Storm place four, take seventh at Williams Invite

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Simpson wrestling team put four wrestlers in consolation championship matches and placed seventh of nine teams at the Williams Invitational on Saturday.

Nationally-ranked Springfield won the tournament with 125 points, followed by Williams (86) and Roger Williams (78). Simpson scored 39.5 points. 

Devin Rausch (125), Stephen Blayer (149), Justin Bruce (174) and Jared Bevins (197) all advanced to the consolation championship match in their respective weight classes, but none were able to come away with wins as each finished fourth.

Rausch (Fredericksburg, Iowa) lost his first match before notching a pair of pins in the consolation bracket. He then got pinned by Victor Ekepenyong of Springfield in the third-place match.

Blayer (Iowa City, Iowa) earned a tight, 3-2 decision in his first match before falling to the back side of the bracket. Once there, he earned a decision and a 15-6 major over Springfield's Dylan Foley to advance to the third-place match. There, he lost 9-1 against Conor Hayes of Roger Williams.

Bruce (Lee's Summit, Mo.) won a pair of decisions on the front side of the bracket before dropping a 3-2 decision to Springfield's Ronald Thompson in the semifinals. He then picked up a 5-4 win over NYU's Patrick Sheehan to advance to the consolation championship. But John DiBurro of Roger Williams came away with a 6-3 win in the third-place match, giving Bruce fourth place.

Bevins (Creston, Iowa) picked up two pins to start the tournament before dropping a  6-4 decision in the semifinals. He got his third pin against Anthony Pimentel of STCC in the consolation semifinals but lost a tough, 9-6 decision to Springfield's Jeff Brodeur in the third-place match.

The Storm return to the Midwest for the Central Invitational on Jan. 14 in Pella.