Freshman Pins Lead Wrestling Past Duke, 21-18
DURHAM, N.C. ? Pins by freshmen Andrew Bannister and Conor Black led VMI to a 21-18 win over Duke in a non-conference dual at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday. With the win, the Keydets move to 3-5 on the year, while the Blue Devils fall to 1-3.
Bannister got the Keydets off to a strong start with his pin at 133 lbs. in the day’s opening match. The freshman was ahead 5-0 in the second period when he pinned Nick Adamo at the 3:50 mark, improving to 7-4 on the season with his second dual win in as many days.
The Blue Devils answered with back-to-back wins at 141 and 149 lbs. to tie the score at six. Mike Bell used three first-period takedowns to defeat David Yost 10-7 at 141, while Brent Jorge scored an escape late in the third period to break a 3-3 tie, then got the riding time point to defeat Michael Long, 5-3.
Joe Munno scored a key win at 157 lbs. for the Keydets, dispatching Christopher Piccolella, 8-3. With the bout tied at two going to the third period, Munno scored an early escape and netted a pair of takedowns and the riding time point to put VMI up, 9-6.
Black came out aggressive at 165 lbs., scoring a takedown and a three-point near fall early in the first period against Spencer Jasper, who was wrestling up from 141 for the Blue Devils. Black led 9-0 midway through the second period when he pinned Jasper, his team-leading fourth fall of the year, to give VMI a 15-6 advantage midway through the match.
Andrew Szymborski continued VMI’s run at 174 lbs., taking on Voris Tejada for the third time in two seasons. Szymborski, who lost each of the previous two match-ups, including a 3-2 decision earlier this year, fell behind 1-0 on Tejada’s escape in the second period. Despite taking the early lead, Tejada was issued a stall warning in the second period that loomed large late. Szymborski tied the match in the third with his escape, then moved ahead 2-1 when Tejada was issued a second stall warning, resulting in a penalty point. Neither wrestler scored for the remainder of the match, giving VMI a third straight win.
The Blue Devils cut into the 12-point Keydet advantage with back-to-back wins at 184 and 197 lbs. Diego Bencomo overwhelmed Vinnie Gallo with a 14-2 major decision at 184 before nationally-ranked John Barone ran up a 16-1 technical fall on Ronnie Ellsworth at 197.
With VMI hanging on to an 18-15 lead and just two matches remaining, heavyweight Josh Wine stepped to the mat looking to extend his undefeated mark on the season. Wine began with a pair of takedowns of Andrew Fulk in the first period, though Fulk cut the deficit to 4-2 going to the third. Wine chose the bottom position in the third and scored a reversal and a technical fall en route to a 9-3 decision, putting VMI up 21-15.
The final match of the day pitted Duke’s Peter Terrezza and VMI’s John Pope at 125 lbs. Terrezza, needing a pin to give the Blue Devils a tie, scored two takedowns, an escape and a pair of penalty points against Pope, but could not get the fall he needed. The result was a 7-0 result that spelled a loss for Pope but a win for the Keydets.
“I’m really excited for the guys,” said VMI head coach John “Rocky” Trudgeon. “We won on bonus points, we just had more than Duke did. We won a close match or two and got a pretty good lead and then withstood their charge. They were good at 184 and 197, thankfully we had a lot in our war chest at that point. Then Josh came through with a big win. We wrestled better technically today, which gave us a chance to win. Hopefully we’ll be able to build on that Friday against Davidson and Millersville.”
The win was VMI’s first against an ACC opponent since defeating Duke, 22-15, on Nov. 13, 2005. It also marked VMI’s first road win since defeating The Citadel, 21-18, on Feb. 18, 2007.
The Keydets return to action on Friday, hosting a tri-meet against Millersville and SoCon foe Davidson. VMI will take on Davidson at 4:30 p.m., Davidson and Millersville will square off at 6 p.m. before the Keydets and Millersville cap the night at 7:30 p.m.
VMI 21, Duke 18 (Jan. 17, 2010)
133 - Andrew Bannister (VMI) fall Nick Adamo (Duke), 3:50
141 - Mike Bell (Duke) dec. David Yost (VMI), 10 - 7
149 - Brent Jorge (Duke) dec. Michael Long (VMI), 5 - 3
157 - Joe Munno (VMI) dec. Christopher Piccolella (Duke), 8 - 3
165 - Conor Black (VMI) fall Spencer Jasper (Duke), 4:02
174 - Andrew Szymborski (VMI) dec. Voris Tejada (Duke), 2 - 1
184 - Diego Bencomo (Duke) maj. dec. Vinnie Gallo (VMI), 14 - 2
197 - John Barone (Duke) tech. fall Ronnie Ellsworth (VMI), 16 - 1
285 - Josh Wine (VMI) dec. Andrew Fulk (Duke), 9 - 3
125 - Peter Terrezza (Duke) dec. John Pope (VMI), 7 - 0
ASU Routs Franklin & Marshall and Belmont Abbey
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University wrestling put on a dominating performance, beating Franklin & Marshall and Belmont Abbey Sunday afternoon in Varsity Gym.
Appalachian (4-8) won the first nine matches en route to a 49-3 win over F&M in the first match of the day. All nine of ASU’s wins came by major decision, tech. fall or pin.
Austin Trotman earned his second pin of the season by dropping Matt Latessa with 23 seconds remaining in the first period. Trotman had built up a 6-2 before the pin.
Dylan Temple followed at 197 with a 14-1 major decision over Colin Ely. Temple started the match with a quick takedown and added a three point near fall to take a 5-0 lead into the second period. Temple added four more takedowns on his way to the dominating performance.
The Mountaineers captured forfeits at 125 and 133 before Kyle Benson and Savva Kostis earned back-to-back pins. The pin was the second of the season for Benson while it was Kostis’ team-leading sixth.
Chip Powell followed with a dominating 17-0 tech. fall win at 157 and Kyle Blevins rounded out the Apps’ wins with a 10-2 major decision over Anthony Bongarzone.
The Mountaineers shutout Belmont Abbey 47-0 to pick up its fourth win of the season. Brett Boston, Chris Collura and Savva Kostis all earned pinfalls in the win while Travis Puckett and Carter Downs won by tech. fall.
After Austin Trotman started the match with a forfeit victory at 184, Paul Glover and Ken Altarac won the next two matches by decision. After Boston’s pin, Jacob Earp defeated Graceson Pastirlik by a 13-5 major decision. Blevins earned his second win of the day at 165 with a 8-2 decision over Jake Varilek and Downs’ tech. fall clinched the shutout for the Mountaineers.
Appalachian travels to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs and NC State.
Spartans defeat Gardner-Webb, fall to No. 15 Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. ? UNC Greensboro began their afternoon with a 38-11 victory over Gardner-Webb, but fell later in the day to No. 15 Virginia Tech, 29-15, on Sunday in a tri-dual in Cassell Coliseum.
The Spartans are now 3-5 on the year in dual matches. Virginia Tech picked up a pair of wins to move to 13-3 this year, while Gardner-Webb fell to 1-8-1 this season.
Ryan Sughrue and Byron Sigmon each picked up a pair of victories for UNCG. Sughrue began his day with a pin of Gardner-Webb’s Tom Pennington at the 4:31 mark before scoring a 7-4 decision over Chris Penny from Virginia Tech.
Sigmon also had a pin in his first match of the day. He scored a fall over Blake Salyer from Gardner-Webb in just 1:35 and received a forfeit in his match against Virginia Tech.
Andrew Saunders also had a pin for the Spartans as he recorded a pin with just one second left remaining in the first period against Jonathan Valazquez from Gardner-Webb.
The Spartans return to Southern Conference competition next weekend as they travel to face Chattanooga on Sunday at 2 p.m.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 38, Gardner-Webb 11
125: Eric Chandler (UNCG) wins by forfeit
133: Casey Boyle (UNCG) fall Brett Kostern, 4:36
141: Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG) maj. dec. Morgan McDaniel, 13-1
149: Ryan Medved (GW) maj. dec. Matt Barbo, 10-0
157: Alex Medved (GW) maj. dec. Alejandro Soto-Perez, 9-1
165: Victor Hojilla (UNCG) maj. dec. David Pelsang, 13-3
174: Byron Sigmon (UNCG) fall Blake Salyer, 1:35
184: Andrew Saunders (UNCG) fall Jonathan Velazquez, 2:59
197: Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) fall Tom Pennington, 4:31
285: #13 Dustin Porter (GW) dec. Peter Sturgeon, 5-0
No. 15 Virginia Tech 29, UNC Greensboro 15
125: #16 Jarrod Garnett (VT) dec. Eric Chandler, 9-6
133: Brock LiVorio (VT) fall Casey Boyle, 2:52
141: #9 Chris Diaz (VT) dec. Ivan Lopouchanski, 8-2
149: Brian Stephens (VT) vs. Alejandro Soto-Perez, 25-10 (5:45)
157: Taylor Knapp (VT) wins by forfeit
165: Matt Epperly (VT) dec. Victor Hojilla, 8-2
174: Byron Sigmon (UNCG) wins by forfeit
184: #20 Tommy Spellman (VT) vs. Andrew Saunders, 6-2
197: Ryan Sughrue (UNCG) dec. Chris Penny, 7-4
285: Peter Sturgeon (UNCG) wins by forfeit