UNCG 21, Georgia Mason 16
GREENSBORO, NC ? The UNC Greensboro wrestling squad held off George Mason and came out with a 21-16 win over the Patriots Saturday afternoon in Fleming Gymnasium.
UNCG (7-3, 3-1 SoCon) took the early 3-0 lead after junior Joe Sheffield recorded the 3-2 decision over George Mason’s Ryan Kittrick at 285 lbs. The Spartans extended their lead to 9-0 after being awarded a forfeit at 125 lbs. After the Patriots collected the 7-3 decision at 133 lbs., UNCG’s Chris Bencivenga responded with a fall victory over Mostafa Ibrahim in 3:47 at 141 lbs. to give the Spartans the 15-3 advantage.
The Patriots (8-7) took the 3-0 decision victory at 149 lbs. and the 11-1 major decision at 157 lbs. to cut the gap 15-10 in favor of the Spartans.
George Mason’s Tyler Tisdell tallied the 6-2 decision at 165 lbs. before senior Joe Lowe grabbed the 13-6 decision over Randy Oates at 174 lbs.
Freshman Scott Snyder sealed the win with the 5-3 decision over George Mason’s Jim Martin in the 184 lbs. weight class. In the final bout of the day, Harry Zander recorded the close 14-11 decision over UNCG’s Nick Clark at 197 lbs. The Spartans went on to win 21-16.
UNCG travels to Charleston, SC to take on Southern Conference rival The Citadel on February 10 beginning at 1 pm.
UNCG ? 21, George Mason ? 16
285 ? Joe Sheffield (UNCG) def. Ryan Kittrick (GMU) by decision; 3-2
125 ? Jeff Hedges (UNCG) wins by forfeit
133 ? Will Powars (GMU) def. Mitchell Johnson (UNCG) by decision; 7-3
141 ? Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) def. Mostafa Ibrahim (GMU) by fall; 3:47
149 ? Chris Cartella (GMU) def. Marcus Hannah (UNCG) by decision, 3-0
157 ? Robert Henry (GMU) def. Nathan Berryman (UNCG) by major decision;
11-1
165 ? Tyler Tisdell (GMU) def. Mark Ring (UNCG) by decision; 6-2
174 ? Joe Lowe (UNCG) def. Randy Oates (GMU) by decision; 13-6
184 ? Scott Snyder (UNCG) def. Jim Martin (GMU) by decision; 5-3
197 ? Harry Zander (GMU) def. Nick Clark (UNCG) by decision 14-11
The Citadel Finishes 4th at All-Academy Championships
Colorado Springs, Colo. ? Four Bulldogs placed as The Citadel wrestling team finished 4th with 41 points at the All-Academy Championships hosted by Air Force at Cadet East Gym on Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Junior and third-seeded Darius Caldwell finished second at 174 pounds, junior and third-seeded Levi Duyn placed third at 149 pounds, and freshman and fourth-seeded Matthew Leach at 133 pounds and senior and fifth-seeded John Dickerson at 184 pounds both ended up fourth in their weight classes.
Navy, rated 22nd in the latest USA Today/InterMat/National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings, won the tournament with 121.5 points, over 20 points ahead of Army who finished second with a mark of 96.5. VMI placed third with 72 points. Rounding out the fifth through eighth spots in the tournament were Air Force, Norwich, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy respectively.
Caldwell advanced to the finals at 174 pounds after a 12-2 major decision over sixth-seeded Brian Caffelle of Norwich in the quarterfinals and a 5-2 decision against second-seeded Brent Smith of Army in the semifinals. He faced top-seed Matt Stolpinski of Navy, who is ranked 10th in the country in the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA rankings, in the finals and lost a close 3-2 decision to end up with second place.
Leach started off his day with a pin of fifth-seeded Dan Ippolito of the Coast Guard Academy in 1:19 to advance to the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket. Top-seed William Simpson of Army sent Leach into the consolation bracket after a 14-3 major decision. Leach advanced to the third-place match with an 8-6 decision over sixth-seeded Stephen Makuka of Air Force. He ended up in fourth place after dropping a 7-5 decision to third-seeded Matt Pagan of Navy.
Duyn advanced to the semifinals at 149 pounds after a pin of fifth-seeded Austin Milster of Army in 4:55. He then fell into the consolation bracket after losing an 8-5 decision to second-seeded Joel Ahern of Navy. Duyn earned a berth in the third-place match against fourth-seeded Bryan Radik of the Coast Guard Academy after notching a fall against seventh-seeded Matt Dolby of the Merchant Marine Academy in 58 seconds. He registered his third fall of the day in the consolation final as he pinned Radik in 4:00 to take home third place. Duyn now has 16 falls on the season.
Dickerson moved on to the semifinals of the 184-pound bracket with a 12-4 major decision against fourth-seeded Jake Devlin of Air Force. After losing a 10-2 major decision to top-seed Antonio Miranda of Navy, Dickerson advanced to the consolation finals with a 14-4 major decision over sixth-seeded Ben Sanders of the Merchant Marine Academy. He placed fourth after losing by injury default to second-seeded Corry Murray of VMI in the third-place match.
Freshman and fourth-seeded Tyler Sim at 125 pounds, sophomore and fifth-seeded Matt Bullwinkel at 141, senior and fourth-seeded Travis Piccard at 157, freshman and sixth-seeded Zachary Filter at 165, and junior and fourth-seeded John Buck at 285 also each earned victories for the Bulldogs. Sim and Filter both won by fall as Sim pinned fifth-seeded Scott MacLean of Norwich in 1:11 in the quarterfinals of the 125-pound bracket before losing his last two bouts of the day, while Filter pinned seventh-seeded Trevor Muhler of the Merchant Marine Academy in 3:59 during the first round of the consolation bracket at 165 pounds after dropping a 9-5 decision to third-seeded John Burton of VMI in the quarterfinals. Filter’s hopes to place were ended after he was pinned by fourth-seeded Anthony Dorward of Air Force in 6:20.
The Bulldogs return home to host UNC Greensboro for Alumni Day in a Southern Conference match at McAlister Field House on Saturday, Feb. 10. All of the latest on Bulldog athletics is available at www.CitadelSports.com.
The Citadel Results at All-Academy Championships
4. The Citadel ? 41
125 Pounds: Tyler Sim, 1-2
133 Pounds: Matthew Leach, 2-2 (fourth place)
141 Pounds: Matt Bullwinkel, 1-2
149 Pounds: Levi Duyn, 3-1 (third place)
157 Pounds: Travis Piccard, 1-2
165 Pounds: Zachary Filter, 1-2
174 Pounds: Darius Caldwell, 2-1 (second place)
184 Pounds: John Dickerson, 2-2 (fourth place)
197 Pounds: Griffen Greene, 0-2
285 Pounds: John Buck, 1-2
VMI Finishes 3rd at the All-Academy Championships
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Senior Sam Alvarenga won his second individual title of the season in leading VMI to a third-place showing at the All-Academy Championships, hosted by Air Force on Saturday. Alvarenga was one of eight placewinners for the Keydets on the day, who made their strongest showing in the event since taking the title in 2003.
The Keydets tallied 72 points, placing behind Navy’s 124.5 points and Army’s 96.5 points. Navy claimed five individual titles to Army’s four, with Alvarenga’s triumph at 149 as the only weight class not taken by one of the two service academies. Placing fourth in the event was The Citadel with 41 points, followed by Air Force, Merchant Marine, Norwich and Coast Guard.
Alvarenga improved to 28-5 overall by taking his first career All-Academy title and his second championship of the season after claiming the 149 lb. title at the Nittany Lion Open two months ago. Alvarenga opened up the day by pinning the Merchant Marine Academy’s Matt Dolby, before posting a major decision against Coast Guard’s Bryan Radik. That set up the championship match against Navy’s Joel Ahern. The two had previously met earlier this season at the Nittany Lion Open, as Alvarenga again took the decision, this time by a 7-2 count.
Three more Keydets reached the final, only to drop close decisions. At 133, junior Tyler Anthony (12-10) fell by a 3-0 count to Army’s William Simpson after taking a pair of decisions to reach the championship. Junior Tommy Cunningham (23-6) saw his winning streak snapped at 12 bouts, as he fell to Navy’s Jon Jarred by a 6-1 count, who earlier this season became one of only five opponents to defeat Cunningham on the year. At heavyweight, Navy’s Ed Prendergrast needed overtime before defeating senior Scott Buhman (23-10) by a 3-2 count in the finals.
The Keydets boasted third-place showings at 174 and 184, as junior Dustin McCabe and senior Corry Murray each went 3-1 on the day. Fourth-place finishes for the Keydets included freshman Brandon Franklin at 141 and John Burton at 165.
The Keydets return to action on Friday evening, when they travel up Interstate 81 to take on in-state rival James Madison at 7 p.m.
Davidson 39, Belmont Abbey 6
Davidson 35, Anderson 9
ANDERSON, S.C. ? Davidson won 13 of the 14 bouts wrestled, including pins by 149-pounder Scott Matthews and 184-pounder Sam O’Hair, in a three-team dual meet at Anderson University on Saturday afternoon, The Wildcats defeated Belmont Abbey, 39-6, and the host Trojans, 35-9, to improve to 5-8 overall on the season.
Against the Crusaders, freshman Ben Altman got things off on the right foot for Davidson with a major decision. The wins kept on coming until the Wildcats had to forfeit at heavyweight for Belmont Abbey’s lone points. Matthews got the first pin of his career during the match, while O’Hair and junior Ben Graham at 157 earned major decisions.
Three tight decisions against Anderson gave Davidson a 6-3 lead before Matthews and Graham both posted major decisions to build the lead to 11 points. After junior Trebor Clavette won a 12-6 bout at 165, a forfeit victory at 174 followed by O’Hair’s pin in 2:23 put the stamp on the match.
Davidson next wrestles against Appalachian State at home on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. The match can be viewed on-line via SoCon.tv as the Wildcats will try to beat the Mountaineers for the second straight year.
Davidson 39, Belmont Abbey 6
125 ? Altman (D) major dec. Neidermeier, 8-0; DAV 4-0
133 ? Chris Panfili (D) won by forfeit; DAV 10-0
141 ? Jim Avola (D) dec. Appollen, 10-5; DAV 13-0
149 ? Matthews (D) pinned Bates; DAV 19-0
157 ? Graham (D) major dec. Phillips, 13-2; DAV 23-0
165 ? Clavette (D) d. Bliss, 7-6; DAV 26-0
174 ? Boyd (D) won by forfeit; DAV 32-0
184 ? O’Hair (D) major dec. Cruz, 12-2; DAV 36-0
197 ? Mike Waters (D) dec. Staton, 9-5; DAV 39-0
Hwt ? Scales (BA) won by forfeit; DAV 39-6
Davidson 35, Anderson 9
125 ? Altman (D) dec. Fleming, 6-5; DAV 3-0
133 ? A. Wade (A) dec. Chris Panfili, 5-2; Tied 3-3
141 ? Jim Avola (D) dec. DiCarlo, 6-0; DAV 6-3
149 ? Matthews (D) major dec. Francis, 10-2; DAV 10-3
157 ? Graham (D) major dec. N. Wade, 9-0; DAV 14-3
165 ? Clavette (D) d. Godwin, 12-6; DAV 17-3
174 ? Boyd (D) won by forfeit; DAV 23-3
184 ? O’Hair (D) pinned Skiner, 2:23; DAV 29-3
197 ? Mike Waters (D) won biy forfeit; DAV 35-3
Hwt ? Lambert (A) won by forfeit; DAV 35-9