February 10, 1998

Wheaton, IL --Facing one of the largest invitational fields of the season and missing one of their star wrestlers, the Monmouth College men's wrestling team still managed to earn their best finish in school history with a 9th-place effort at last weekend's 61st annual Wheaton College Tournament. The Fighting Scots had three men place among the top eight in their respective weight class and received solid performances throughout the lineup to score 51.5 points. Missouri Valley won the team title with 111 points and Simpson was the runner-up with 104. Thirty-five schools were represented in the tourney field, which included a wide variety of NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA colleges.

The Scots competed without the services of Andy Majetic (East Moline,IL/United Township), one of the team's three conference champions last year, but Monmouth's other two NCAA qualifiers brought home top-8 places. Senior heavyweight Scott Bayer (Schaumburg,IL/Hoffman Estates) became the first Monmouth wrestler to advance to the finals round at Wheaton, finishing second to Matt Eckerman of Chicago. Bayer was 3-1 in four dual matches and his season record now stands at 28-5. Senior Brian Ragar (Monmouth,IL/HS) (24-10) won four of six matches during the tourney and placed 7th at 118 pounds.

Two other Scot wrestlers came away with individual honors and winning records as juniors Derek Harris (Romeoville,IL/HS) and Mike Burden (Erie,IL/HS) each finished 4-2. Harris placed 4th at 158 pounds while Burden (134 pounds) won the tournament's Outstanding Sportsmanship Trophy as selected by the coaches. Jeff Harris (Romeoville,IL/HS) finished 3-2 at 150 pounds and Scot freshman Donnie Malmquist (Lake Havasu,AZ/HS) split his four matches at 142 pounds.

"This was the highest team finish at Wheaton since I've been here," said wrestling coach Mike Olson, currently in his eighth season at Monmouth. "The whole team rose to the occasion and competed well, even without Majetic in our lineup." The Scots will hope to produce another strong showing next Saturday as the squad travels to Crawfordsville, Indiana to compete in the Wabash Tournament before resting for the NCAA Regional Qualifier on February 27.