Southern Scuffle
UNC Greensboro
Day 1
GREENSBORO, NC ? After 568 bouts in almost nine hours, the UNC Greensboro wrestling team advanced four grapplers into day-two of the 2008 UNCG Southern Scuffle held at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. As a team, the Spartans are currently in 11th-place with 24 points.
Redshirt Senior Chris Bencivenga was the lone Spartan to advance to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket. He kicked off the day with a 7-3 decision before winning his second match by the score of 9-4. In the round of 16 he took a 10-1 major decision over Kareem Naguib from Binghamton to advance to the quarterfinals.
Junior Victor Hojilla had a great afternoon going before his day was cut short due to injury. He began his morning with a 7-4 win over Beau Fisher from Virginia before recording another 7-4 decision over Michael Cuthbertson of Boise State. With under 20 seconds remaining in his match against Cuthbertson, Hojilla injured his left shoulder and was forced to medical default from the tournament.
Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Sughrue and Mikal McKee all lost one match each, but advanced through the third round of the wrestlebacks and will begin their morning at 9 a.m. in the fourth round of wrestlebacks.
Cal State Bakersfield holds a narrow lead after the first day with 44.5 points. Virginia Tech is close behind in second place with 44 points and No. 3 Cornell is in third place with 43.5 points. Kent State and No. 17 Edinboro round out the top-five with 41.5 and 40.5 points, respectively.
AGATE
Day 1 Team Scores
1 44.5 Cal State Bakersfield
2 44 Virginia Tech
3 43.5 Cornell
4 41.5 Kent State
5 40.5 Edinboro
6 38 Navy
7 36 North Carolina
8 31 Hofstra
9 28.5 Virginia
10 25.5 Bloomsburg
11 24 UNC Greensboro
12 23.5 George Mason
13 22 Boston
13 22 Ohio
15 20.5 Binghamton
15 20.5 NC State
17 20 Duke
18 19.5 Liberty
19 18.5 The Citadel
20 18 Gardner-Webb
21 17.5 Appalachian State
21 17.5 East Stroudsburg
23 16 Franklin & Marshall
24 15.5 Princeton
25 14.5 Lock Haven
26 13.5 Campbell
26 13.5 Old Dominion
28 11 Davidson
UNCG Southern Scuffle Day 1 results:
125 Pounds:
Allan Stein (Navy) dec. Mitchell Johnson (UNCG), 13-10 Mitchell Johnson (UNCG) dec. Troy Opfer (Kent State), 18-14 OT Mitchell Johnson (UNCG) fall Ian Moser (Bloomsburg), 1:27 Nic Bedelyon (Kent State) fall Angel Garcia (UNCG), 4:57 Brian Wright (George Mason) fall Angel Garcia (UNCG), 5:21 Joe Pantaleo (Liberty) fall Robert Gribschaw (UNCG), 2:53 Troy Opfer (Kent State) fall Robert Gribschaw (UNCG), 5:44
133 Pounds:
Quentin Keyes (Ohio) dec. Casey Boyle (UNCG), 6-2 Lawrence White (Appalachian State) dec. Casey Boyle (UNCG), 8-3
141 Pounds:
Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) dec. Derek Valenti (Virginia), 7-3 Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) dec. Matt Pagan (Navy), 9-4 Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) maj. dec. Kareem Naguib (Binghamton), 10-1 Drew Lashaway (Kent State) tech. fall Matt Barbo (UNCG), 16-1 John Delgado (George Mason) dec. Matt Barbo (UNCG), 1-0 Matt Rizzo (East Stroudsburg) major dec. Ryan Fields (UNCG), 9-0 Kelin Bidelspach (Campbell) fall Ryan Fields (UNCG), 1:39
149 Pounds:
Ben Wilmore (UNCG) tech. fall Dave Pucci (Franklin and Marshall), 18-0 Ben Wilmore (UNCG) fall William Powell (Appalachian State), 4:12 No. 20 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) fall Ben Wilmore (UNCG), 0:58 Brian Alves (Cornell) maj. dec. Ben Wilmore (UNCG), 13-4
157 Pounds:
Jon Bonilla-Bowman (Hofstra) dec. Andrew Saunders (UNCG), 11-8 Andrew Saunders (UNCG) dec. Justin Guthrie (Gardner-Webb), 2-0 Derek Gallagher (Old Dominion) dec. Andrew Saunders (UNCG), 11-8
165 Pounds:
Victor Hojilla (UNCG) dec. Beau Fisher (Virginia), 7-4 Victor Hojilla (UNCG) dec. Michael Cuthbertson (Boise State), 7-4
174 Pounds:
Turner Rooney (Duke) fall Brett Miller (UNCG), 4:18 Nate Schiedel (Binghamton) maj. dec. Brett Miller (UNCG), 14-2
184 Pounds:
Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) major dec. Mike Platco (Boston), 9-0 Joe Budi (Old Dominion) dec. Ryan Sughrue (UNCG), 8-2 Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) dec. James Schulz (Franklin & Marshall), 4-0 Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) dec. Jacob Dabishinsky (Bloomsburg), 5-0 Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) fall Ernesto Ancona (Cal State Bakersfield), 4:58 Mikal McKee (UNCG) major dec. Joe Degaravilla (Virginia), 16-7 Tommy Spellman (Virginia Tech) dec. Mikal McKee (UNCG), 5-4 Mikal McKee (UNCG) maj. dec. Kyle Higgins (Campbell), 16-4 Craig McIntosh (UNCG) dec. Matt Latessa (Franklin & Marshall), 6-4 No. 17 Justin Kerber (Cornell) tech. fall Craig McIntosh (UNCG), 19-3 Daniel Llamas (North Carolina) maj. dec. Craig McIntosh (UNCG), 10-0
197 Pounds:
Henry Turner (Lock Haven) dec. Peter Sturgeon (UNCG), 5-0 Dan Tulley (Duke) maj. dec. Peter Sturgeon (UNCG), 15-6 Jeremy Cannon (UNCG) dec. Tim Miller (Virginia Tech), 6-0 No. 14 Joe Fagiano (Hofstra) dec. Jeremy Cannon (UNCG), 8-1 Odie Delaney (The Citadel) dec. Jeremy Cannon (UNCG), 4-2
285 Pounds:
No. 12 Scott Steele (Navy) dec. Joe Sheffield (UNCG), 5-0 Joe Sheffield (UNCG) dec. Taylor Moore (Cornell), 4-3 Nico Somers (Franklin & Marshall) fall Joe Sheffield (UNCG), 1:32
Day 2
GREENSBORO, NC ? After two days of wrestling, the team from Cornell walked away with the 2008 UNCG Southern Scuffle championship and claimed their first team title at the event. The Big Red also won two individual titles. UNCG had two wrestlers place as senior Chris Bencivenga finished his day by claiming sixth place, while sophomore Mikal McKee continued his climb through the consolation bracket to finish in seventh place.
Bencivenga began his day by losing to NC State's Joe Caramanica in the quarterfinals. He bounced back to record a, 17-2, technical fall over Rob Tate from Gardner-Webb. He followed that up with an, 8-3, decision over Corey Manson from Cornell before falling 7-3 to North Carolina's Vincent Ramirez. Bencivenga was pinned in 5:40 by No. 11 Chris Diaz from Virginia Tech to claim sixth place in his final match of the afternoon.
Mikal McKee started his afternoon with a major decision over Brian Shaw from Bloomsburg, 15-7. He then defeated Joe Budi from Old Dominion, 8-4, before losing to No. 17 Justin Kerber from Cornell by fall at 3:49.
Junior Mitchell Johnson was eliminated from the tournament after he lost to Steve Bonanno of Hofstra, 9-1, in his first match of the day. Fellow junior Ryan Sughrue was also eliminated after one match after losing, 8-0, to Tom Kocher from Lock Haven.
In the championship finals, Paul Donahoe kicked off his Edinboro career by claiming the title at 125 pounds. He controlled the entire match as was able to defeat fellow teammate Kyle Fluke, 21-5, for a technical fall. At 133 pounds, Ricky Deubel from Edinboro used a third period takedown to defeat No. 10 Lou Ruggirello from Hofstra, 2-1.
NC State's Joe Caramanica continued his impressive return to the mat this week as he defeated Kent State's Drew Lashaway, 4-2, behind a first period takedown to take the 141 pound crown. At 149 pounds, No. 3 Darrion Caldwell continued the momentum for NC State as he used a cradle to pin No. 5 Bryce Saddoris in 2:05.
Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie helps the Fighting Scots claim their third individual title after he defeated No. 9 Matt Moley from Bloomsburg, 6-1, at 157 pounds. Cornell's Mack Lewness, ranked No. 1 nationally at 165 pounds, took down No. 6 Jarrod King from Edinboro late in the third period to win, 3-2.
No. 5 Steve Anceravage from Cornell took the title at 174 pounds in perhaps the most controversial finish of the evening. After Anceravage and No. 11 Chris Henrich from Virginia couldn't break a deadlock in regulation the two went into overtime tied at 4. As each wrestler had a leg, the two began scrambling as each looked for the winning takedown. As Henrich was on his back the referee called a quick pin and awarded the win to Anceravage at the 7:30 mark. At 184 pounds, No. 6 Dustin Kilgore from Kent State defeated No. 14 Josh Patterson from Binghamton, 10-5.
At 197 pounds, Cal State Bakersfield's Brandon Halsey, ranked No. 16 nationally, survived a takedown attempt from No. 6 Cayle Byers from George Mason that was just off the mat in the final seconds to win 5-4. In the final match of the evening, No. 9 Jermail Porter from Kent State defeated No. 12 Scott Steele from Navy after Steele was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury at the 6:28
AGATE
2008 Southern Scuffle Champions
Team
Cornell Big Red
Individual
125: Paul Donahoe (Edinboro)
133: Ricky Deubel (Edinboro)
141: Joe Caramanica (NC State)
149: No. 3 Darrion Caldwell (NC State)
157: No. 1 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro)
165: No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell)
174: No. 5 Steve Anceravage (Cornell)
184: No. 6 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State)
197: No. 16 Brandon Halsey (Cal State Bakersfield)
285: No. 9 Jermail Porter (Kent State)
Most Outstanding Wrestler
Darrion Caldwell (NC State)
Final Team Standings
1 139 Cornell
2 134 Edinboro
3 126 Kent State
4 107.5 Virginia Tech
5 104 North Carolina
6 98 Navy
7 88 Virginia
8 80 Hofstra
9 79.5 Cal State Bakersfield
10 73.5 NC State
11 57 George Mason
12 53 Bloomsburg
13 44.5 Duke
14 38.5 Binghamton
15 32.5 UNC Greensboro
16 32 Liberty
17 30 Boston
18 29 Gardner-Webb
19 24.5 Appalachian State
20 23.5 Old Dominion
21 22.5 The Citadel
22 22 Ohio
23 19.5 Lock Haven
24 17.5 East Stroudsburg
25 16.5 Franklin & Marshall
26 15.5 Princeton
27 13.5 Campbell
28 11 Davidson
UNCG Southern Scuffle Day 2 results:
125 Pounds:
Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) maj. dec. Mitchell Johnson (UNCG), 9-1
141 Pounds:
Joe Caramanica (NC State) fall Chris Bencivenga (UNCG), 5:55 Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) tech. fall Rob Tate (Gardner-Webb), 17-2 Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) dec. Corey Manson (Cornell), 8-3 Vincent Ramirez (North Carolina) dec. Chris Bencivenga (UNCG), 6-3 No. 11 Chris Diaz (Virginia Tech) fall Chris Bencivenga (UNCG), 5:40
184 Pounds:
Mikal McKee (UNCG) maj. dec. Brian Shaw (Bloomsburg), 15-7 Mikal McKee (UNCG) dec. Joe Budi (Old Dominion), 8-4 No. 17 Justin Kerber (Cornell) fall Mikal McKee (UNCG), 3:49 Mikal McKee (UNCG) dec. John Barone (Duke), 9-5 Tom Kocher (Lock Haven) maj. dec. Ryan Sughrue (UNCG), 8-0
Appalachian State
Day 1
GREENSBORO, N.C.- Kyle Blevins, Frank Celorrio and Dylan Temple earned wins in today's wrestlebacks to earn shots at placing at the Southern Scuffle tomorrow in Greensboro.
Blevins was one of two Appalachian wrestlers to win their first match of the morning when he beat George Mason's Kramer Whitelaw 5-2. Blevins fell to North Carolina's Keegan Mueller but fought back in the wrestlebacks to defeat Navy's Robert Neil 8-3. Blevins wrestles Cal State Bakersfield's Joey Granata on Monday.
Temple dropped his first match of the day but rebounded with a 12-5 decision over Nate Holly and took down Kelby Smith of the The Citadel by tech fall 16-1. Temple matches against Hofstra's Anthony Tortora on Monday.
Mike Kessler went 3-2 on the day, winning all three of his matches by three points are less. Kessler joined Blevins as the other ASU wrestler to win their first match of the day when he dropped Old Dominion's Craig Wilson 5-4. Kessler couldn't get past North Carolina's Vincent Ramirez but was able to nudge past Gardner-Webb's Kurt Wentink 3-2. Kessler then defeated Matt Rizzo of East Stroudsburg (Pa.) in another close match 9-7. Kessler was upended by The Citadel's David Ivashchenko 4-0 in his final match of the day.
Celorrio, like Temple, dropped his first match of the day in a 4-0 loss to Hofstra's Lou Ruggirello. Celorrio made quick work of Edinboro's Aaron Ely by pinning him at the 2:12 mark of the first period. Celorrio then dropped Davidson's Alex Radsky 10-1. Celorrio will face Lock Haven's (Pa.) William Ashnault on Monday.
Lawrence White picked up a win at 133 when he defeated Casey Boyle 8-3. The win was White's first win at the 133 pound weight class this season.
Andrew Sifakis dropped his first match of the day to Boston University's Fred Santaite but defeated Princeton's Robert Benitez 8-6 in the wrestleback round. He then fell to Steve Bohanno of Hofstra 10-1 in his final match of the day.
Chip Powell earned two wins on the day, after falling in his first match, Powell shutout Campbell's Joel Caudill 5-0 and followed that up with a 7-2 win over Albert Gianfo. Powell fell to George Mason's Brandon Bucher to finish 2-2 on the day.
Brett Houghton went 1-2 on the day, defeating Liberty's Aaron Thompson 3-0 in the wrestleback round.
After Monday's matches, the Mountaineers will not wrestle until the Lone Star Duals in Dallas, Texas on Jan. 3
Day 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Frank Celorrio (Miami, Fla./Hialeah) won four matches in a row to put himself in position to place at the Southern Scuffle but came up short in Greensboro Tuesday morning.
Celorrio pinned William Ashnault in the first period for his third win in a row and defeated NC State's Darrius Little in a hard fought 2-1 decision. Celorrio couldn't keep his streak going against Virginia Tech's Will Livingston, falling 14-5. Celorrio still had a shot to take home seventh but dropped a 5-3 decision to Liberty's Christian Smith.
Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) won his first match of the day, dropping Joey Granata 6-3. Blevins fell in his next match to Bloomsburg's Ricky Schmelyun 6-1.
Dylan Temple (Marietta, Ga./Walton) followed suit of Celorrio and Blevins by winning his first match, a 4-0 decision over Anthony Tortora. He also fell in the next round, dropping a 9-1 major decision to Virginia Tech's Tommy Spellman.
The Mountaineers will travel to Dallas, Texas on Jan. 3 to compete in the Lone Star Duals.
The Citadel
Greensboro, N.C. ? The Bulldog wrestling team finished out the 2008 Southern Scuffle tournament placing 22 in overall team scoring on December 30.
The Bulldogs faced some tough competition in Greensboro, N.C. The grapplers from Cornell took top honors with an overall score of 139 points. The Bulldogs tallied 22.5 points finishing .5 points ahead of Ohio. The Bulldogs also placed seven spots ahead of Southern Conference rival Davidson by 11.5 points overall in the team scoring.
125-pound grappler Tyler Sim placed eighth in the tournament. Another Bulldog to make it to the second day of competition was 141-pound David Ivanschenko, who pinned an NCAA qualifier from Gardner-Webb in the first round. Other Citadel wrestlers to compete on the second day of action were 165-pound Derek Sickel, 174-pound J.C. Oddo and 197-pound Odie Delaney.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Jan. 10 in Bowling Springs, N.C. The Citadel will face teams from Lock Haven and Virginia Tech as well as Gardner-Webb.
The Midlands
VMI
EVANSTON, Ill. ? Four members of the VMI wrestling team got an early jump on their return from Christmas break, competing at the prestigious Midlands Championship, hosted by Northwestern.
Junior Michael Long won his first match at 149, defeating Northern Iowa’s Trevor Kittleson, 7-6.
Long, however, dropped his next two matches, suffering a pin against third-seeded Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin before losing 9-3 to Chattanooga’s Dan Waddell.
Sophomore Josh Wine also was pinned to fall out of the Championship bracket at 285, falling in 2:09 to Oregon State’s Clayton Jack. Wine bounced back to defeat Old Dominion’s Roy Dragon, 7-3, before being disqualified in his final match.
Also competing were freshman Andrew Szymborski, who went 0-2 at 174, while senior Leon Barrow suffered an injury during his first match at 285, forcing him to forfeit to American’s Quinton Pruett.
The VMI wrestling team returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 7, taking on Delaware State and South Dakota State in Dover, Del.
Chattanooga
Day 1
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team is in 16th place after the first day of the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. Senior Seth Garvin (165) is the lone Moc still alive in the Championships. He is in the final of the third place bracket in the 165-pound class.
Garvin opened the event with an upset win over sixth-seeded Trevor Stewart from Central Michigan (D, 12-8). He followed that up with a second round win over Cleveland State’s Dustin Doty (F, 2:03). He defeated Rutgers’ Matt Pletcher (D, 4-3) in the third round before falling to third seeded Ryan Morningstar (D, 9-3) of Iowa in the quarterfinals. Garvin is set to face Oregon State’s Keegan Davis on Tuesday in the battle for third place in the 165-pound group.
As a team, UTC amassed 22.5 points on the first day of the Midlands Championships. Iowa leads the tournament with 90.0 points. Chattanooga head coach Chris Bono has won three Midlands titles in his career (1997, 1999, 2000) and is also competing in the event. Bono is back in an attempt to claim his fourth as the No. 1 seed in the 157-pound division wrestling for the Chattanooga Takedown Club. He is slated to take on fourth-seeded Jason Welch of Northwestern in the semifinals.
The 46th annual Midlands Championships at Northwestern University began with 372 wrestlers in the tournament, the second-highest total since 2003. There are two champions from last year’s event remaining in the field to defend their titles--Brent Metcalf (Iowa, 149 lbs.) and Jake Varner (Iowa State, 197 lbs.).
Day 2
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team finished the 2008 Midlands Championships in 22nd place out of 47 teams today. The Mocs scored 22.5 points in the event that included most of the top collegiate wrestling teams in the nation. Iowa’s 156.5 points led the way at the event hosted by Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
The only UTC wrestler in action today was senior Seth Garvin. Garvin dropped his 165-pound consolation match to Oregon State’s Keegan Davis 8-0 in the early session. Garvin had a solid showing at the Midlands, posting three wins that included an opening round victory over sixth-seeded Trevor Stewart of Central Michigan.
Also competing at the event for UTC this week were:
125 - Sophomore Demetrius Johnson - 0-2
133 - Sophomore Josh Statum - 1-2
141 - Junior Cody Cleveland - 2-2
149 - Sophomore Dan Waddell - 3-2
157 - Junior Joey Knox - 3-2
165 - Senior Seth Garvin - 3-2
174 - Sophomore Jason McCroskey - 2-2
197 - Sophomore Ethan Winel - 0-2
285 - Freshman Cody Sliger - 1-2
Head coach Chris Bono won his fourth title at the Midlands in his career (1997, 1999, 2000). He wrestled in the 157-pound group as a part of the Chattanooga Take Down Club. Bono defeated Iowa State’s Cyler Sanderson 4-2 in the finals.
Chattanooga returns home on Sunday, Jan. 11 for a 1:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) match against No. 11 Oklahoma at Maclellan Gym.