Spartans lose heartbreaker to Chattanooga, 20-18
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG electrified its home crowd by taking four of the first five matches capped off by an impressive showing from Ivan Lopouchanski (149 pounds), who pinned Alex Hudson of Chattanooga in the second period. But, the Mocs would win the next four bouts and squeak out a 20-18 victory over the Spartans in a first place battle in Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Fleming Gymnasium.
Chattanooga continued their dominance in the SoCon by winning its 32nd consecutive conference bout and 14th straight against UNCG. With the win, Chattanooga improved to 8-9 in dual matches and moved to 2-0 in the SoCon. UNCG dropped its second straight match and saw its record slip to 5-9 and received its first blemish in conference play falling to 3-1.
The match would start off at the heavyweight class. UNCG's Peter Sturgeon took on Chattanooga's Robert Prigmore. Sturgeon took advantage of two takedowns and an escape to claim a 5-2 decision and give UNCG a 3-0 lead.
Coach Jason Loukides tabbed Manny Ramirez (125) to tangle with Prescott Garner. Ramirez and Garner found themselves tied at five after two periods. Fayetteville native, Ramirez, brought the crowd to its feet with a swift take down as he held on to win 7-6 and stretch the Spartans lead to 6-0.
Jamel Johnson and Demetrius Johnson faced off in the 133-pound class and were locked up at zeroes after the first period. Chattanooga chose bottom to start the second period, which allowed Demetrius Johnson to get an escape and lead 1-0. Jamel Johnson responded with two takedowns and moved to 4-0 in SoCon competition as he won 4-2 giving UNCG a 9-0 lead.
The Mocs Cody Cleveland got his team on the board by handling UNCG's Michael Crowley. Cleveland collected 12-points via near fall as he won by technical fall, 17-2.
At 149 pounds, No. 17 Ivan Lopouchanski collected his 32th win on the year with a phenomenal performance against Alex Hudson. Lopouchanski proved too stiff of a challenge for Hudson as he scored a quick takedown in the second period that led to a pin at the 4:14 mark. With the win, UNCG held its largest lead of the day at 15-5.
Chattanooga responded by taking the next four bouts.
UNCG's Justin Rice (157) would lose a tight one to the Mocs Josh Condon, 8-6.
Chattanooga continued its charge as Dan Waddell got the better of Brett Miller in the 165-pound bout and claimed a 6-4 victory.
At 174 pounds, Brandon Wright squeaked by UNCG's Byron Sigmon, 3-2.
With UNCG leading by one, 15-14, Elijah Adams and UTC's Jason McCroskey faced off. McCroskey wasted no time as he scored two takedowns and a near fall within the first minute and a half of the bout. Eventually, McCroskey pinned Adams with 15 seconds remaining in the first period.
As the last bout started, UNCG needed a technical fall from Caylor Williams to tie or a pin to win as it trailed 20-15. Williams scored an early takedown on Niko Brown to bring the Spartan faithful to their feet. However, Brown refused to get pinned an energized Williams. Williams used multiple takedowns on his way to a 7-3 victory.
UNCG returns to action when they travel to Norfolk, Va. for the ODU duals on Feb. 13. UNCG will face Old Dominion and Binghamton. Chattanooga will entertain Davidson next Sunday at 2 p.m.
Chattanooga 20, UNCG 18
HWT: Peter Sturgeon (UNCG) dec. Robert Prigmore (UTC), 5-2
125: Manny Ramirez (UNCG) dec. Prescott Garner (UTC), 7-6
133: Jamel Johnson (UNCG) dec. Demetrius Johnson (UTC), 4-2
141: Cody Cleveland (UTC) tech. fall Michael Crowley (UNCG), 17-2
149: Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG) fall Alex Hudson (UTC), 4:14
157: Josh Condon (UTC) dec. Justin Rice (UNCG), 8-6
165: Dan Waddell (UTC) dec. Brett Miller (UNCG), 6-4
174: Brandon Wright (UTC) dec. Byron Sigmon (UNCG), 3-2
184: Jason McCroskey (UTC) fall Elijah Adams (UNCG), 2:45
197: Caylor Williams (UNCG) dec. Niko Brown (UTC), 7-3
ASU Wrestling Defeated by Chattanooga 27-10
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University wrestling (6-9-1, 0-3 SoCon) dropped its third Southern Conference dual of the season to Chattanooga (9-9, 3-0 SoCon) on Sunday afternoon in front of a spirited crowd at Varsity Gym.
Things got under way in the SoCon dual at 149 with junior Savva Kostis (Boone, N.C./Watauga) getting on the mat for the first time in the second half of the season against Dean Pavlou. Pavlou tallied two takedowns and an escape before Kostis was able to get on the board via an escape in the second period to bring the match to 5-1 in favor of Pavlou. Kostis fought back by notching two escapes and a reversal, but fell to Pavlou, 12-7 to give the Mocs a 3-0 advantage.
Sophomore John Blakely (Birmingham, Ala./Oak Mountain) faced off with Kelly Felix in the second bout of the afternoon at 157. Felix only held a 2-0 lead after the first period and escaped to start the second. Blakely got on the board with an escape, but Felix escaped again and tallied a takedown to go ahead 7-1. Blakely put together a reversal and an escape to close the gap to 7-4. That would be as close as Blakely would get as he fell to Felix 14-7, allowing UTC to move their team lead to 6-0.
At 165, junior Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) took care of Dan Waddell, 5-2. After a scoreless first period, Blevins earned a two-point near fall in the second, but Waddell nailed a reversal to tie things up at 2-2. Since Waddell garnered a stalling warning in the first period, Blevins was awarded an additional point to put him up 3-2 with Waddell being issued another stalling call. Blevins escaped in the third and with 1:05 worth of riding time at the end of the match, Blevins took the decision and gave the Apps three team-points to bring the match to 6-3. With the decision, the #15 ranked wrestler earned his career-high 30th win of the season and broke into the single-season win list. Blevins' decision was also the 76th win of his career and needs six victories to break into the career wins list.
Chattanooga's Brandon Wright, who was ranked #33 this week by Wrestling Report, controlled the 174 match and proved to be too much for junior Carter Downs (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian) as he recorded a 14-5 major decision to extend the Mocs' team lead to 10-3.
Redshirt junior Austin Trotman (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) got things started quickly in the 184 bout against #19 Jason McCroskey, scoring a takedown seconds into the match. McCroskey escaped and then Trotman took down McCroskey again to go ahead 4-1. From there on out it was all Trotman as the #21 ranked wrestler earned a 15-6 major decision to close the Moc advantage to10-7. With the decision though, Trotman moves into a tie with Amaro Lamar (1984-87) for sixth all-time for career wins with 83.
Chattanooga widened the margin heavily back into its favor after snatching the 197 match away from the Mountaineers via a Niko Brown 14-5 major decision over sophomore Jon Hartley (Lenoir, N.C./South Caldwell), moving the team score to 14-7.
Freshman Marc Tyson (Monroe, N.J./Monroe Township) was able to kill the Moc momentum in the heavyweight battle as he took a 2-1 decision over Robert Prigmore. With the first period going scoreless, Tyson was able to scratch the scoreboard with an escape to start the second period. Prigmore escaped to tie things up in the third, but a critical illegal hold was called against the Mocs allowing the Mountaineers to tally a single point for the call, putting Tyson up 2-1. Despite getting a stalling call to end the match, Appalachian closed the Moc advantage up to 14-10.
With momentum knocking on the ASU's door and a chance to earn its first lead of the dual, sophomore Tony Gravely (Martinsville, Va./Magna Vista) started off with a takedown of Prescott Garner at 125 to take a 2-0 advantage, but in the blink of an eye, Garner pinned Gravely in 24 seconds to expand the Moc lead to 20-10.
At 133, sophomore Brett Boston (Morganton, N.C./Freedom) took on Demetrius Johnson. It was all UTC until Boston earned a second period escape to close Johnson's lead to 5-1. Johnson took down Boston again, but Boston countered with an escape to bring the match to 7-2 to open the third period. Johnson brought down Boston again, but Boston escaped. Boston tallied a takedown of his own, but due to riding time, Johnson tallied the decision, 10-5, putting the dual out of reach for Appalachian.
In the final match of the afternoon, #9 Cody Cleveland controlled the match from beginning to end and never allowed junior Mike Kessler (Bay City, Mich./Western) to get ahead, scoring a 12-1 major decision and finalizing UTC's third SoCon win of the season, 27-10.
The Mountaineers travel to VMI searching for their first SoCon victory of the season on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
ASU 10, Chattanooga 27
125: Prescott Garner (Chatt) fall Tony Gravely (ASU) :24
133: Demetrius Johnson (Chatt) dec. Brett Boston (ASU), 10-5
141: Cody Cleveland (Chatt) major dec. Mike Kessler, 12-1
149: Dean Pavlou (Chatt) dec. Savva Kostis (ASU), 12-7
157: Kelly Felix (Chatt) dec. John Blakley (ASU), 14-7
165: Kyle Blevins (ASU) dec. Dan Waddell (Chatt), 5-2
174: Brandon Wright (Chatt) major dec. Carter Downs (ASU), 14-5
184: Austin Trotman (ASU) major dec. Jason McCroskey (Chatt), 15-6
Luvsandorj and Smith Win Titles, The Citadel Takes Second at All-Academy Championships
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Wrestling team took home second place at the 17th annual All-Academy Championships on Sunday at McAlister Field House.
The Bulldogs improved on their third place finish a season ago by sending six wrestlers into the finals and taking home individual titles by top-seeded Turtogtokh Luvsandorj at 165 pounds and by second-seeded Kelby Smith at 197 pounds.
The Citadel advanced nine wrestlers in the opening round, the most of any squad to take an early team lead. In the semifinal round, six Bulldogs won to reserve a spot in the finals, while three others rallied into the consolation brackets to advance to the third place championship matches.
Luvsandorj, who is ranked No. 6 in the country, was voted the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament as voted on by the head coaches. He downed Army's Jake Vetter, 5-2 in the championship match after posting an identical score against Merchant Marine's Vincent Renaut in the semifinals. The sophomore now has 34 wins on the season.
Smith, who was the second seed, won all three of his matches by decision including a tight one with Army's Daniel Mills in the semifinals, winning 3-2. In the final match, Smith's late second period takedown proved to be the difference as he ousted Navy's Peter Huntley with a 5-3 win to capture the crown.
Taking second place was Richard Alarcon at 125 pounds, his best finish at this event. Navy's Aaron Kalil proved to be too much for the junior at he fell 10-1 in the championship match. Derek Roysterheld off a late rally by Air Force's Josh Kreimier in the semifinal to advance, but couldn't fend off top-seeded Daniel Young of Army in the final match.
Also capturing second place was J.C. Oddo at 174, who never recovered from hard takedown by top-seeded Matt DeMichiel of Navy. Justin Sparrow had perhaps one of the most exciting matches of the day in the semifinal round when he took down Air Force's Kazden Ikehara in overtime for the sudden victory win to advance. The Midshipmen's Luke Rebertus was all over the Bulldog in the final though as he fell, 12-1.
Other placers for The Citadel included a third place finish by Pierre Frazile at 157 pounds. He led most of his semifinal match against Army's Jimmy Rafferty, but the Black Knight put in a furious rally to win, 10-9. Frazile then fought through the consolation bracket and defeated Merchant Marine's Dan Twito in the third place match, 3-2. Jordan Dix and Tyler Sim both finished in fourth place at 141 pounds and 133 pounds respectively.
Navy won the overall title for the sixth time in the last seven years for the record 10th team title. The Citadel finished in second, followed by Army and Air Force.
The Citadel Results by Weight Class
125: Richard Alarcon (CIT) fall Robby Zyko (Norwich), 2:15
125: Richard Alarcon (CIT) dec. Travis Coffey (Army), 4-0
125: Aaron Kalil (NAVY) major dec. Richard Alarcon (CIT), 10-1
Alarcon places second
133: Tyler Sim (CIT) dec. Pat Graham (MMA), 8-4
133: Allen Stein (NAVY) dec. Tyler Sim (CIT), 7-3
133: Tyler Sim (CIT) dec. Luke Todd (VMI), 3-1
133: Connor Hanafee (ARMY) dec. Tyler Sim (CIT), 5-2
Sim places fourth
141: Jordan Dix (CIT) pinned James Beshada (MMA), 3:10
141: Dustin Haislip (NAVY) fall Jordan Dix (CIT), 2:30
141: Jordan Dix (CIT) maj. dec. Scott Coull (CGA), 19-7
141: Cole VonOhlen (AFA) med. for. Jordan Dix (CIT)
Dix places fourth
149: Derek Royster (CIT) tech. fall Angel Serrano (CGA), 18-2
149: Derek Royster (CIT) dec. Josh Kreimier (AFA), 9-8
149: Daniel Young (ARMY) major dec. Derek Royster (CIT), 11-0
Royster places second
157: Pierre Frazile (CIT) tech. fall Angel Serrano (CGA), 18-2
157: Jimmy Rafferty (ARMY) dec. Pierre Frazile, 10-9
157: Pierre Frazile (CIT) dec. Andy Snyder (CGA), 3-2
157: Pierre Frazile (CIT) dec. Dan Twitto (MMA), 3-2
Frazile places third
165: Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) fall Mike Babbin (NOR), 2:14
165: Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) dec. Vincent Renaut (MMA), 5-2
165: Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) dec. Jake Vetter (ARMY), 5-2
Luvsandorj wins title
174: J.C. Oddo (CIT) fall Ryan Tompkins (Army), 1:42
174: J.C. Oddo (CIT) dec. Justin Diesel (MMA), 4-2
174: Matt DeMichiel (NAVY) fall J.C. Oddo (CIT), 2:11
Oddo places second
184: Justin Sparrow (CIT) major dec. Mike Gorman (ARMY), 9-0
184: Justin Sparrow (CIT) dec. Kazden Ikehara (AFA), 3-1 SV1
184: Luke Rebertus (NAVY) major dec. Justin Sparrow (CIT), 12-1
Sparrow places second
197: Kelby Smith (CIT) dec. Evan Dill (VMI), 11-4
197: Kelby Smith (CIT) dec. Daniel Mills (ARMY), 3-2
197: Kelby Smith (CIT) dec. Peter Huntley (NAVY), 5-3
Smith wins title
HWT: Jared Erickson (AFA) maj. dec. Luke Johnson (CIT), 12-4
HWT: Luke Johnson (CIT) fall John Manganiello (CGA), 2:50
HWT: Judd Connell (MMA) maj. dec. Luke Johnson (CIT), 10-2
Team Results
Navy - 117.5
The Citadel - 86.5
Army - 82.5
Air Force - 64
Merchant Marine - 36.5
VMI - 22.5
Coast Guard - 3.5
Norwich - 1.5
The Citadel returns to action on Tuesday, Feb 15 when they travel to Raleigh, N.C for a dual with NC State at 7 p.m. For more information on Bulldog Wrestling, visit CitadelSports.com.
Wine Captures Heavyweight Title, Keydets Take Sixth at All-Academy Championships
CHARLESTON, S.C.- VMI senior heavyweight Josh Wine became the first Keydet since Sam Alavrenga in 2007 to take home an individual title at the All-Academy Championships, compiling a perfect 3-0 record on the day to capture the heavyweight title Sun, Feb. 6 in Charleston, S.C.. Junior Matt Brock was the other Keydet to place on the day, taking fourth at 174 lbs. as the Keydets placed sixth as a team with 22.5 team points.
Wine began his day by making quick work of the Coast Guard Academy's John Manganiello, as he took the victory via pinfall at the 1:17 mark for Wine's second pin of the season. In the second round, Wine battled fourth-seeded Jared Erickson of the Air Force Academy, winning the bout 5-2 to advance to the championship match against third-seeded Dan Miller of Navy. In the championship bout, the Keydet heavyweight opened up a 2-0 lead after a first period takedown, and after Miller earned an escape point early in period two, Wine added another takedown late in the second period to earn a 4-1 lead.
Wine would go on to add a pair of escape points in the third period to take the match and the championship, 6-2. With the perfect day, Wine now holds a record of 14-4 on the season.
At 174 lbs, Brock's day began with a loss to top-seeded Matt DeMichiel of Navy by a major decision, 11-2. However, Brock bounced back in the consolation bracket with a 5-3 win over Chris Schenk of Norwich, followed by a 1-0 decision victory over Justin Diesel of the Merchant Marine Academy 1-0 to advance to the third-place match. Brock battled in the match against Ryan Tompkins of Army, but ultimately dropped the decision 5-3 to go 2-2 on the competition.
Junior David Yost was the only other Keydet to win a match in the championship round. Yost defeated Tyler Carstarphen by a 15-0 technical fall in his first match of the day before falling to eventual champion Casey Thome of Army and third-place finisher Cole VonOhlen to end his day with a 1-2 mark at 141 lbs.
VMI returns to action on Fri., Feb. 11, as the Keydets host SoCon opponent Appalachian State at 7:30 p.m. from the Thunder Dome. Live stats, as well as video, will be available.