GRIMES, Iowa – Nine Spartan wrestlers took part in the super-competitive Grand View University Open on Saturday. All of them competed hard but Dillon Witt and Joel Campbell stood out with their individual results.
 
The Grand View Open pulled in participants from 40 institutions across the Midwest and beyond and included six of the eight top-rated teams and 11 of the Top-20 in the NAIA, not to mention a long list of individual wrestlers who are top-ranked in their weight class. If that wasn't enough, this year it also drew in some teams from NCAA Division I programs like Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Northern Iowa.
 
Despite all of the challenges, Spartans sophomore 133-pounder Dillon Witt walked away with a third-place finish in the Freshman/Sophomore division. Witt was stellar on the afternoon finishing with five wins and just a single defeat. Two of his victories came by fall, against Thomas Zielinski of Cornerstone University and over Garrett Funk of NCAA DI Northern Iowa. His only loss on the mat was to Evan Frost of Iowa State, by major decision in the semifinals. Iowa State is ranked as the No. 9 ranked wrestling program in NCAA Division I. Witt then was rewarded in the war of attrition as his next two opponents had already participated in six matches on the day and had to medically forfeit, including Funk who Witt was scheduled to wrestle again in the third-place match. It could be concluded that because Witt kept himself in the championship bracket for as long as he did, he managed his workload well and was rewarded with a third-place finish.
 
Also leading the way for the Spartans was freshman Joel Campbell at 149 pounds. Campbell also went 5-1 on the day with an opening round win over Abel Gaitan of the host Grand View, by a 7-2 decision. His loss occurred in a razor-thin 3-2 decision to Weston Melvin of the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.). Melvin had a single takedown, while Campbell had two escapes. It appears the difference in the match was riding time. Following that defeat, Campbell would go on a streak of four consecutive wins, two by fall, one by decision and one by injury default, over opponents from Waldorf University, St Ambrose University, Missouri Valley College and the University of Providence (Mont.). Campbell had to bow out by medical forfeit in the sixth round of the consolation bracket at 149 due to having already wrestled six matches.
 
Freshman Hunter Atwell dropped down to 184 at this tournament and saw some success, going 3-2, with two of his victories coming by fall. Jacob Bader made some noise in this tournament too at heavyweight. Bader progressed without a blemish through to the quarterfinals with a major decision and a pin before back-to-back losses by decision ended his day.
 
There were no team scores assigned at this tournament, but the young Spartan squad gave a good account of the program.
 
The Men's and Women's Wrestling programs will be back on the mats this Tuesday when they host Westminster College. This will be the last opportunity to see the men at home for the season. First match is set for 7:00 p.m.