5 minute read
Comet Sports
KING OF THE MAT:
WRESTLER DONOVAN KING EARNS ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Olivet College’s Donovan King finished second in the 285-pound bracket to earn All-American honors at the 2022 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship. But his journey to get to this point in his Comet career has been remarkable. As a senior at Farmington High School, Donovan won the heavyweight title at the 2019 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division II Championship. He was unsure of his plans after graduation, but he knew they would include wrestling. Olivet College head coach Brandon Brissette reached out to Donovan to see if he would be interested in becoming a Comet. After a visit to campus a month later, Donovan knew Olivet would be the right place for him to continue his education and wrestling journey. “We knew Donovan was going to bring some skills that were above and beyond our normal recruit,” said Brissette. “He had the mentality of a champion already, and the experience at the national level usually reserved only for wrestlers at higher NCAA levels.” In his first collegiate tournament, the Muskegon Community College Open, Donovan won his weight class with a 4-0 record at 285 pounds with three pins. Shortly after, he was side-lined when he needed surgery to repair a torn ACL and received a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA. Donovan worked hard to build his strength back up and get into shape during the off-season. The pandemic made Donovan’s recovery much harder. Since the students returned home, Donovan did not have the in-person support of the OC athletic department or his team. The Comets returned to competition in the spring of 2021. Donovan finished the season with an 8-1 record, his only loss being a season-opening dual match against NCAA Division I Central Michigan University. Donovan also lost the opportunity to compete for an NCAA title when the 2021 NCAA Division III Championships were canceled due to the pandemic. On a high note, Donovan began the 2021-22 season by winning the 285-pound title at the season-opening Trine (Indiana) University Invitational. He started the year with seven straight falls to climb up to the No. 3 spot in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings. One of the biggest wins of Donovan’s season came at the end of January when Olivet faced Adrian College at the MIAA Dual Meet Championships. With the Comets clinging to a narrow one-point lead entering his match, Donovan faced Isaiah Espinosa, the No. 11 ranked wrestler and returning NCAA All-American. The outcome would decide the winner of the dual match and which school would win the 2022 MIAA Championship. Donovan was on top to start the second period and, with five seconds left,
pinned Espinosa to hand the conference title to the Comets for the fourth straight year. “From the outside, it looked like it would be a tight match,” said Brissette. “But all of us who see Donovan every day in practice knew he would be able to get the win. It was one of the year's best moments when the team erupted in excitement when Donovan got the pin.” The next stop in the journey was the 2022 NCAA Division III Central Regional at Adrian. Donovan won his first two matches easily with first-period pins. An 8-4 decision in the semifinals punched his ticket to the national championships. In the championship match, Donovan wrestled the top seed, Max Bishop, from Wabash College in Indiana, but a penalty point in the second period would be the difference; Donovan fell by a 2-1 score. For his performance at regionals and during the season, Donovan earned the No. 7 seed at the national championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In his first match, Donovan won with a third-period pin to set up a match against the No. 2 seed, Kaleb Reeves from Coe College in Iowa, in the quarterfinals. Off a throw attempt in the first period, he threw Kaleb to his back, and on the roll through, Donovan locked up a cradle to end the match by fall in 55 seconds. The win was probably the biggest of Donovan’s career, as Kaleb entered the match with a 28-0 record, including 23 pins. The next match on the docket was a semifinal match against Tyler Kim from Augsburg University in Minnesota. A takedown late in the first period ended up being the difference in the match, as Donovan won 3-1. Donovan fell short of his goal to win a national championship with a 2-0 loss to No. 5 seed Jordan Lemcke from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. “The national championship was an eye-opener for Donovan,” said Brissette. “He came in having not seen much of the field. He had to prove he belonged and was a contender even as a low seed. Donovan was at his first NCAA championship, with freshman eligibility, and just started scoring points. It led to more confidence and growth match-to-match. He then opened the eyes of the nation with a huge win over the top pinner in all of NCAA wrestling this season.” Donovan finished the 2021-22 season with a 17-3 record. Of his 17 wins, 14 were falls. Donovan has a 30-5 record in his three seasons on the mat, but his journey at andOlivet is not done. “Donovan may have come up short on his goals this year,” said Brissette. “But he showed he still has so much room to grow as a wrestler. How can we not be excited for Donovan’s future and the future of the Comet wrestling program?”
Fans can get the latest updates on the athletics social media pages by following @OlivetAthletics
The wrestling team provided the biggest highlights of the 2021-22 winter sports season for Olivet College. Due to COVID protocols, the Comets were forced to win four dual matches on the same day to win their fourth straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) title: 36-16 over Alma, 25-18 over Adrian, 33-21 over Albion and 23-15 over Trine. In addition, Owen Guilford was voted the MIAA’s Most Valuable Wrestler for the 2022 season.
In February, Lillian Albaugh won the shot put title at the 2022 MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship and the 2022 MIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in May. With those two wins, she ended her Olivet career by winning the conference shot put title at each of the seven possible MIAA Championship she competed in. Lillian is the first student-athlete in Olivet history to earn seven All-MIAA citations. In addition, she is the only MIAA female athlete to win the same event at four indoor championships.
