Old Dominion 31, Campbell 7
Navy 23, Campbell 9
BUIES CREEK - Old Dominion defeated Campbell 31-7 on Saturday afternoon inside Gilbert Craig Gore Arena. Joey Rizzolino (Easton, Penn.) and John Weakley (Cleveland, Ohio) picked up individual wins for the Fighting Camels.
Rizzolino took a 14-5 major decision over Scott Festejo at 133 pounds to move to 8-9 individually this season. Weakley captured his 21st individual win with a 4-2 decision over Joe Budi. The redshirt senior had a takedown with less than ten seconds remaining in the third period to earn the win.
Old Dominion 31, Campbell 7
125: Jerome Robinson (ODU) major dec. Chance Credeur (CU) 12-1
133: Joey Rizzolino (CU) major dec. Scott Festejo (ODU) 14-5
141: Taylor Moeder (ODU) dec. Jordan Tolbert (CU) 6-1
149: Brennan Brumley (ODU) pinned Mark Hartenstine (CU) 1:01
157: John Nicholson (ODU) major dec. Nick Rex (CU) 18-5
165: Tristan Warner (ODU) major dec. Paul Duggan (CU) 13-3
174: Te Edwards (ODU) dec. James Cook (CU) 7-3
184: Billy Curling (ODU) major dec. Matt Cox (CU) 14-2
197: John Weakley (CU) dec. Joe Budi (ODU) 4-2
285: Matt Tourdot (ODU) dec. Joe Nolan (CU) 3-2
Campbell took three of the final five bouts while falling to Navy 23-9 on Saturday night. Navy improves to 5-6 overall after defeating UNC earlier in the day while Campbell falls to 9-14 on the season.
Paul Duggan and James Cook recorded back-to-back 9-8 decisions at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively. Duggan outlasted Michael Brant to get the Camels on the scoreboard before Cook defeated Peter Huntley.
John Weakley earned his second win of the day by earning a 13-6 decision over Paul Rands. Weakley moves to 22-7 on the season individually. The Camels also dropped two individual matches by a single point and one match by two points.
Campbell returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Boiling Springs, N.C. The Camels will wrestle SoCon rival Gardner-Webb in a league matchup at 11 a.m. before taking on Millersville.
Navy 23, Campbell 9
125: Tyler Sackett (Navy) major dec. Chance Credeur 9-1
133: Aaron Kalil (Navy) dec. Joey Rizzolino (CU) 4-3
141: Dustin Haislip (Navy) dec. Jordan Tolbert (CU) 9-5
149: Peyton Walsh (Navy) dec. Mark Hartenstine (CU) 9-5
157: Bobby Barnhisel (Navy) dec. Nick Rex (CU) 11-9
165: Paul Duggan (CU) dec. Michael Brant (Navy) 9-8
174: James Cook (CU) dec. Peter Huntley (Navy) 9-8
184: #13 Luke Rebertus (Navy) major dec. John Merickel (CU) 14-6
197: John Weakley (CU) dec. Paul Rands (Navy) 13-6
285: Daniel Miller (Navy) dec. Joe Nolan (CU) 2-1
Appalachian's Strickland, Johnson Win at Appalachian Open
BOONE, N.C. - Freshmen Zack Strickland (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) and Jesse Johnson (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson) captured their first collegiate titles as Appalachian State University wrestling played host to the Second Annual Appalachian Open on Saturday in Varsity Gymnasium. In total, eight Mountaineers secured spots as place winners, having finished in the top four of their respective weights.
Strickland upset top-seeded John Lampe in the 165-pound semifinal, 7-4, to advance to the title bout. In the final, he squared off against Kenneth Radford of The Citadel, and after seven minutes of wrestling, the championship match was tied, 3-3.
After a scoreless minute in the first sudden victory, the first tiebreakers featured Strickland taking a 6-3 lead on an escape and takedown, but Radford responded in kind, sending the pair to a second tiebreaker period. In the end, Strickland triumphed with a takedown, avenging a prior 5-3 loss in November with an 8-6 title-winning victory.
Johnson captured the 184-pound crown in more routine, but no less dramatic, fashion. In his quarterfinal match, he trailed Campbell's Cody Ryba 2-6 in the second period but was able to secure a pin in 4:27. His semifinal match played out similarly, as he was down 1-4 after the first and, after UNC Pembroke's Stuart Nadeau elected to start defensively, Johnson capitalized 54 seconds later with his second fall.
Johnson opened up a 5-0 lead early in his championship bout and, though Mateo Rojas (Spartanburg Methodist) closed the gap to 5-3, the Mountaineer answered to take an 11-3 advantage en route to an eventual 16-8 victory.
Senior Weston Haney (Robbinsville, N.C./Robbinsville) was a finalist at 125 pounds but was downed 12-7 by top seed Ty Mitch of Virginia Tech.
In another Hokie-Mountaineer championship showdown, freshman 133-pounder Joe Morrison (Apex, N.C./Panther Creek) was upended by VT's Jarrod Garnett, 11-5.
ASU's fifth finalist was Colin Hedash (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) who cruised to a spot in the 174-pound final as the top-seed but came up short against the No. 2 seed of Stephen Doty from Virginia, 12-1.
Appalachian added two third place finishes from sophomore Chris Johnson (Hillsborough, N.C./Robert L. Patton) (133) and classmate Riley Keen (Dunwoody, Ga./Dunwoody) (141). The Black and Gold's final place winner was Brock Durfee (Sherrills Ford, N.C./Bandys), who took fourth at 285 pounds.
The Mountaineers finished the day with eight placewinners, tied with Virginia Tech for most among the 16 represented teams. The open-meet format allowed Appalachian to enter many of its red-shirt and non-starter wrestlers, affording them an opportunity to compete in the spring semester.
Appalachian State returns to action on Sun., Feb. 5 when the team heads to Chattanooga to face the Mocs in a dual of the SoCon's undefeated teams. The match will be critical in determingin the Southern Conference's regular-season dual meet champion. A fan bus is being provided for those interested in attending the 2 p.m. match.
GWU's Reilly and Salyer Each Post Fourth-Place Finishes at the 2012 Appalachian Open
Boone, N.C. - Wrestling unattached, Gardner-Webb freshman Scott Reilly and senior Blake Salyer each earned a fourth-place finish at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively, to highlight the Runnin' Bulldogs day at the 2012 Appalachian Open in Boone, N.C.
Reilly bounced back from a first round fall to Dominick Vetell of Appalachian State to earn a pin of his own over Kwame Seymour of Belmont Abbey in the consolation bracket. Reilly then recorded his second fall of the day at 1:31 over Kyle Koppen of Newberry to advance to take on Vetell once more. This time, Reilly defeated Vetell 6-2 to advance to the consolation finals where he suffered a 10-4 loss to Trey Adamson of Duke to finish the day at 3-2 and fourth-place overall.
After a first round 11-2 major decision loss to Conner Hartmann of Duke, Salyer posted back-to-back 4-1 wins over Josh Lewis of Limestone and Darren Hankins of Virginia Tech to advance to the finals of the consolation bracket. In the third-place bout, Salyer faced off with Hartmann once more, this time falling 9-2 to finish the day at 2-2 overall and in fourth-place at 197 pounds.
At 125 pounds, both freshman Ray Farnsworth and sophomore Jake Reinemund competed for the Runnin' Bulldogs, with their two paths meeting in the consolation bracket.
Farnsworth led off his day with a fall at 4:50 over Patrick Mestrez of Belmont Abbey to advance to the second round where he suffered a 7-3 loss to Weston Haney of Appalachian State to fall into the consolation bracket.
Reinemund bounced back from a first round fall to Danny Suite of West Virginia Tech to post a pin of his own at 4:18 over Yaro Radstevich of Spartanburg Methodist to stay alive in the consolation bracket.
There Farnsworth and Reinemund met up, as Farnsworth earned a quick pin at 23 seconds over Reinemund to continue his day and end Reinemund's day at 1-2 overall.
Farnsworth then edged Tyquian English of Limestone with a 5-4 decision, before taking a medical forfeit in his next match to finish his day at 3-2 overall.
Fellow freshman Matt Kowalski also competed for the Runnin' Bulldogs, as he went 0-2 on the day at 165 pounds.
Gardner-Webb will return to dual match action next Saturday, February 4th, as the Runnin' Bulldog grapplers will host both Campbell and Millersville at Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C. The match is slated to begin at 11 a.m.