ASU’s Trotman Takes First at Michigan State Open
EAST LANSING, MICH. - Austin Trotman won the 174 pound weight class to lead Appalachian State University wrestling in the season-opener at the Michigan State Open on Sunday.
ASU had eight wrestlers finish in the top-six in their weight class as the Mountaineers had a solid debut to the 2009-10 season. The tournament featured more than 20 schools, including ranked opponents such as Central Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State.
A redshirt sophomore, Trotman led the way for ASU with his first place finish. He defeated The Citadel’s Jonathan Oddo 14-5 in the first round and followed that with a 7-0 decision over Ian Hinton to reach the finals. In the finals he dominated Findlay’s Justin Shannon 10-1 to take home first place honors.
Frank Celorrio was the Apps’ next highest finisher, taking fourth at 133. He won three match on the day, including a 4-2 decision over Zach Neibert to clinch fourth place.
Three Mountaineers earned fifth place finished in the open division, including Mike Kessler, Kyle Blevins and Dylan Temple.
Kessler won his first match of the day by pinning Ohio’s Heath Allen. After a second round loss, Kessler went 1-1 in the consolation bracket before defeating Ohio’s Darren Boing 10-8 in the fifth place match.
Blevins opened his season with a 2-1 win over Kris Bowser before falling in the next round to Indiana’s Ryan LeBlanc. Blevins, like Kessler, went 1-1 in the consolation round before beating Michigan State’s Ben Boudro 9-4 for fifth.
After falling in the first round, Temple won five-straight matches to capture fifth. The junior defeated North Idaho’s Jacob Burge to capture fifth.
Savva Kostis captured sixth place, picking up two wins in the process, beating The Citadel’s Derek Royster 8-1 and Cleveland State’s Collin McCreary 14-5.
Paul Glover and Carter Downs represented ASU well in the under 21 division, earning fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively.
Also for ASU, Brock Durfee and Richie Dehnz picked up two wins apiece while freshmen Brett Boston, Jacob Earp and Chris Collura picked up a win and sophomore Travis Puckett earned a win.
Appalachian is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 22 when they travel to the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa.
Six Bulldog Wrestlers Place at MSU Open
East Lansing, Mich. - The Citadel wrestling team concluded weekend action at the Michigan State Open by placing six wrestlers, including a champion. Bulldog wrestlers competed in both the freshman/sophomore tournament as well as the MSU Open on Sunday.
Bulldog grapplers had an impressive 11 pins on Sunday, good for second of any team in the tournament. Impressive freshman Turtogtokh Luvsandorj went 4-0 with a pin on his way to the 157-pound championship in the freshman and sophomore tournament. He overpowered Harrison Hightower of Burnett Trained Wrestling in the championship match, winning 11-5. Other impressive performances for the Bulldogs included Nick LaFevre taking second place in the 141-pound weight class, going 4-1 and narrowly falling in the championship match to Mike Leholm of Eastern Michigan, 5-3. True freshman Jordan Dix placed fifth at 133, going 3-2 and an 8-2 win over Levi Stace of Michigan State in the fifth place match.
In the Open results, sophomore Odie Delaney claimed third place in the 197-pound weight class after going 5-1 with two pins and a major decision. Delaney pinned Scott Penny of Northern Illinois at 3:50 to take third place. Richard Alarcon took home fourth place at 125, going 3-2 and falling to Michigan State's Eric Olanowski in the third place match. Unattached Bulldog grappler, Tyler Sim earned sixth place at 125, falling to Central Michigan's Christian Cullinan in the fifth place match.
The Citadel returns to action on Saturday as they head to Raleigh, N.C. for the NC State Open. Live scoring at the tournament will be available.
Altman, DeCamp Lead Wildcats At UNC Pembroke Open
PEMBROKE, N.C. ? Senior Ben Altman (125 pounds) and sophomore David DeCamp (149) led the Davidson wrestling team with third-place finishes in their respective weight classes at the 29th annual Pembroke Classic on Saturday in the English E. Jones Center.
The Pembroke Open included just more than 300 student-athletes across 10 weight-classes in a double elimination tournament. There was no team scoring.
With competition at 125 not starting until the second round, Altman drew a bye in the second round and won a 14-9 decision over Newberry’s Jonathan Cronin to advance to the quarterfinals. Altman just lost a 9-7 decision to Campbell’s Wes Heavner to fall to the Wrestleback bracket, but Altman rallied with a 13-0 major decision over Belmont Abbey’s Ryan Devita. In the Wrestleback quarterfinals, Altman earned his biggest win of the day, an 18-2 technical fall in 4 minutes, 59 seconds against Darton’s Luis Ponce. In the semi-finals, Altman earned an 8-2 decision over Campbell’s C.J. Gittens. The win placed Altman in contention for third-place, which he won in 1:26, pinning UNC Greensboro’s Eric Chandler.
DeCamp’s day began by pinning Limestone’s Shaun Cadoret in 2:03 and UNC Greensboro’s Aaron Smith in 1:02, but he ran into trouble in the Championship third round, losing an 8-3 decision to Joe Mavins.
DeCamp was undeterred, winning his next six matches. The preseason All-SoCon selection pinned UNC Pembroke’s Noel Mueller in 53 seconds, won a 7-0 decision over Newberry’s Nick Pare, and then won a 14-2 major decision over Newburry’s Davis Bagwell to advance to the Wrestleback quarterfinals. DeCamp took a pair of 4-0 decisions over Campbell’s Nick Rex and Virginia’s Dave Ebbot to advance to the third-place match, where he pinned Brandon Bradley of UNC Pembroke in 1:57.
Freshmen Scott Ray and Brent Mowry both advanced to the Wrestleback sixth round. At 133, Ray picked up three major decisions. Mowry’s wins came via an opening match pin and a pair of decisions at 157.
Freshmen Matt Zarth and Ike Crews also won by falls during the tournament. At 125, Zarth pinned Newberry’s Michael Payne in the Wrestleback third round in 48 seconds. At 184, Crews pinned Darton’s Andrew Boley in 1:51.
Davidson will next head north for the Sprawl & Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y. on Nov. 22.
Sheehy, Sigmon claim titles to lead Spartans at Pembroke Classic
PEMBROKE, N.C. - Travis Sheehy won the 157 pound title and Byron Sigmon won the championship at 174 pounds, while nine other Spartans placed in the top-six to lead UNC Greensboro at the 29th Annual Pembroke Classic on Saturday in the English E. Jones Center.
Sheehy had a second period pin in the first round and then received a forfeit to advance into the semifinals. In the semifinals, he took down Latra Collick from Newberry, 7-3. He scored an impressive 17-10 decision in the finals against Limestone's Mike Bush to win the championship.
Sigmon began his day with back-to-back pins before scoring a 9-4 decision over Belmont Abbey's Jake Varilek. He then defeated UNCP's J.J. Davis, 4-1, to advance to the finals where he scored a 4-2 decision over Curtis Chenoweth from Newberry to win the 174 pounds title.
Andrew Saunders also had a nice day for UNCG as he recorded back-to-back major decisions to start his day. He then defeated Landon Hall, 2-1, to advance to the finals where he was narrowly edged, 6-4, by Newberry's Bryant Blanton.
Angel Garcia, Victor Hojilla, Ivan Lopouchanski and Peter Sturgeon all battled back in the consolation bracket to finish in third place. Eric Chandler, Jeremy Cannon, Ryan Sughrue and Jamel Johnson also finished in the top-six for UNCG.
The Spartans return to action on Thursday night as they host Utah Valley at 7 p.m. in Fleming Gymnasium for the first home dual of the season.