rocco D'Ascoli of Ottawa pinned him in 5:59. In the consolation semifinals, McDonald defeated Lucas Hageman of Grand View 4-2. McDonald was scheduled to battle Dylan Campbell of Dickinson State, in the third-place bout, however, Campbell had faced the six-match limit and the bout was a no-contest.

Ryan Kocovsky wrestled for Midland at 285 pounds. In round one, Kocovsky (3-5) won by fall over Solomon Arrington of Friends in 5:45. In round two, Oran Varela of Graceland pinned Kocovsky in 2:42. Kocovsky's day ended in consolation round two, when he suffered a loss by fall to Anthony Yancey of Graceland, in 5:00.

The Warriors will return to action on Thursday, December 7 when they host their lone home competitions of the year. Midland will face Hastings and Doane in a pair of GPAC duals inside the Wikert Event Center. The Warriors will battle the Broncos at 6:00 p.m. followed by a dual with the Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Thursday will be Senior Night for Midland as well. In addition to honoring this year's graduates, the Midland will recognize alumnus and NAIA National Champion Joe Berg. Berg, a West Point, Nebraska native, won the NAIA Championship at 141 pounds for Midland in 2019.