Melton and Roberts take home titles at Luther Hill Invitational
INDIANOLA, Iowa - Jonathan Melton and Brett Roberts won championships and the Simpson wrestling team had its most productive day at its own tournament in recent memory, getting five placewinners at the Luther L. Hill Invitational on Saturday.
Melton won the title at 149 pounds and Roberts won at 184 for the Storm, who hosted the third-annual invitational named after the late Simpson College benefactor and wrestling enthusiast.
Simpson's five placewinners at its own invitational equal the number of placewinners the Storm had in the previous four years combined. The team's best individual finish in the previous six years was a fourth-place effort by Roberts in 2014.
"Guys showed a lot of fight throughout a seven-minute match," head coach Nate Hansen said. "Our champs and our placewinners did a nice job. We are learning from previous matches and tournaments and are doing things the hard way to close out matches."
Melton beat Grand View's Elijah Sullivan in 18-6 in the final. Three of his four wins were by bonus points, getting two major decisions and a pin. The sophomore is now 11-3 and has placed in back-to-back tournaments after last week's third-place performance at Buena Vista.
The No. 9 wrestler in Division III at 184, Roberts cruised to a 16-2 major decision over Josh Allen in the final. He earned consecutive decisions to reach the title match and began the day with a technical fall. The senior - who placed second at Buena Vista last week - is now 11-2 on the season.
"Those guys should have a lot of confidence right now, coming off back-to-back solid performances," Hansen said. "Everyone else can feed off of these guys."
Colby Vlieger placed third at 285, Jason Clark came in fourth at 157 and Jacob Mize was fifth, also at 157.
Up next: The Storm go to the Gator Duals in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Meet Report
125 - Deven Acevedo, 0-2
125 - Jacob Irwin, 0-2
125 - Chase Erickson, 0-2
133 - Cannon Trester, 1-2
141 - Anthony Derrick, 0-2
141 - Sam Reichenbacker, 0-2
141 - Jason Kiehne, 0-2
141 - Zach Johnston, 0-2
149 - Jonathan Melton, 4-0, 1st place
157 - Jason Clark, 4-2, 4th place
157 - Jacob Mize, 3-2, 5th place
165 - Shane Swank, 3-2
165 - RJ Brown, 1-2
165 - Garret Jay, 2-2
174 - Spencer Ward, 1-2
174 - Damon Piatt, 0-2
184 - Brett Roberts, 4-0, 1st place
197 - DeVaughn Scott, 0-2
285 - Colby Vlieger, 3-1, 3rd place