Old Dominion 31, Chattanooga 9
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team dropped its season opener to Old Dominion 31-9 tonight. The Mocs scored a pair of individual wins, but lost three one-point decisions to the Monarchs.
The match opened at 149 with senior Kelly Felix (Franklin, Tenn.) taking the mat for Chattanooga (0-1, 0-0 SoCon). He battled Brennan Brumley to a 2-2 stalemate, but riding time provided the difference. ODU also scored a win at 157 to go up 6-0.
Senior Brandon Wright (Germantown, Tenn.) put the Mocs on the board at 165. He fought off the Monarch's Tristian Warner 3-2 and pulled the score to 6-3. Two straight wins by ODU pushed the team score to 13-3 at the break.
Following intermission, junior Niko Brown (Kissimmee, Fla.) got the crowd of over 600 going with his win at 197. He pinned ODU's Joe Budi at the 5:21 mark for six big points. Unfortunately for the Mocs, that was as close as they would get.
Freshmen Kevin Malone (Carrollton, Ohio) and Cole Hayes (Knoxville, Tenn.) both dropped one-point decisions at 285 and 125, respectively. Chattanooga then gave up pins at 133 and 141 to close out the scoring.
"They outscored us," stated head coach Heath Eslinger. "They out hand fought us, they rode us out and that can't happen. We have to figure it out. The good thing is that it is early. We have a lot of time. We have great kids on our team and we have to get back to work."
UTC heads to Salem, Va., for Sunday's Hokie Open. The Mocs are back home next weekend to open Southern Conference action when they host Gardner-Webb. The match with the Bulldogs is set for Friday, Nov. 11, at 6:00 p.m. in Maclellan Gym.
Old Dominion 31 - Chattanooga 9
149: Brennan Brumley (ODU) won by decision over Kelly Felix (UTC) - 3-2
157: John Nicholson (ODU) won by decision over Daniel Waddell (UTC) - 11-5
165: Brandon Wright (UTC) won by decision over Tristan Warner (ODU) - 3-2
174: Te Edwards (ODU) won by major decision over Levi Clemons (UTC) - 14-4
184: Billy Curling (ODU) won by decision over Robert Prigmore (UTC) - 4-1
197: Nikolas Brown (UTC) won by pin over Joe Budi (ODU) - 5:21
285: Matt Tourdot (ODU) won by decision over Kevin Malone (UTC) - 4-3
125: Eric Dunnet (ODU) won by decision over William Hayes (UTC) - 6-5
133: Scott Festejo (ODU) won by pin over Nick Soto (UTC) - 5:36
141: Justin LaValle (ODU) won by pin over Shawn Greevy (UTC) - 3:39
Soto Leads Mocs at Hokie Open
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team competed in the prestigious Hokie Open in Salem, Va., today. The Mocs had two freshmen wrestlers place in the event, including Nick Soto (Spring Hill, Fla.) and Kevin Malone (Carrollton, Ohio).
Soto bounced back from a tough loss against Old Dominion in Friday's season-opener to post four wins today. He scored a pair of pins, a major decision and two decision wins in the tournament. His only loss was a pin against eventual champion Devin Carter from Virginia Tech.
Malone also rebounded from a tough outing on Friday against the Monarchs. He dropped his season-opener by one point, but responded with four wins today. His final bout was a rematch with ODU's Matt Tourdot who beat him 4-3 two days earlier. On Sunday, Malone scored 4-2 win to take fifth place.
The Mocs also had four wrestlers advance to the quarterfinals in their respective weight classes, including senior Kelly Felix (Franklin, Tenn.) at 149, junior Niko Brown (Kissimmee, Fla.) at 197, and sophomores Shawn Greevy (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) at 141 and Levi Clemons (Kissimmee, Fla.) at 174.
Junior Robert Prigmore (Westlake, Texas) scored a revenge win over ODU's Billy Curling with a 3-2 decision in the first round of the 185 bracket. Curling had defeated Prigmore 4-1 in the dual match on Friday night.
UTC is back in action on Friday, Nov. 11, hosting Southern Conference newcomer Gardner-Webb. The match is set for 6:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) at Maclellan Gym. Tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627). Live scoring for the match will also be available on GoMocs.com.
Brock Leads Keydets at Hokie Open
SALEM, Va. - Matt Brock won three matches, leading a contingent of Keydets who competed Sunday at the Hokie Open, held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
Brock got his day started with a 5-0 decision win over Andre Petroski of North Carolina, and then dropped a 15-6 major decision to eventual 174 lb. winner Te Edwards of Old Dominion. That sent the senior to the consolation bracket, and after a bye, Brock knocked off Travis Sheehy of Newberry College in dramatic fashion. The match was scoreless, but entering the final period, Brock selected the down position and escaped, taking a 1-0 lead in the process. He also earned the point in riding time to earn the victory.
Brock then headed to the next round of the consolations, where he defeated Levi Clemons of Chattanooga 4-0, but the Keydet's day ended with a 4-1 decision loss to Quinton Godley of N.C. State.
Ted Gottwald also earned a pair of wins, competing at the 157 lb. weight. Gottwald saw both extremes during his day, defeating D.J. Dwyer of George Mason handily in his opener, 8-1, but suffering a 16-0 technical fall defeat to Harrison Hightower of Ohio. Gottwald then notched a 7-4 win over Matthew Huffstickler of Mason, taking control midway through the second period and sealing the win with a final period takedown. His day ended, however, with a narrow 4-3 loss to Mardel Gabriel of N.C. State.
John Dommert (184), Ryan Goodsell (133) and Mike Burnett (157) also competed Sunday. Dommert won his opener, 5-3, over Carter Downs of Appalachian State, but fell to Jared Holliday of Newberry College (4-1) and Robert O'Neill of N.C. State (11-5) to end his day. Goodsell prevailed in his first match as well, beating Cullen King of King College 3-1, but lost to Pat Owens of North Carolina (8-2) and then to Jordan O'Donnell of Virginia Tech in dramatic overtime fashion, 8-6.
Burnett went 0-2 on the day, losing to Chip Powell of Appalachian State (15-1) and Aaron Smith of North Carolina (3-2).
VMI wrestling will return to action Nov. 13, going to the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh, N.C.
Seven Mountaineers Place at Hokie Open
SALEM, Va. - In the team's first competition of the year, Appalachian State wrestling was represented by 17 wrestlers at the Hokie Open, hosted by Virginia Tech, on Sunday. Seven Mountaineers were place-winners at the event, including 184-pound champion Austin Trotman.
The fourth edition of the annual event featured hundreds wrestlers from more than 20 college teams from around the region and as far as Colorado Springs (Air Force).
"All in all, I feel like we wrestled pretty well," said head coach JohnMark Bentley. "We competed hard, showed some hustle and proved that we can compete. We made some mistakes that we need to fix back in the training room, but we had a pretty good performance today."
Trotman survived a tough semifinal opponent in Virginia Tech's John Dickson but pulled through with a 5-3 decision. In the final, the senior defeated Newberry's Mitch Brown, 10-3, to cap a 4-0 day and take the Apps' only title.
Redshirt freshman Dominic Parisi picked up three straight wins to advance to the 125-pound final before he was edged by Virginia Tech's Ty Mitch, 4-3, to pick up a runner-up finish.
At 141 pounds, Mike Kessler suffered a quarterfinal loss, 4-0, to The Citadel's Khishignyam Undrakhbayar, but the senior rebounded with three more wins before taking third place with a forfeit win in the wrestle-back final.
Senior Kyle Blevins advanced to the semifinal with three major decisions, but UNC's Kyle Kiss earned a 3-2 decision to relegate the senior to the lower bracket. The defending Southern Conference champion recovered to win his last two bouts for third place at 165 pounds.
Sophomore Chris Johnson made a nice run to the 133 pound semifinals but lost three-straight bouts to slip to sixth-place on the day.
ASU's final place-winner was Chip Powell at 157 pounds. The senior bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to win two bouts in the consolation bracket, including his pin of NC State's Mardel Gabriel. Powell was eventually eliminated by UNC's Corey Mock and was edged in his final bout to earn sixth place.
The Mountaineers return home on Sunday, Nov. 13 for their only home competition of the fall. Appalachian hosts Anderson at 1 p.m. and Belmont Abbey at 3 p.m. in their only Boone meet until January.
PLACE WINNERS
1st: Austin Trotman (184)
2nd: Dominic Parisi (125)
3rd: Mike Kessler (141)
3rd: Kyle Blevins (165)
4th: Savva Kostis (149)
6th: Chris Johnson (133)
6th: Chip Powell (157)
GWU's Guthrie and Ryan Medved Headline a Group of Runnin' Bulldog Grapplers at the 2011 Hokie Open
Salem, Va. - Gardner-Webb redshirt-juniors Justin Guthrie and Ryan Medved each posted multi-wins to headline a group of seven Runnin' Bulldog grapplers at the 2011 Hokie Open in Salem, Va. on Sunday.
Guthrie, who at 165-pounds, went 5-3 overall on the day, took sixth-place overall. Guthrie started his day off with a 10-2 major decision win over Sean Byrnes of Newberry. In his first victory of the day, Guthrie posted three two-point takedowns, a two-point near fall and a reversal to dominate from start to finish.
A one-point escape in the third period would be all that Guthrie would record in his second match, as he dropped a decision to Miles Chapman of Ohio University 8-1, putting the redshirt-junior in the consolation bracket where he went on to use a four-point third period to hold on for a 7-4 decision over Mike Harvey of North Carolina to advance to the consolation quarters.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Guthrie overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score three points on an escape and a two-point takedown to defeat Issaih Meade of Virginia Tech 3-1 and continue through the consolation bracket.
After posting a six second pin over Nick Rex of Campbell in his next match, Guthrie continued his winning ways with a 10-4 win over Patrick Spano of King College, posting four takedowns and one escape in the win.
In the consolation semifinals, Guthrie suffered an 8-2 loss to Johnm Staudenmayer of North Carolina and then a 6-2 defeat to Miles Chapman of Ohio University to finish sixth-place overall at the 165-pound weight class.
After a first round bye at 149-pounds, Ryan Medved recorded an 8-2 win over David Wesley of Virginia in the second round, posting three two-point takedowns, one point on an escape and one point due to riding time in the win.
The redshirt-junior then scored two early two-point takedowns in the first period and a one-point reversal in the third to down Nic Stella of King College 7-2 in the third round, moving Medved into the championship quarterfinals at 149.
Medved would take an early 2-1 lead in the first period of his quarterfinals match, yet would not score again until the third period, as he fell to Nick Murray of Virginia Tech 10-4 to fall into the consolation round.
In his very next bout, Medved tried to overcome a 4-1 deficit by posting three points of his own in the third period, however, an escape by Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech allowed him to escape with a 5-4 decision over Medved, ending his day at 2-2 overall.
Sophomore Alex Hamm also wrestled at 149 for GWU, posting a 2-2 overall record on Sunday. Hamm started the tournament off with a 6-3 win over Lee Shane of The Citadel, recording an escape in the first period and a two-point near fall in period two in the victory.
After suffering a pin in the second round to Liberty's Scott Clymer, Hamm picked up a 2-0 forfeit win over Alex Hudson of Chattanooga to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket. There, Hamm was shutout by Pete Baldwin of Old Dominion University 8-0 to be eliminated from the tournament.
At 133, GWU sophomore Robbie Golde went 0-2 for the day. Golde, who scored a two-point takedown in the first period, suffered an 11-2 major decision loss to Scott Festejo of Old Dominion University in his first match of the day to fall into the consolation bracket. After a bye, Golde battled Justin Branham of Liberty, picking up a two-point reversal in the first-period in a 4-2 loss.
Fellow sophomore Erin O'Dell also went 0-2 at the Hokie Open, as he suffered a fall to Ryan Garringer of Ohio University in the championship prelims, then after a bye, lost a close 8-6 decision to Royal Brettrager of Liberty in the consolation bracket at 184. O'Dell scored five points on a two-point takedown and a three-point near fall in the first period, yet endured the loss because Brettrager held an advantage in riding time.
Wrestling unattached at the event was freshman Ray Farnsworth and redshirt-junior Jason Porter.
Farnsworth went 0-2 at 125-pounds, as he suffered a 4-1 loss to Brian Bokoski of North Carolina in the first round and then lost a close match to Travis Laxton of Newberry 7-4 in the consolation bracket.
At 197, Porter went 1-1 on the day and didn't allow a single point before suffering an injury in the third period of his second match to end his day on Sunday.
In his first round match, Porter used a strong second period, scoring five points by way of an escape, takedown and near fall, to blank Andrew Barksdale of North Carolina 5-0. In his second bout of the day, Porter recorded four points in the third period on a two-point reversal and a two-point near fall to take a 4-0 lead before having to withdraw from the match due to an injury.
Gardner-Webb (1-0) will return to dual match action next Friday night, as the Runnin' Bulldogs will hit the road to take on fell Southern Conference member Chattanooga in GWU's first-ever Southern Conference match. The bout is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
Davidson Wrestling Claims Six Weight Classes at VMI's Rat Rumble
LEXINGTON, Va.. - Led by freshman Kevin Birmingham's two pins and a technical fall, the Davidson wrestling team claimed six of 10 weight classes Saturday at the Rat Rumble hosted by VMI.
Complete results are expected to be made available Monday.
Birmingham was dominant at 141 pounds wrestling in his first collegiate matches. Junior Matt Zarth (125 pounds), freshman Anthony Elias (133), sophomore CT Talevi (157), senior Tyler Mullen (165) and sophomore Scott Patrick (184) also won their repective weight classes. Freshman Ben Hartshorn was second to Elias at 133.
"We wrestled really well but we still made a lot of little mistakes and need to correct them," said head coach Bob Patnesky. "I am really proud of the team for their great performance in the first tournament of the year. It feels really good to start the year off on a positive note."
Camels defeat Anderson (S.C.), fall to Virginia and Virginia Tech to open the 2011-12 campaign
Campbell opened the 2011-12 wrestling season with a team victory over Anderson University (S.C.) and losses to #14 Virginia Tech and #22 Virginia. The Camels began Saturday morning at the Cavalier Duals, defeating Anderson 38-6 in the first match of the day. CU then fell to the host Cavaliers 34-12.
Redshirt senior John Weakley finished the duals with two individual victories, pinning Anderson's Jordan Denmark in 2:16 and taking a 10-7 decision over Virginia's Ryan Malo in the 197 pound weight class.
In the Virginia Tech match, held Saturday evening at the Salem Civic Center, Joey Rizzolino got the Camels on the scoreboard at 141 pounds, winning a 6-5 decision over Jordan O'Donnell. Mark Hartenstine won by decision, 5-1, at 149 pounds and James Cook won by fall in 4:22 at the 174 pound weight class.
Campbell will be back in action on Nov. 18 when the Camels host Southern Conference foe Davidson, followed by South Dakota State at the Pope Convocation Center. The match vs. Davidson will get underway at 5:15 p.m.
Complete results can be found below:
Campbell 38, Anderson 6
125: Josh Fisher (CU) pinned Brad Myers (AU), 2:25; CU 6-0
133: Tanner Bidelspach (CU) dec. Dan Haines (AU), 8-2; CU 9-0
141: Joe Rizzolino (CU) pinned Ian Harper (AU), 1:43; CU 15-0
149: Mark Hartenstine (CU) dec. Dan Telhada (AU), 7-3; CU 18-0
157: Nick Guiliette (AU) dec. Paul Duggan (CU), 11-7; CU 18-3
165: Nick Rex (CU) tech fall Jeffrey Webster (AU), 16-0 (2:41); CU 23-3
174: James Cook (CU) pinned Dalton Harper (AU), :32; CU 29-3
184: John Merickel (CU) dec. Will Sutton (AU), 11-7; CU 32-3
197: John Weakley (CU) pinned Jordan Denmark (AU), 2:14; CU 38-3
285: Chase Duke (AU) dec. Joe Nolan (CU), 4-1 (2TB); CU 38-6
#22 Virginia 34, Campbell 12
125; Josh Fisher (CU) won by forfeit; CU 6-0
133: Matt Nelson (UVa) pinned Tanner Bidelspach (CU), 2:30; 6-6
141: No. 16 Nick Nelson (UVa) tech fall Joey Rizzolino (CU), 19-4 (7:00); UVa 11-6
149: Shawn Harris (UVa) major dec. Mark Hartenstine (CU), 13-0; UVa 15-6
157: Jedd Moore (UVa) major dec. Ryan Krecker (CU), 21-8; UVa 19-6
165: Nick Sulzer (UVa) major dec. Nick Rex (CU), 19-7; UVa 23-6
174: James Cook (CU) dec. Billy Coggins (UVa), 5-3; UVa 23-9
184: # 17 Jon Fausey (UVa) tech fall TeShaun Johnson (CU), 15-0 (3:12); UVa 28-9
197: John Weakley (CU) dec. Ryan Malo (UVa), 10-7; UVa 28-12
285: Derek Papagianopoulos (UVa) pinned Joe Nolan (CU), 2:52; UVa 34-12
#14 Virginia Tech (1-0) 31, Campbell (1-2) 12
125: Erik Spjut (VT) dec. Josh Fisher, 5-4
133: #6 Devin Carter (VT) fall Tanner Bidelspach, 1:39
141: Joey Rizzolino (CU) dec. Jordan O'Donnell, 6-5
149: Mark Hartenstine (CU) dec. Nick Murray, 5-1
157: #7 Jesse Dong (VT) fall Paul Duggan, 2:49
165: #16 Pete Yates (VT) fall Nick Rex, 2:13
174: James Cook (CU) fall Chris Moon, 4:22
184: John Dickson (VT) dec. John Merickel, 7-3
197: Nick Vetterlein (VT) dec. John Weakley, 8-5
285: #19 David Marone (VT) maj. dec. Joe Nolan, 12-4
*rankings according to InterMat