The Citadel 24, Davidson 14
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Wrestling its third match in the past two days, The Citadel Bulldogs picked up their first Southern Conference win of the season as the Davidson Wildcats could not hold its early lead in dropping a 24-14 decision on Sunday evening at Belk Arena on Senior Night. Davidson fell to 5-10 on the season and 0-5 in SoCon action, while The Citadel moved to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in league action. Earlier in the day, The Citadel wrestled at Appalachian State, dropping a 25-9 decision to the Mountaineers.
Before the match, seniors Jim Avola (Montague, N.J.) and Marcus Boyd (Durham, N.C.) were honored in their final home matches of their careers.
Avola earned his 14th win at 141 pounds as the senior picked up a major decision, 10-1, over the Bulldogs' Matt Mullwinkel for four points to give the Wildcats at the time a 7-3 advantage.
Boyd took an early 2-1 lead over Darius Caldwell at 174 pounds, but Caldwell used the next two periods to pick up an 8-4 decision over the senior. Boyd dropped only his ninth match of the season as he fell to 22-9 overall and
9-3 in dual matches.
Davidson held an early 7-3 advantage thanks to Avola along with Ben Altman, who started the night off with a 7-2 decision over Tyler Sim at 125 pounds to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
The Citadel though, used a pin by Levi Duyn at 149 pounds and a 9-5 decision by Travis Piccard over the Wildcats' Ben Graham at 157 pounds to give the Bulldogs their first lead at 12-7.
Trebor Clavette brought Davidson back to within one point at 12-11 after he picked up four points with a 14-4 major decision over Zachary Filter at165 pounds. It was Clavette's third conference win of the season as he moved his overall record to 13-5 on the year.
The one-point deficit was as close as the Wildcats could get as The Citadel won the next two weight classes (174 & 184) on its way to the 24-14 victory.
Kevin Cook of Davidson did bring the Wildcats within four points (18-14) with his 7-2 win at 197 pounds, but a pin by John Buck at heavyweight in the final match of the evening sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
Davidson now hits the road for its remaining schedule, starting with a dual meet at in-state foe Campbell on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. The Wildcats took a 33-13 decision against Campbell last year that started a five-match win streak.
The Citadel 24, Davidson 14
125 ? Ben Altman (DAV) dec. Tyler Sim, 7-2 (DAV 3-0)
133 ? Matthew Leach (CIT) dec. Chris Panfili, 9-5 (Tied 3-3)
141 ? Jim Avola (DAV) major dec. Matt Mullwinkel, 3:45 (DAV 7-3)
149 ? Levi Duyn (CIT) pinned Scott Matthews, 4:22 (Citadel 9-7)
157 ? Travis Piccard (CIT) dec. Ben Graham, 9-5 (Citadel 12-7)
165 ? Trebor Clavette (DAV) major dec. Zachary Filter, 14-4 (Citadel 12-11)
174 ? Darius Caldwell (CIT) dec. Marcus Boyd, 8-3 (Citadel 15-11)
184 ? John Dickerson (Citadel) dec. Sam O?Hair, 6-3 (Citadel 18-11)
197 ? Kevin Cook (DAV) dec. Griffen Greene, 7-2 (Citadel 18-14) HWT ? John Buck (CIT) pinned Mike Waters, 2:44 The Citadel 24-14
No. 14 Chattanooga 46, VMI 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team opened the match with back-to-back technical falls and never let up, blanking VMI 46-0 Sunday in a Southern Conference dual.
The win gave the 14th-ranked Mocs an undefeated SoCon season and the regular-season title. They improve to 15-1 overall.
“This was a great way to end our home schedule,” UTC Head Coach Chris Bono said. “We got to send the seniors out on a very positive note and got to show many of our former wrestlers in the stands what we have accomplished this year. I was proud of all of our guys.”
UTC honored six departing seniors prior to the match, including All-Americas Michael Keefe and Matt Keller. At halftime of the match, UTC honored its 14 wrestling All-Americas, only three of which were not present.
Javier Maldonado kicked off the match with a technical fall of Jonathan Pope at the end of the second period at 125. Keller made it a 10-0 UTC lead with a tech fall of Tyler Anthony at 133.
Keefe returned to the lineup after missing the last three duals with an injury and outscored Brandon Franklin 12-6 at 141.
In the only match between ranked wrestlers, Martin, ranked eighth at 149, posted his fifth dual shutout with a 6-0 win over 18th-ranked Sam Alvarenga. Yost pushed the cushion to 22-0 with a pin of Tommy Cunningham at 157.
Consecutive VMI forfeits at 165 and 174 gave the Mocs a 34-0 advantage. Josh Edmondson added to that lead with a 7-2 win over Corry Murray at 184. Nick Lorenzano pinned Kyle Elgert at 197, and 17th-ranked Matt Koz defeated Scott Buhman 8-3 at heavyweight.
The Keydets fall to 4-6 overall and 2-2 in the league.
The Mocs return to action next Sunday in the regular-season finale at No. 2 Missouri.
No. 14 Chattanooga 46, VMI 0
125 - No. 19 Javier Maldonado (UTC) tech. fall Jonathan Pope (VMI), 5:00 5-0
133 - No. 7 Matt Keller (UTC) tech. fall Tyler Anthony (VMI), 4:53 10-0
141 ? No. 14 Michael Keefe (UTC) dec. Brandon Franklin (VMI), 12-6 13-0
149 ? No. 8 Aaron Martin (UTC) dec. No. 18 Sam Alvarenga (VMI), 6-0 16-0
157 - Jake Yost (UTC) pinned Vince Cole (VMI), 2:31 22-0
165 - T.J. Sayers (UTC) won by forfeit 28-0
174 ? No. 17 Lloyd Rogers (UTC) won by forfeit 34-0
184 - Josh Edmondson (UTC) dec. Corry Murray (VMI), 7-2 37-0
197 - Nick Lorenzano (UTC) pinned Kyle Elgert (VMI), 2:13 43-0
285 - No. 17 Matt Koz (UTC) dec. Scott Buhman (VMI), 8-3 46-0
Appalachian State 25, The Citadel 9
BOONE--Appalachian State won its second consecutive conference wrestling match by defeating The Citadel at Varsity Gym on Sunday. The 25-9 victory moves ASU to 6-15 overall and 2-3 in the Southern Conference.
The Mountaineers fell behind to The Citadel (3-7, 0-3) early, 3-0, after Dustin Smith lost a decision at 125 pounds, but came back to take a 4-3 lead with Frank Celorrio’s major decision at 133 pounds. Celorrio improved his record to 2-2 at 133 pounds after starting the season at 125, where he was 3-10.
Clinton Swango added breathing room for the Mountaineers with a 5-0 decision over Matt Bullwinkel, staking ASU to the 7-3 lead before the teams’ aces met at 149 pounds.
No. 9 Scott Ervin then took a 2-0 decision, carried by a one-point escape and riding time, over one-time conference champion Levi Duyn. The win was Ervin’s 21st of the year as the redshirt junior improved to 4-1 in conference play.
The Citadel tried to climb back into the match, winning at 157 pounds. Travis Piccard defeated Eddie Hutchinson to get the Bulldogs back within four points at 10-6. However, in the next match, Tommy Hutchinson pinned Zachary Filter just 59 seconds into the first period to give ASU a commanding 16-6 lead in team points. The pin is Hutchinson’s sixth on the year, tying him for the second-most on the team.
At 174 pounds, Neal Martin extended his duals win streak to six straight with a 5-4 comeback victory over Darius Caldwell. Martin was down 4-1 at one point but earned the win to extend ASU’s lead to 19-6. The junior is 4-1 in conference play and 25-13 overall.
John Dickerson then defeated Dan Carrasco at 184 pounds, 6-5.
At 197 pounds, senior Aaron Barnette returned from a season-long injury wait to win in his first outing of the year. Barnette took a 9-8 decision over Griffen Greene to clinch the win for ASU.
Even with the team win already sealed for ASU, the last match at heavyweight was no friendly. In an intense matchup between ASU’s Dave Hazell and The Citadel’s John Buck, Hazell carried a 2-1 lead late into the third period before Buck scored a reversal to take a 3-2 lead. Hazell managed an escape to tie the match before regulation time expired, and in the extra period, scored a takedown to take the match.
Appalachian will be riding the 25-9 victory and a two-match winning streak to Jefferson City on Feb. 15, when the Mountaineers face Carson-Newman. The teams will hit the mats at 7 p.m.
Appalachian State 25, The Citadel 9
Feb. 11, 2007
125 Tylers Sim (CIT) def Dustin Smith (ASU) D 8-7 (0-3)
133 Frank Cellorio (ASU) def Matthew Leach (CIT) MD 13-1 (4-3)
141 Clinton Swango (ASU) def Matt Bullwinkel (CIT) D 5-0 (7-3)
149 Scott Ervin (ASU) def Levi Duyn (CIT) D 2-0 (10-3)
157 Travis Piccard (CIT) def Eddie Hutchinson (ASU) D 7-3 (10-6)
165 Tommy Hutchinson (ASU) pins Zachary Filter (CIT) F 0:59 (16-6)
174 Neal Martin (ASU) def Darius Caldwell (CIT) D 5-4 (19-6)
184 John Dickerson (CIT) def Dan Carrasco (ASU) D 6-5 (19-9)
197 Aaron Barnette (ASU) def Griffen Greene (CIT) D 9-8 (22-9)
HWT Dave Hazell (ASU) def John Buck (CIT) D 5-3 OT (25-9)