ASU Third at Keystone Classic
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Frank Celorrio (Miami, Fla./Hialeah) won the 133 pound weight class and Appalachian State University wrestling took third overall at the Keystone Classic held at the University of Pennsylvania.
With the third place team finish, ASU finished just behind Liberty and American and improved from last season’s sixth place finish.
Seeded No. 2 at 133, Celorrio cruised to the first place finish, going the full three rounds in only one of his matches. The senior pinned VMI’s Luke Todd in the first period of his first match and dropped Brown’s Cortland Choate 6-0 in the semifinals. In the finals, Celorrio pinned top seed Bryan Ortenzio with eight seconds remaining in the first round.
After winning the 174 pound weight class to open the season last week, Austin Trotman (Winston-Salem,N.C./Mount Tabor) had another strong outing, finishing in second place. The redshirt sophomore breezed through his first three matches, winning by a combined 32-8. In the first round, Trotman beat Cory Beaver by a 13-2 major decision before dropping Brad Clark 9-3 in the second round. The Winston-Salem native continued his dominance, defeating Duke’s Voris Tejada 10-3 to reach the finals. Trotman fell to Penn’s Scott Griffin 7-2 in the final to suffer his first loss of the year. It was the second-straight year that Trotman has earned a second place finish at the Keystone Classic. Last season he lost to American’s Mike Cannon, who took first place this year at 184.
Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Oklahoma), Dylan Temple (Marietta, Ga./Walton) and Paul Glover (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) brought home third place finishes. Blevins opened his first round with a 5-2 win over Penn’s Thomas Timothy 5-2. After a semifinal loss to Penn’s Gabriel Burak, Blevins reeled off two-straight wins to capture third place.
Temple lost a close first match to Brown’s Bran Crudden, 4-2, but followed that with four-straight wins. He beat Vincent Gallo by a technical fall score of 17-2 in his first wrestleback match. He dropped Boston’s John Hall 6-2 and followed that with a 12-5 win over Diego Bencomo to reach the third place match where he defeated Princeton’s Kurt Brendel 9-6.
Glover started his day off well with a 7-4 decision over Liberty’s Brandon Lawrence. He lost his next match but bounced back with a 3-1 decision over Charles Fox. Glover then pinned Larry Otsuka in the second period to claim third place.
Mike Kessler (Bay City, Mich./Bay City Western) and Ken Altarac (Johnsonville, N.Y./Lasalle Institute) added fourth place finishes while Jacob Earp (Boone, N.C./Watauga) finished fifth at 133 and Travis Puckett (Matthews, N.C./David W. Butler) took sixth at 157.
The Apps are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 28 when they travel to Troy, N.Y. to compete in the Northeast Duals.
Pope Paces VMI Wrestling at Keystone Classic
PHILADELPHIA ? Redshirt junior Jonathan Pope placed sixth at 125 lbs. to lead VMI on Sunday at the Keystone Classic, hosted by Penn at the Palestra.
Pope began his day with a 10-6 decision over Ryan Dowd before falling to third-seeded Greg Einfrank of Brown, 6-0. In the consolation bracket, Pope ran off back-to-back decisions against Brown’s Beau Martino and Liberty’s Justin Branham. In the Consolation Semifinals, Pope was pinned by fourth-seeded Fred Santaite of Boston, dropping him into the fifth-place match, where the Keydet lost an 8-2 decision to Liberty’s Jonathan Childress.
Three other Keydets notched multiple wins on the day. Sophomore Luke Todd scored a win in the championship bracket at 133 lbs, a 7-2 victory over Brown’s Nick Mazza before falling to second-seeded Frank Celorrio of Appalachian State. Todd picked up a fall of his own in his next match, pinning Brown’s Mike Piccirillo in 3:23 before dropping his next match.
Matt Brock started his run with a 5-1 decision over Liberty’s Logan Crawford at 157 lbs., before top-seeded Steve Fittery of American dropped the sophomore into the consolation bracket. There, he met a familiar face in teammate Nathan Iseman, who he defeated 3-2 before a sudden victory loss ended his day in the next round.
Andrew Szymborski was the third Keydet with a pair of wins on the day, doing so at 174 lbs. A 16-2 major decision over Brown’s Marcos Aranda moved Szymborski to the Championship Quarterfinal, where he lost a 3-2 decision to fourth-seeded Voris Tejada of Duke. Szymborski rebounded with a 7-1 decision over Liberty’s Eli Sanchez in the consolation bracket, but lost 11-5 to Liberty’s Brad Clark to end his run.
“We took some tough body blows, and didn’t get up to hit any haymakers today,” said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. “I thought we wrestled with intensity, aggressiveness and fire at the Hokie Open (two weeks ago), but today, that wasn’t it. We got off to a bad start, and the snowball kept getting bigger and bigger. We didn’t get the same kind of performance today. We have much more improvement that needs to happen in between the ears than we do physically. We didn’t win that battle with ourselves today. We just have to get back at it, prepare ourselves better, and get ready to wrestle again in two weeks.”
The Keydets return to action in two weeks, competing in a tri-meet against Princeton and Rutgers on Saturday, Dec. 5. The event will be held in Princeton, N.J., with the Keydets and Scarlet Knights set to do battle at noon, while VMI and Princeton will match up at 1:30 p.m.
Bulldogs Place Eight Wrestlers, One Champion at NC State Open
Raleigh, N.C. - The Citadel wrestling team placed eight grapplers, including one champion at the NC State Open on Saturday. Odie Delaney captured the 197-pound weight class for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel once again had an impressive team performance with 15 pins to lead all squads participating in the Open. Sophomore Odie Delaney dominated his way to the top as he went 3-0 and won all three matches by pin. In the first place match, he pinned Josh Wood of Utah Valley State in 4:48 to claim the 197-pound title. Sophomore Pierre Frazile captured second place for The Citadel at 149, going 3-1 before narrowly falling to Utah Valley State’s Justin Morrill in the championship match, 2-1.
Junior J.C. Oddo went 6-1, registering two pins, two major decisions and a technical fall on his way to a third place finish at 174 over Byron Sigmon of UNC Greensboro, 10-1. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj followed his title from the Michigan State Open last weekend, with another strong finish. The true freshman placed third, going 4-1 with a major decision. In the third place match, he beat Bond Davis of Chattanooga in a hard fought battle, 4-2 in overtime.
Redshirt sophomore Justin Sparrow and sophomore Richard Alarcon both took home fourth place finishes. Sparrow went 3-2, falling to Josh Condon of Chattanooga by pin in the third-place match at 165. Alarcon fell to teammate Tyler Sim in the third-place match by injury default. The sophomore went 4-2 in the Open with a major decision.
Senior Tyler Sim and freshman Kevin Timothy both placed as unattached wrestlers in the Open. Sim downed teammate Richard Alarcon to take third place at the 125-pound weight class and went 5-1 in the Open while registering a pin. Kevin Timothy took fourth place after narrowly falling to Newberry’s Deral Brown, 5-3. Timothy went 5-2 in action on Saturday.
The Citadel will break for Thanksgiving break and return to action on Friday, Dec. 4 as they head to Athens, Ohio to take part in the Ohio University Duals against Ohio and Cleveland State.
Six Wrestlers Place in the Top-3 at the Wolfpack Open
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wresting team had another strong showing this weekend with six student-athletes finishing in the top-3 in their respective weight classes at the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, N.C. The Mocs were led by senior Joey Knox who won the 157 class with a 4-0 record.
Taking on a field that included wrestlers from No. 19 Virginia, No. 21 Old Dominion, No. 23 Virginia Tech, Hofstra, North Carolina, Newberry, Gardner-Webb, Auburn, The Citadel and Utah Valley, Chattanooga went up against a very strong field.
Putting six in the top three at the event is even more impressive considering that neither of the Mocs’ two ranked competitiors took part in the action this weekend. No. 11 Cody Cleveland did not compete at 141. Freshman Jake Young, ranked No. 19 at 174, also sat out this weekend’s competition.
Knox dominated the 157 bracket, only giving up one point in four matches. He defeated Old Dominion’s Derek Gallagher 5-0 in the opening round and had a bye in the round of 16. He scored an 11-0 major decision over Gardner-Webb’s Alex Medved (11-0) to advance to the semifinals where he got past The Citadel’s Turtogtokh Luvsandorj 6-0. In the finals, he defeated ODU’s Dan Rivera 3-1 to take the title. Knox improved to 7-2 on the year with his four wins.
Juniors Bond Davis and Carlos Baron also competed at 157. Davis was impressive, finishing with a 4-2 mark to place seventh in the event. He fell to ODU’s Rivera in his first match 3-2 before making a run through the wrestle-back bracket. Back-to-back pins over teammate Baron and Auburn’s Terry Long set him up against GWU’s Medved where he scored a 1-0 decision. He then pinned ODU’s Gallagher before advancing by forfeit against Virginia Tech’s Hayden Countryman. He fell to The Citadel’s Luvsandorj in his final match of the day 4-2 in overtime. Baron went 0-2 in his matches at 157.
Sophomore Demetrius Johnson also had a strong outing in the 125 bracket. He placed second with a 1-1 official record. After an opening round bye, Johnson defeated The Citadel’s Richard Alacorn 6-2. He then got past teammate Paul Garza with a 12-3 major decision. Garza was wrestling unattached in the event. Johnson went on to fall to No. 11 Ben Kjar of Utah Valley 11-4 to place second.
The 133 bracket featured freshman Josh Sandoval and senior Josh Statum. Sandoval went 1-2 in his three matches while Statum posted a 2-1 mark. He was knocked out of the event by freshman teammate Jeremy Sandoval who was competing unattached. Jeremy Sandoval went on to place fifth in the bracket overall.
Freshman Dean Pavlou represented the Mocs well with a third place finish at 149. Pavlou defeated UNC Greensboro’s Aaron Smith with a 10-2 major decision in the opening round. He fell to No. 19 Justin Accordino of Hofstra by a narrow 3-2 mark in the round of 16. He went on to score four more wins on his way to a third place showing.
The Mocs also had a quality performances in the 165 bracket with sophomore Brandon Wright placing second and freshman Josh Condon finishing third. Both Condon and Wright won their first two matches before facing each other in the semifinals. Wright won that head-to-head match 4-1. Wright went on to fall to Hofstra’ P.J. Gillespie 4-1 in the finals. Condon won his last two matches in the wrestle-back to place third overall. Freshman Mikey Fuller also competed at 165, posting a 1-2 record.
UTC did not have any wrestlers competing at 174 and only sophomore Tyler Roberson competed at 184. He went 2-2 in his four matches. Junior Stephen was the lone Moc to wrestle at 197, posting an 0-2 mark.
Junior Tom Minwell had a solid performance after placing second in the heavyweight division. He advanced to the semifinals before falling to Gardner-Webb’s Dustin Porter 9-3. He posted two more wins to earn third place in the bracket.
Chattanooga will next travel to the Indiana Duals on Nov. 28 in Bloomington, Ind. The Mocs’ next home event is set for Saturday, Jan. 16, when they host No. 8 Missouri in Maclellan Gym at 7:00 p.m. (E.S.T.).
Lopouchanski, Sturgeon lead Spartans at NC State Open
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Ivan Lopouchanski and Peter Sturgeon won their respective weight classes as UNC Greensboro wrapped up competition at the NC State Open on Saturday afternoon.
Lopouchanski began his afternoon with a first period pin over Virginia Tech’s Cameron Hurd before scoring a 7-4 decision against David Ivashchenko from The Citadel, 7-4. He then defeated Joe Kemmerer from Liberty, 4-3, to advance to the finals where he beat Hofstra’s Tyler Banks, 5-2.
Sturgeon also began his day with a pin as he beat Gardner-Webb’s Zach Burke in 4:59. He scored a 7-4 to move into the semifinals where he beat Paul Snyder from Hofstra, 7-4. In the finals, he beat Dustin Porter from Gardner-Webb in the second overtime, 6-4.
Andrew Saunders also finished in second place, while Byron Sigmon came in fourth place on the day.
The Spartans will return to competition on Dec. 4 as they travel to Primm, Nev. for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Strong Competiton Too Much For 'Cats at Sprawl & Brawl
VESTAL, N.Y. ? Sophomore David DeCamp performed well against nationally-ranked competition, but the banged-up Davidson wrestling team dropped the first three dual matches of the season, falling to No. 17 Illinois, Pittsburgh and Binghamton at the Journeymen Sprawl & Brawl duals, hosted by Binghamton University at the West Gym.
Illinois (2-2) dealt Davidson (0-3) a 47-0 loss, while Pittsburgh (5-1), which is receiving votes for the national Top 25, earned a 49-0 win over the ?Cats. The host Bearcats (1-1) then prevailed 50-0 in Davidson’s final match of the day.
DeCamp was dealt his first losses of the season to collegiate competition after starting 8-0 at the Pembroke Open. The Preseason All-Southern Conference selection dropped three close decisions, including a narrow 9-5 loss to the 13th-ranked wrestler in the nation at 149, Donnie Vinson of Binghamton.
The Sprawl & Brawl featured 20 matches between 14 schools.
Davidson will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 2 when they travel to Durham to face Duke in a 6:30 p.m. match.
Illinois 47, Davidson 0
125: John Deneen (I) dec. Ben Altman (D), 3-0, 3-0 (I)
133: Daryl Thomas (I) maj. dec. Scott Ray (D), 12-3, 7-0
141: No. 17 Ryan Prater (I) pinned Ben Thompson (D), 1:12, 13-0
149: Eric Terrazas (I) dec. David DeCamp (D), 6-1, 16-0
157: Kyle Dooley (I) maj. dec. Joe McGinley (D), 16-5, 20-0
165: Joe Barzcak (I) win by forfeit, 26-0
174: Conrad Polz (I) dec. Jorge Estrada (D), 7-1, 29-0
184: No. 8 John Dergo (I) pinned Ike Crews (D), 2:01, 35-0,
197: Marty Smith (I) pinned Mark Jeevratnam (D), 1:11, 41-0
Hwt: Pat Walker (I) win by forfeit, 47-0
Pittsburgh 49, Davidson 0
125: Anthony Zanetta (P) maj. dec. Ben Altman (D), 12-4, 4-0
133: Zach Grove (P) dec. Scott Ray (D), 7-2, 7-0
141: No. 10 Tyler Nauman (P) pinned Ben Thompson (D), 1:28, 13-0
149: Eric Albright (P) dec. David DeCamp (D), 5-2, 16-0
157: Mark Powell (P) maj. dec. Joe McGinley (D), 15-3, 20-0
165: Karl Deciantis (P) win by forfeit, 26-0
174: Dave Sullivan (P) TF Jorge Estrada (D), 16-0, 31-0
184: Zac Thomusseit (P) pinned Ike Crews (D), 4:10, 37-0
197: Matthew Wilps (P) pinned Mark Jeevratnam (D), 1:46, 43-0
285: Ryan Tomei (P) win by forfeit, 49-0
Binghamton 50, Davidson 0
125: Jimmy Chase (BU) TF Ben Altman (D), 22-6, 5-0
133: Mike Kleeman (BU) dec. Matt Zarth (D), 8-6, 8-0
141: Anwar Goeres (BU) pinned Vitaly Radsky (D), 4:19, 14-0
149: No. 13 Donnie Vinson (BU) dec. David DeCamp (D), 9-5, 17-0
157: Justin Lister (BU) pinned Joe McGinley (D), 1:36, 23-0
165: Matt Kaylor (BU) win by forfeit, 29-0
174: Anthony Esposito (BU) maj. dec. Jorge Estrada (D), 8-0, 33-0
184: Nate Schiedel (BU) pinned Ike Crews (D), 0:54, 39-0
197: Mike McKeever (BU) TF Mark Jeevratnam (D), 19-2, 44-0
285: Corey Waite (BU) by forfeit, 50-0