Appalachian State places three at Keystone Classic

PHILADELPHIA – Appalachian State’s wrestling team captured some key victories and placed three as the Mountaineers concluded the 2012 Keystone Classic, hosted by Pennsylvania, on Sunday at The Palestra.

With the three place-winners, the Mountaineers finished in 12th place with 44 points, finishing above ACC opponent NC State and Southern Conference foe VMI.

Redshirt sophomore Dominic Parisi continued to impress, coming off an injury-shortened 2011-12 season. Parisi captured third place at 125 pounds, becoming the highest-finishing Mountaineer in the field for the day. The Concord, N.C., native earned a pin in his first match of the afternoon but later fell to No. 6 seed Dominick Malone of Northwestern.

Parisi followed the loss with four straight victories, including wins over No. 4-seeded William Watterson (Brown) and No. 5-seeded David Terao (American). The redshirt sophomore is 12-2 on the young season.

After falling to top-seeded Lee Munster (Northwestern) in his opening match at 174 pounds, sophomore Colin Hedash worked his way through the consolation bracket with three straight wins. Hedash highlighted the run with an 8-0 major decision over eighth-seeded Giuseppi Lanzi (Brown).

Hedash clinched fifth place after winning by forfeit over fifth-seeded Keithen Cast (American).

Redshirt sophomore Paul Weiss started his tournament run on a high note, capturing an 8-2 decision over Urayoan Garcia (VMI) at 197 pounds. Weiss followed the victory with a loss to second-seeded Conner Hartmann from Duke.

In the consolation bracket, Weiss rattled off two more victories, including an 8-2 decision over sixth-seeded Donald McNeil (Rider). Weiss fell in a 4-2 decision for fifth place to Duke's Brian Self.

One of the bigger wins of the day came from sophomore Jesse Johnson, who eliminated top-seeded Diego Bencomo (Duke) with a hard-fought 9-8 decision at 184 pounds. With the win, Johnson was given the nearly impossible task of trying to eliminate both top seeds, but came up short as second-seeded Ophir Bernstein of Brown knocked out Johnson in his next bout.

Redshirt freshman Zack Strickland (165 pounds) and sophomore Joe Cummings (heavyweight) each added two wins apiece, and Chris Johnson (141 pounds), Nick Vetell (174 pounds) and freshman Travis Morgan (heavyweight) all chipped in with a victory.

The Mountaineers take some time off and will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 4, when they open Southern Conference play at home against Gardner-Webb. The dual match is set for 6:30 p.m. at Varsity Gym.

 

VMI wraps up competition at Keystone Classic

PHILADELPHIA – Against one of the toughest fields ever at the Keystone Classic, hosted by University of Pennsylvania, the Virginia Military Institute wrestling team wrapped up action Sunday afternoon at The Palestra.

The Keydets, who were managing through injuries as well as the Institute’s Ring Figure events this weekend, waded through a field that featured 15 teams, including last year’s team champion and currently 13th-ranked Northwestern. Teams came from all over the East Coast, in addition to a West Coast school in Cal Poly.

As a team, the Keydets finished 15th with nine team points. Northwestern was crowned the team champion, locking up 156 points, while host Pennsylvania grabbed 102.5 points. Rider took third (91.0).

Zeb Stewart led the way for the Keydets, collecting a trio of victories at 149 pounds. Stewart opened the day with a 5-3 decision over Charles Lynch of the host school, followed by a 9-0 major decision over Indiana’s Geno Capezio.

Stewart fell 12-3 in the third round of the championship bracket to second-seeded Josh Roosa of Bloomsburg but rebounded in the third round of the consolation bracket. Stewart’s day came to a conclusion against third-seeded Marcus Cain of Duke in a 9-2 decision.

Ryan Goodsell picked up a pair of wins at 141 pounds during his time at the Classic. Falling in the first round by the narrowest of margins, a 4-2 sudden victory, Goodsell rebounded in the consolations, defeating Princeton’s 10-4, followed by a 5-2 decision against Northwestern’s Colin Shober.

At 197 pounds, Urayoan Garcia dropped his opening round match 8-2 against Paul Weiss of Appalachian State but came back in the first round of the consolations with a third-round win by fall over American’s Devon Bradley. Garcia was eliminated in the next round, however, as he was pinned by Duke’s Brian Self.

In the 125-pound division, a pair of Keydet teammates clashed in the first round of the consolations. After dropping their first matches of the day, Armando Herrera-Dos Reis and Andy Pitts faced one another for the first time outside of the wrestling room on Post. Herrera-Dos Reis got the better of his teammate, 4-1.

 

Gardner-Webb pair takes first at King College Open

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Led by redshirt sophomore Justin Kozera and freshman Kyle Ash’s first-place finishes, the Runnin’ Bulldogs had five grapplers place in the top three in their respective weight classes on Sunday at the King College Open.

Kozera (4-0), who wrestled unattached, posted four straight wins after a first-round bye to take first place overall at 285 pounds.  Kozera pinned Garrett Fosdyck of King College at 6:22 in the finals to record the first-place finish.

Like Kozera, Ash (4-0), who also wrestled unattached, was perfect on the day, posting a pin in the first round, a tech fall win in the quarterfinals and then back-to-back decisions in his final bouts on his way to a first-place finish at 165 pounds.

Fellow freshman Boyce Cornwell (3-1) battled his way to the finals at 197 pounds, registering three straight decisions before surrendering a heartbreaking 8-6 sudden victory loss to Joe Grisko of Newberry in the finals to finish in second place overall.

Posting third-place finishes on the day were newcomers Austin Trott (3-1) at 157 pounds and Hunter Gamble (3-1) at 174 pounds.

Trott, who recorded a tech fall win in the first round, bounced back from a quarterfinals loss by way of a pin to John Austi Jones of King College to sweep through the consolation bracket with three straight fall victories before defeating Jones in the third-place match by way of a 15-2 major decision win.

Gamble, who suffered his lone loss of the day in the championship semifinals, finished his day with two straight wins as he defeated Tj Cayruth of Newberry 7-0 for third place overall at 174 pounds.

Just missing out on the top three at 141 pounds was freshman Ryan Mosley (4-2). Mosley, who took fourth place overall on Sunday, recorded a pin and a tech fall win in two of his four victories on the day.

Redshirt freshman Josh Burns (1-2) and newcomer Joseph Evans (1-2), who wrestled unattached, both went 1-2 overall on the day at 165 pounds, while fellow freshman Alex White (0-2), who wrestled unattached, competed at 125 pounds.

Gardner-Webb (1-1) will jump back into dual meet action Monday as the Runnin’ Bulldogs will host Belmont Abbey at 7 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.

 

Campbell splits at Hokie Duals

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Campbell swept Manchester (0-3) 44-0 before falling to No. 25 Wisconsin (2-2) 35-7 at the Hokie Duals on Sunday at Cassel Coliseum to move to 1-4 on the season.

Campbell posted individual wins in each of the 10 weight classes against Manchester, including four pins and two major decisions. Tanner Bidelspach (133 pounds), Cody Ryba (174 pounds) and Matt Cox (184 pounds) earned wins without giving up a point to their opponents. In his season debut, Mark Hartenstine (149 pounds) pinned Manchester’s Bryce Roberts in 30 seconds.

Freshmen Eric Montoya (125 pounds) and Taylor McGiffen (184 pounds) recorded wins against the Badgers to lead the Fighting Camels in their second match of the day. Montoya posted a major decision over Matt Cavallaris, 15-2, while McGiffen earned a decision over Dylan Iczkowski, 5-2.  Other Campbell grapplers fell in three major decisions and two pins, two decisions and a technical fall.

Campbell will travel for the next three competitions. On Dec. 2, the Fighting Camels will visit University Park, Pa., to compete in the Nittany Lion Open. The team will then make the trip to Reno, Nev., to face several opponents in the Reno Tournament of Champions. To round out their road trip, the Camels will compete at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2. in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Campbell (1-3) 44, Manchester (0-2) 0
125: Eric Montoya (CAM, 7-3) fall Taylor Hart, 5:56
133: Tanner Bidelspach (CAM, 5-4) maj. dec. Caleb Jackson, 11-0
141: Gabe Gardner (CAM, 1-3) dec. Josh Juarez, 5-2
149: Mark Hartenstine (CAM, 1-0) fall Bryce Roberts, 0:30
157: Brad Merriman (CAM, 4-3) dec. Chuck Holmquest, 11-4
165: Paul Duggan (CAM, 5-4) fall Aaron Bullock, 1:55
174: Cody Ryba (CAM, 5-3) maj. dec. David Stevens, 10-0
184: Matt Cox (CAM, 5-2) dec. Chad Ulmer, 4-0
197: John Merickel (CAM, 3-5) fall Ray Wajada, 6:24
285: Joe Nolan (CAM, 1-0) dec. Jimmie King, 2-1

#25 Wisconsin (2-1) 35, Campbell (1-4) 7
125: Eric Montoya (CAM, 8-3) maj. dec. Matt Cavallaris, 15-2
133: Tom Kelliher  dec. Tanner Bidelspach (CAM, 5-5), 3-0
141: #4 Tyler Graff tech fall Jordan Tolbert (CAM, 0-1), 22-7 (3:09)
149: Cole Schmitt maj. dec. Mark Hartenstine (CAM, 1-1), 9-1
157: Calvin York fall Brad Merriman (CAM, 5-3), 3:42
165: Frank Cousins dec. Paul Duggan (CAM, 5-5), 10-4
174: Scott Liegel maj. dec. Cody Ryba (CAM, 5-4), 10-2
184: Taylor McGiffen (CAM, 2-2) dec. Dylan Iczkowski, 5-2
197: Jackson Hein maj. dec. John Merickel (CAM, 3-6), 12-4
285: #12 Connor Medberry fall  Joe Nolan (CAM, 1-1), 2:59