Chattanooga 41, Davidson 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team wrapped up no worse than a tie for its seventh-straight Southern Conference regular season title with a 41-3 win over Davidson today. The Mocs improve to 10-9 overall and are 4-0 in the SoCon after their 34th-consecutive league win.
Davidson (5-11, 0-4 SoCon) started off the day in a big hole, forfeiting the first two matches at 157 and 165 as the Mocs jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Junior Brandon Wright remained undefeated in SoCon action at 4-0 after his 14-7 win over Donald Patrick at 174.
Junior Jason McCroskey increased the lead to 21-0 when he pinned Ike Crews at the 1:10 mark. Another forfeit by the Wildcats at 197 and Chattanooga went up 27-0.
Davidson finally got on the board in the heavyweight match. Mocs sophomore Robert Prigmore has been wrestling up a weight due to an injury to senior Matt Lettner. He gave up a lot of size to Wildcat Charlie Wolf, but put out an excellent effort. Prigmore took the match to overtime before falling 4-1.
Sophomore Prescott Garner put the match away with his 12-1 major decision over Matt Zarth at 125. The next two contests were tough ones for UTC, beginning with junior Demetrius Johnson's 133 bout with Alex Radsky. Johnson is just returning to form following an offseason knee injury and was hitting the mat for just the third time this season. Radsky was tops on the Wildcat squad with a 23-7 record. Johnson came away with a tough 5-3 win.
Senior Cody Cleveland, ranked No. 9 at 141, also had a tough battle against Vitaly Radsky. He needed a late takedown to post a 5-3 decision and move to 10-0 on the year. Sophomore Dean Paylou closed out the afternoon with his 15-6 major decision over Scott Ray.
The Mocs conclude the 2010-11 season next weekend when they host VMI on Senior Day. Match time is set for 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) at Maclellan Gym on Sunday, Feb. 20.
Liberty 28, VMI 13
LEXINGTON, Va. - The VMI wrestling team led 9-5 heading into the matchup at 157 pounds, but was outscored 20-4 the rest of the way as the Liberty Flames secured a 28-13 win over the Keydets Sun., Feb. 13 at the Vines Center.
In the afternoon's first match, VMI (4-8) redshirt-senior John Pope took on Robert Jillard of Liberty. With the match tied at 4-4 after the first period, Pope earned the deciding point at the 35 second mark on an escape and held on the rest of the way to earn the 5-4 decision and improve to 7-10 on the season as VMI took the 3-0 lead in the team score.
Liberty (13-6) took the momentary 5-3 advatnage after freshman Charles Gray was defeated by T.J. Mitchell by a 17-2 technical fall at his first-career match at 133 pounds. Keydet sophomore Ryan Goodsell helped VMI retake the 6-3 lead with his first win of the season, besting Joey Montgomery of Liberty 8-3, shutting out Montgomery 5-0 in the third period to capture the win over Montgomery, who previously held a 14-10 record on the season.
VMI continued its win streak at 149 lbs., as redshirt-senior Michael Long defeated Liberty's Peter Crawford 8-1. After a scoreless first period, Long used a 7-0 second frame as well as a riding-time point in his 10th win of the season as VMI brought its lead to 9-5.
The Flames with then go on an 11-point swing in the next two matches, as Julian Colon earned a 16-1 technical fall over VMI's sophomore Mike Burnett followed by a Chad Porter pin on VMI's Ted Gottwald at 165 lbs. at the one minute mark of the first period as the Flames took a 16-9 lead.
Junior Matt Brock picked up a big win for the Keydets with his third major decision of the year, as he put a halt to the Liberty swing at 174 lbs. against Liberty's Eli Sanchez. Following a Sanchez takedown 1:14 into the period, Brock went on a 15-0 run to take the match 15-2 and move the team score to 16-13.
The Keydet comeback attempt was dealt a big blow at 184 lbs., as sophomore Evan Dill squared off against Aaron Kelly. After a Kelly takedown 24 seconds in, Kelley recorded the pinfall at the 57 second mark of the opening period as the Flames stretched their lead to 22-13 heading into 197 lbs.
197 pounds featured the most entertaining matchup of the day, as sophomore John Dommert wrestled Aaron Thompson. Thompson scored two points on a takedown a minute into the match. Holding a 2-0 lead heading into the third, Dommert earned his first point of the match on an escape with 1:36 remaining in the match. Despite Dommert's efforts in the latter portion of the match, Thompson was able to hang out for the narrow 2-1 victory, icing the Flame victory with only heavyweight remaining.
The heavyweight battled feature VMI freshman Juan Adams in his dual match debut against Liberty's Josh Pelletier, as regular heavyweight Josh Wine served a conference mandated suspension and was ineligible to compete. Adams battled in his first-collegiate dual matchup. After falling behind 2-0 with 1:18 left in the first, the native Texan earned an escape point with 1:42 left in the first. Adams managed to tie the match at 2-2 29 seconds into the second, but Pelletier earned a riding-time point to take the 3-2 victory and bring the score to its final 28-13 score.
The Keydets return to the mat Thurs., Feb. 17, as VMI hosts UNC Greensboro from the Thunder Dome in its final home dual of the season. The match, slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., will have live stats and video available via VMIKeydets.com
Binghamton 31, UNCG 10
Old Dominion 39, UNCG 7
NORFOLK, Va. -Peter Sturgeon continued to impress as he won both of his bouts, but UNCG dropped both of its matches at the Old Dominion duals, 31-10 and 39-7 against Binghamton and Old Dominion, respectively, on Sunday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
UNCG faced off with Binghamton in the first match of the Old Dominion duals.
The Spartans came out of the gates quickly and jumped out to a 6-0 lead. UNCG's Manny Ramirez (125 pounds) squared off with Derek Steeley of Binghamton. Both wrestled to a six-all tie in the first seven minutes of action. Ramirez would score a takedown in the extra period to win the bout, 8-6, and give UNCG a 3-0 lead.
Winston-Salem, N.C. native Jamel Johnson followed in his teammate's footsteps by defeating Dan Riggi of Binghamton, 9-4, in the 133-pound bout.
With UNCG leading 6-0, Binghamton responded in a big way. The Bearcats would control the rest of the afternoon by taking the next seven bouts.
At the 141-pound match, Anwar Goeres shut out UNCG's Michael Crowley, 4-0.
Two ranked wrestlers took the mat at the 149-pound weight class in No. 11 Ronnie Vinson of Binghamton and No. 16 Ivan Lopouchanski of UNCG. Vinson proved too swift of foot and technique as he cruised to an 11-5 victory and handed Lopouchanski a rare loss. The loss was only the eighth time this season Lopouchanski has been beaten.
The Bearcats continued their torrid run as Matt Kaylor defeated Justin Rice of UNCG, 23-9, at the 157-pound bout. Binghamton's Justin Lister (165) pinned Brett Miller in 97 seconds to stretch the Bearcat lead to 10, 16-6.
At 174 pounds, Ryan McGarity and UNCG's Byron Sigmon squared off. Tied at two after seven minutes, McGarity scored a takedown in the second sudden victory to squeak out a 4-2 win.
No. 17 Nate Schidel didn't break a sweat due to an injury default. Bearcats' John Paris got the best of Caylor Williams (197) by scoring a pin in the first period.
Sturgeon continued building on his impressive 2010-11 campaign by scoring a major decision, 13-3, over Daniel Bittner.
UNCG turned around quickly to face Old Dominion and didn't fare much better as the Monarchs downed the Spartans, 39-7.
With the losses, UNCG fell to 5-11 on the season. Binghamton improved to 14-6 and Old Dominion boosted its record to 7-10-1. The 32-point loss to Old Dominion is the largest loss of the year for the Spartans.
Ramirez (125 pounds) had a tough task at hand as he squared off with fourth-ranked James Nicholson, who is undefeated on the season, in the evening's first bout. Nicholson lived up to the hype as he made quick work of Ramirez by scoring a 21-5 technical fall.
Coach Jason Loukides sent Johnson to the mat to face No. 12 Kyle Hutter at the 133-pound bout. Hutter was able to score a pin in the waning seconds of the second period to give the Monarchs an 11-0 lead.
At 141 pounds, Crowley faced the same fate as Johnson, as Old Dominion's Brennan Brumley pinned Crowley at the 3:39 mark.
Lopouchanski got UNCG onto the scoreboard by winning his 33rd match of the year by pinning Old Dominion's Scott Festejo after 5 minutes, 37 seconds of wrestling.
The Monarchs would win the next three bouts. Jayk Cobbs scored a major decision over Rice, 11-2, at the 157-pound class.
Dan Rivera pinned UNCG's Miller after 7:58. Shortly after the match, UNCG was deducted two points after flagrant misconduct as Old Dominion led 27-4.
At 174 pounds, Byron Sigmon lost another heartbreaker, 3-1, to Tristan Warner. The Monarchs' Joe Budi won thanks to a forfeit at the 184-pound class.
Both teams split the final two bouts as UNCG's Williams fell 2-1 to Jacob Henderson, but Sturgeon responded by winning 5-2 over Grant Chapman.
UNCG returns to action on Thursday when it travels to VMI for its final Southern Conference match of the season. The first match is set to start at 7:30 p.m.