Bevins, Joint lead wrestling team at Luther L. Hill Invitational

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Jared Bevins placed sixth at 197 pounds and Ryan Joint went 3-2 at 149 to lead the Simpson Wrestling team to  a sixth-place finish of nine teams at the First Annual Luther L. Hill Invitational on Saturday.

The tournament, formerly the Simpson Invitational, was renamed in honor of the long-time Simpson benefactor who passed away earlier this year.

"We are a young team and we are continuing to improve," second-year head coach Nate Hansen said. "Each week we see more areas which need to be addressed, but each match is a step closer to the postseason and preparing us for March."

Bevins picked up pins in his first two bouts, pinning Jeffrey Henry (Iowa State Club) in 14 seconds in the first round and beating Derrick Hawkins (Grand View) in 1:49 in the quarterfinals. He closed the day with three straight losses, getting pinned by Casey Rohret (Coe) in 2:55 in the fifth-place match.

Joint lost his first match of the day, but rallied by pinning Matt Yancey (unattached) and earning a 16-4 major decision over Brad Watson (William Penn). He advanced with a forfeit before losing to Mark Pinero (Wartburg) by fall.

Jeff Sand (141), Bryce Wignall (157), Tony Clinesmith (165), Shane Swank (165), Brett Roberts (174), Taylor Witzel (184) and Colby Vlieger (285) all picked up a win for the Storm. Sand won his first match of the day before his tournament was cut short due to injury. Vlieger pinned Caleb Braun (Central Missouri) before bowing out by dropping two in a row.

Simpson's competition before the holiday break is on Dec. 17 when it hosts Cornell at 7 p.m.