The Wayne State College Wrestling Club has passed the mid point in the season and has the most numbers the club has ever seen.

The club has been to Midland, Hastings and the University of Nebraska – Kearney in the new year and is getting ready to prepare for conference, which WSC is hosting on March 1.

The team had two and a half weeks away over break before six guys traveled to Fremont for the Midlands Warrior Open.

Patrick Donnelly had the best performance, going 2-2.

The WSC wrestlers then traveled to Hastings on Jan. 11, where Jon Mullen placed 6th and Tanner Clark wrestled for a winning record on the day.

WSC wrestled in the UNK Duals, which saw teams from York, Colby Community College, Pratt Community College, Dakota Wesleyan and Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Matt Degarmo went 3-1 with two pins while Clark, Gerrit Van Engen and Devon Rupp also had wins on the day.

DeGarmo said individually, there is always room for improvement.
The team is always supportive of each other but needs to focus more on mentality in practice, according to DeGarmo.

“To be the best, we need to practice like the best,” DeGarmo said. “And that is something we are really starting to focus on more and more as the season progresses.”

The University of North Dakota Invite scheduled last weekend was cancelled, giving WSC two weeks to prepare for Briar Cliff this weekend.

“The guys are convinced to practice with more intensity, so they will compete with more intensity,” coach Greg Vander Weil said.

Vander Weil is also looking forward to competing with National Collegiate Wrestling Association clubs, instead of Division I and II teams as well as strong community colleges.

DeGarmo said the tough competition they have been wrestling against will help them when it comes time for conference.

“It doesn’t matter how you’ve done all season, or who you have beaten or lost to,” DeGarmo said. “The only matches that matter are the ones at conference and that’s what we have our eyes fixed on as we wrestle all of these better kids.”
The WSC club has set record numbers this year.

“We are as big as we have ever been and if we continue, we will be the best we have ever been,” Vander Weil said.

The mid year additions of Rupp, James Garcia, Michael Hart and Lance Bruner give WSC the largest roster in the conference at 18.

Also, if you are looking for the perfect Super Bowl Party food set up, look no further than the wrestling club.

WSC wrestling is partnering with Godfathers to host a Super Bowl Party fundraiser for the club.

Tickets are $2 each, 3 for $5 or 7 for $10 and the winner will receive five one-topping jumbo pizzas, 50 wings and five jumbo pizza sticks.

The winner will be called Thursday evening and the food will be delivered before the game or at halftime.

In addition to WSC placing in the top 25 out of 117 schools for the NCWA Point Leaders, DeGarmo and Jon Williams are also placed in the top 25 overall for NCWA Individual Rankings at the mid-point part of the season.

Williams ranks first in his weight class of 174 in NCWA points and DeGarmo ranks fifth in points in the 184 weight class.