Millikin went to Olivet Michigan on November 23, 2019 and competed in three duals, winning them all. They faced Alma College, Olivet Red, and Hiedelberg and won as a team. This is the fourth week of events for the team, but they managed to go 3-0 today.

“This was our fourth consecutive week of wrestling which is not something I like to do as a coach, but because of the way the schedule fell this year and commitments we already had made to certain coaches, we had to do four weeks in a row.” said Coach Birt. “So, this was a trying time, the guys were real banged up and stuff, but they managed to come away with three wins, going three and 0 on the day. I was really proud of their effort, and I was really proud of their fight.”

The Olivet Duals, had Millikin going up against three different colleges during the day, and they were sore and tired. They had to really dig deep to get the wins that they did, even having it come down until one of the last matches to secure the win. The guys stepped up to pull out the wins when they needed too, even though they were tired, and they got the wins.

“There were some guys who dug deep and were able to upset some guys that maybe they weren’t supposed to beat, and that’s what it took for them to go three and 0.” said Coach Birt. “I was just really thankful that the guys stepped up when they needed to, no matter how tired they were, and that’s what they work hard for.”

There were some technical difficulties that had the guys getting a bit antsy as the wifi was down, or the volunteer table helpers and the coaches were talking. There were a lot of close calls, even some that the team vocalized when the ref didn’t see them. The worst part was the waiting because the guys have to stay calm and stay in the mindset when they have to wait five to ten minutes or more until they can wrestle.  

“During that time I was just trying to stay focused and not be like ‘man when is the wifi gonna come back on?’” said Jake Tisza, Junior that went 2-1. “I was just trying to stay relaxed and think of, alright what am I going to do in starting this match? I feel like, overall it was a good day, the team did great, and I got in positions that maybe I should’ve capitalized on, but other than that, everything went pretty well.”

The team from Hiedelberg matched up well with Millikin’s guys, and it was a close call on the winner of that dual. It was a lot of back and forth between those teams through the ten weights, but Millikin still managed to put them away. This Dual’s  where Logan Hagerbaumer pulled out a big win for the team to secure their victory.

“They’ve got some really good individuals and they matched up really well with us and our ten weights.” said Coach Birt. “We talked afterwards and the sign of a really good team is even being in some bad match-ups but finding a way to win. So, again I was just real thankful that the guys stepped up when they needed to, no matter how tired they were, and that’s what they work hard for.”

These guys went out there and showed out again for Millikin by working hard and pulling out three wins. The stats are online at athletics.millikin.edu/sports/wrestling. Their next meet is on December 4th at Millikin’s Wrestling Facility against Lincoln.