Campbell competes at Michigan State Open
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Campbell finished with three placers at the Michigan State Open on Saturday as Taylor McGiffen took second place at 197 pounds (freshman/sophomore division), while Drew Walker and Eloheim Palma placed fourth at 133 pounds (freshman/sophomore) and 285 pounds, respectively.
McGiffen, a sophomore, finished second after a 3-0 run to the 197-pound championship match in the freshman/sophomore division. He notched a pair of major decision victories over Lindsey Wilson’s Jake Maupin (11-1) and Indiana Tech’s Taylor DeLong (13-1). McGiffen earned a bid into the final with a 20-4 technical fall over Garrett Linton of Notre Dame (Ohio). He was unable to clinch the title, falling to Edinboro’s Vince Pickett in 4:26.
Walker also placed in the freshman/sophomore division, taking fourth place at 133 pounds. The freshman began the tournament with a 4:52 fall of Ohio’s Joel Shump before blanking Indianapolis’ Andrew Frey 17-0 in the second round. Walker earned at 13-6 decision over Vinny Punzone of Notre Dame (Ohio) before Kyle Springer of Indiana defeated him 9-3 in the semifinal. In the third-place match, Michigan’s George Fisherposted a 15-4 major decision over Walker to finish the day.
In the open tournament, redshirt senior Eloheim Palma took fourth in the heavyweight class. In the first round, he earned his second pin of the year, taking down Lake Erie College’s Brian Gelter in 1:35. In a rematch from last week’s Clarion Open, Palma avenged his loss to Ohio State’s Nick Tavanello with an 8-3 decision, making it to the quarterfinals. Palma notched his third win of the day with a 5-3 overtime victory over Edinboro’s Ernest James. In the semifinal, No. 6 Mike McClure (Michigan State) defeated Palma 6-1 before Palma fell in the third-place match 4-1 to Ohio’s Jeremy Johnson.
Sophomore Michael Dahlstrom (141), redshirt senior Brent Jorge (149), sophomore Grant Blumenthal (F/S 157), and junior Paul Duggan (165) all finished 2-2 at their respective weight classes.
Finishing the day 1-2 were junior Daniel Luty (157), junior Garrison Matthews (165) and freshman Ville Heino (184). Freshman Carsten Kopp fell in two matches at 174 in the freshman/sophomore division.