Bulldogs Use Season-High Six Pins to Crush Campbell, 49-6
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Wrestling team registered a season-high six pins and scored their most points in a dual meet in nearly four years on Friday evening at Deas Hall as the Bulldogs belted Campbell, 49-6.
The Bulldogs improve to 6-8 overall while Campbell falls to 1-12. The Citadel never trailed as they won the first nine matches of the evening, six by fall, two by tech fall and one by decision to coast to the victory. The 49 points is the most points put up by the Bulldogs since they beat Campbell, 54-0, on Jan. 24, 2007.
Starting at 125 pounds, Richard Alarcon dominated from the start with a takedown and followed that with a flurry of more takedowns, escapes and near falls to earn the tech fall by virtue of a 17-2 win. Tyler Sim then also used an early takedown at 133 pounds and pushed Gardner to the brink as he pinned the Camel at the 2:20 mark to give the Bulldogs an early 11-0 lead.
Jordan Dix earned an early takedown at 141 pounds and then nearly pinned Campbell's Brad Merriman, earning a three-point near fall to go in front, 5-0, after one period. An escape followed by another takedown and three-point near fall moved Dix in front, 11-0, at the end of the second period. Starting in neutral in period three, Dix used two more takedowns as the match was then ended with a 16-1 tech fall victory. At 149 pounds, Nick LaFevre wasted no time pinning Campbell's Darie Peele at the 1:02 mark for another Bulldog win.
Pierre Frazile used five takedowns and a two-point near fall at 157 pounds to overmatch Campbell's Kale Fose with a 13-6 decision to increase the team lead to 25-0. At 165 pounds, No. 8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj used three takedowns in the first period and then launched a strike on the Camels' Ryan Ham that he could not fend off as the Bulldog earned a pin at the 3:48 mark to improve his season mark to 28-6
At 174 pounds, No. 33 J.C. Oddo earned two early takedowns and a two-point near fall to move ahead, 6-1, after the first period. After another pair of takedowns, Oddo spun Campbell's Peter Comis to his back and drove him to the mat for the pin at the 4:42 mark. Not to be outdone at 184 pounds, the Bulldogs' Justin Sparrow then countered with his own fall at the 1:30 mark over John Merickel.
Kelby Smith took down the Camels' Justin Sparrow early and then earned the sixth pin of the night for The Citadel when he downed the Camel at the 2:32 mark. In the final match of the evening, Scott Edelson made his debut at heavyweight and took an early lead, but Campbell's Parker Burns would turn the table and pinned the Bulldog just before the second period ended at the 4:35 mark to get the Camels on the board.
The Citadel 49, Campbell 6
125: Richard Alarcon (CIT) tech fall Tanner Bidelspach (CAMP), 17-2
133: Tyler Sim (CIT) pinned Gabe Gardner (CAMP), 2:20
141: Jordan Dix (CIT) tech fall Brad Merriman (CAMP), 16-1
149: Nick LaFevre (CIT) pinned Darien Peele (CAMP), 1:02
157: Pierre Frazile (CIT) dec. Jake Fose (CAMP), 13-6
165: #8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) pinned Ryan Ham (CAMP), 3:48
174: #33 J.C. Oddo (CIT) pinned Peter Comis (CAMP), 4:42
184: Justin Sparrow (CIT) pinned John Merickel (CAMP), 1:30
197: Kelby Smith (CIT) pinned Justin Sparrow (CAMP), 2:32
HWT: Parker Burns (CAMP) pinned Scott Edelson (CIT), 4:35
The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday when they host UNC Greensboro in a key Southern Conference dual at McAlister Field House. The match is set for 2 p.m. and admission is free. For more information on Bulldog Wrestling, visit CitadelSports.com.
Keydets Defeat George Mason on Wine's Pinfall, 20-16
LEXINGTON, Va.- Trailing 16-14 heading into the final match of the night, VMI heavyweight Josh Wine earned his first pin over the season, besting George Mason's Hunter Manspile at the 5:35 mark of the match to give the Keydets the 20-16 victory. With the win, the Keydets improve VMI's record to 3-5 on the season.
"Super team effort," said VMI head coach John Trudgeon. "We won five matches, but it really felt like everyone contributed and wrestled hard."
The night began with VMI redshirt-senior John Pope taking on George Mason's Zach Huxford at 125 lbs. Pope led 6-2 after the first period with two takedown points, while Huxford earned his pair on escapes. Pope continued his momentum in the match, shutting out Huxford the rest of the way to take the match 13-2 and earn his first major-decision of the season and give VMI the early 4-0 lead.
At 133 lbs., VMI's Luke Todd and George Mason's John Delgado squared off. After a scoreless first period, Delgado earned an escape point :17 seconds into the second period to take the 1-0 lead. Todd answered nearly a minute later with a pair of takedown points at the 1:16 mark, but Delgado evened the score at 2-2 with an escape prior to the end of the period. After a back and forth first 1:30, Todd used a reversal with 1:14 remaining to take a 4-2 lead and hung on for the victory, improving to 5-7 on the season and extend the VMI lead to 7-0 heading into 141 lbs.
At 141 lbs., David Yost took on George Mason's Denny Herndon in one of the nights more entertaining matchups. After a scoreless first period, Herndon took a 2-0 lead on a pair of escape points at the 1:48 mark, but Yost cut the lead in half only five seconds later with an escape. Yost tied the match :28 seconds in, 2-2, but Herndon earned an escape point to take the match at the 1:37 mark to take the match 3-2 and cut the VMI lead to 7-3.
Ryan Goodsell took on Donald Takagi at 149 lbs. With the bout tied at 1-1 heading into the third period, Goodsell earned an escape point :10 seconds into the third to take a 2-1 advantage. However, Takagi earned a pair of takedown points with 7 seconds left to take a 3-2 lead, and add a riding point to take the match 4-2 and bring the VMI lead to a narrow 7-6 lead.
After GMU's Jaaziah Bethea defeated VMI's Nick Emison by a 15-4 major decision to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead, VMI's Ted Gottwald took on George Mason's Aaron Keeton at 165 lbs. Keeton took a 2-1 lead in the first period, and never looked back, earning a 6-3 win by decision to stretch the George Mason lead to 13-7.
The Keydets put an end to their four-match skid as Matt Brock took on George Mason's James Kaden at 174 lbs. After the first two periods went scoreless, Brock won the third frame 4-1 and took the match by that score to bring the VMI deficit to 13-10 with three matches remaining.
Keydet sophomore John Dommert started off with a bang at 184 lbs. against GMU's Greg Scott, taking a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the match on a takedown and three near fall points. Dommert added two points a minute into the second period on a reversal to carry a 7-0 lead into the final period. The Keydet 184 pounder went on to tack on two reversal points as well as a riding point to take the match 10-0 and earn his first major of the season, giving the Keydets a slim 14-13 lead heading 197 lbs.
The 197 pound matchup proved crucial, as VMI freshman took on James Webb of GMU, who was bumping up from 184 lbs. Webb earned an escape point with :40 seconds left in the second period to lead 1-0 heading into the third. Gill would earn an escape point only three seconds into the third period to tie the match at 1-1 heading into sudden-victory overtime.
After the first sudden-victory period went scoreless, Webb earned a pair of reversal points with :28 seconds left to take a 3-1 lead into the third overtime. Gill earned an escape point with five seconds left, but it wasn't enough as Webb took the match 3-2 and give George Mason the 16-14 lead with one match, heavyweight, remaining.
No. 13 Josh Wine squared off against Hunter Manspile of GMU, a match that Wine won 6-0 in last season's edition of the all-time series. The deciding match of the night began with a scoreless first and second period. Wine took the early 1-0 lead in the third, earning an escape point from the bottom position. Shortly later at the 5:35 mark, Wine recorded the pinfall, throwing Manspile to his back to earn his first pin of the season and give the Keydets the 20-16 victory.
"We lost some heartbreakers at 141 and 149, and it was disappointing to come up short, but we fought hard. We got out there at 174 and 184 and we really made something happen. Chris Gill fought hard a 197 lbs. He hasn't wrestled many matches yet, but I thought he really showed a lot of heart out there. Of course, Josh has a lot of power and took care of things at heavyweight, so it was a great team win for us."
The Keydets will next time the mat on Fri., Jan. 28 as they host The Citadel at 7:30 p.m. from Cocke Hall. The match will also serve as the programs alumni match, where all former VMI wrestlers are encouraged to return to Post. Admission is $5 for adults, and free to all students.
VMI-20
George Mason-16
Individual Match Agate
Wt Winning Wrestler (School) WinType Losing Wrestler (School) Score
125 Johnathan Pope (VMI) MD Zach Huxford (George Mason ) 13 - 2
133 Luke Todd (VMI) DEC John Delgado (George Mason ) 4 - 2
141 Denny Herndon (George Mason)DEC David Yost (VMI) 3 - 2
149 Donald Takagi (George Mason ) DEC Ryan Goodsell (VMI) 4 - 2
157 Jaaziah Bethea (George Mason)MD Nicholas Emison (VMI) 15 - 4
165 Aaron Keeton (George Mason ) DEC Edward Gottwald (VMI) 6 - 3
174 Matthew Brock (VMI) DEC James Kaden (George Mason ) 4 - 1
184 John Dommert (VMI) MD Greg Scott (George Mason ) 10 - 0
197 Webb, James (George Mason ) DEC Christopher Gill (VMI) 3 - 2
285 Joshua Wine (VMI) FALL Hunter Manspile (George Mason )(5:35)
ASU Wrestling Ties Against North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.- Freshman Marc Tyson (Monroe, N.J./Monroe Township) forced extra time in the heavyweight division and it came down to five seconds worth of riding time to force a tie between Appalachian State University wrestling (6-7-1, 0-1 SoCon) and North Carolina (6-6-1) on Friday night in Carmichael Arena.
Sophomore Tony Gravely (Martinsville, Va./Magna Vista) got things started for the Mountaineers at 125 by pinning Jake Corrill in 4:17 to put Appalachian up 6-0.
Pat Owens got the best of freshman Chris Johnson (Hillsborough, N.C./Orange) at 133 by taking a 8-3 decision, but ASU still led the dual by a score of 6-3.
Danny Lopes made it two in a row for the Tar Heels as he earned a close 4-3 decision in the 141-weight class over junior Mike Kessler (Bay City, Mich./Western) and tied up the dual at six all.
Freshman Russell Benner (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) gave the Apps a three-point advantage after he earned a 3-2 decision over Nick Stabile to put the Mountaineers up 9-6.
Appalachian saw their first ranked wrestler of the night when sophomore John Blakely (Birmingham, Ala./Oak Mountain) dropped a 16-0 technical fall decision to #17 Corey Mock at 157 and gave UNC its first lead of the dual, going up 11-9.
The Mountaineers recovered at 165 as #17 junior Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) took care of #31 Thomas Scotton for the third time this season in a 2-0 decision. With the victory, Blevins now has a team-leading and career-high 28 wins on the season and is two shy away from breaking into the most wins in a season group and eight away from joining the career wins list with 74 wins.
The Tar Heels jumped back ahead of the Apps after junior Carter Downs (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian) fell to Thomas Ferguson by a 14-0 major decision at 174, putting UNC back up for only the second time at 15-12.
Redshirt junior and #23 Austin Trotman (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) avenged an early season loss to #28 Antonio Giorgio as he routed the Tar Heel by a 12-3 major decision in the 184 match. Trotman put the Mountaineers up by a single point at 16-15. With his decision, Trotman now has 23 wins on the season and has 81 for his career. The reigning Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week needs just a single decision to break into the career wins list and seven more to reach the season mark of 30.
The Tar Heels grabbed one more win at 197 as #29 Zac Bennett earned an 11-0 major decision over sophomore Paul Glover (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) to set up the final match of the dual with UNC leading 19-16.
In the final match of the dual between Tyson and Ben Brooks, the first period was scoreless and a point was not tallied until Brooks escaped in the second period. With a 1-0 margin heading into the third period, Tyson escaped and tied things up at 1-1. The wrestlers traded escapes, but it came down to the five seconds worth of riding time to give Tyson the 4-3 advantage after two overtime periods to tie the dual at 19-19.
The Mountaineers are back in action again, taking on UNC Greensboro in their second SoCon dual of the season at 7 p.m. in Greensboro.
North Carolina 19, Appalachian State 19
125: Tony Gravely (ASU) pins Jake Corrill (UNC), 4:17 (ASU 6-0)
133: Pat Owens (UNC) dec. Chris Johnson (ASU), 8-3 (ASU 6-3)
141: Danny Lopes (UNC) dec. Mike Kessler (ASU), 4-3 (Tied 6-6)
149: Russell Benner (ASU) dec. Nick Stabile (UNC), 3-2 (ASU 9-6)
157: Corey Mock (UNC) tech. fall John Blakely (ASU), 16-0 (UNC 11-9)
165: Kyle Blevins (ASU) dec. Thomas Scotton (UNC), 2-0 (ASU 12-11)
174: Thomas Ferguson (UNC) major dec. Carter Downs (ASU), 14-0 (UNC 15-12)
184: Austin Trotman (ASU) major dec. Antonio Giorgio (UNC), 12-3 (ASU16-15)
197: Zac Bennett (UNC) major dec. Paul Glover (ASU), 11-0 (UNC 19-16)
HWT: Marc Tyson (ASU) dec. Ben Brooks (UNC), 4-3 (2OT) (Tied 19-19)