The
Citadel competes at Hokie Open
SALEM,
Va. – A second-place finish by redshirt freshman Undrakhbayar "Ugi"
Khishignyam along with a pair of third-place finishes by preseason
all-conference team members Turtogtokh Luvsandorj and Odie Delaney highlighted
an impressive start to the 2012-13 season for The Citadel wrestling team on
Sunday at the Hokie Open.
En route to his second-place finish, Khishignyam downed the No. 9-ranked
wrestler in the country, Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech), with a fall at the 6:59
mark before beating the 2012 Southern Conference champion at the 141-pound
weight class in Chattanooga's Dean Pavlou, by an 8-3 decision.
In the heavyweight division, returning SoCon champion Delaney dominated
his first match, taking just 35 seconds to pin Hofstra's Zeal McGraw in the
opening round. Delaney would win two more decisions before tripping up to Indiana's
Adam Chalfant by a 3-1 decision. A win over Chris Penny in his final bout by
6-2 decision would give the redshirt senior a third-place finish on the day.
In the 184-pound weight class, two-time SoCon champion and three-time
NCAA qualifier Luvsandorj went 4-1, nabbing a technical fall in the first round
before posting three more decisions to take third place in his weight class.
In a competitive 64-man 133-pound bracket, redshirt freshman Aaron Hansen
opened the day with two wins by decision before tripping up to No.1 overall
seed Erik Spjut from Virginia Tech. Hansen came back in the consolations to
take two decisions before losing by fall in the fifth-place bout to Indiana's
Quintin Murphy.
The Bulldogs will host Arizona State on Sunday at noon for a dual in the
3rd battalion.
VMI
wraps competition at Hokie Open
SALEM,
Va. – In one of the premiere opening tournaments on the East Coast, Virginia
Military Institute’s Juan Adams claimed a sixth-place finish at the 2012 Hokie
Open, hosted by Virginia Tech at the Salem Civic Center.
In a class with more than 40 wrestlers, Adams opening his 2012-13
campaign with four wins and took sixth in the heavyweight division in a field
that included Southern Conference champion Odie Delaney.
Adams, who is coming of a successful sophomore campaign last season, took
advantage of a first-round bye, knocking Rutgers’ Terrance Jean-Jacques to the
wrestleback bracket with a 4-1 second-round victory. Adams continued his
winning ways with a 7-2 victory in the third round over United States Air Force
Academy’s Jared Erickson.
After reaching the quarterfinals in the championship bracket, Adams
suffered a setback, falling in 57 seconds against eventual champion Nick
Gwiazdow of NC State, who was wrestling unattached.
Adams bounced back, landing in the fifth round of the wrestleback bracket
and edging out Travis Porter of Southern Conference foe Gardner-Webb. Adams was
slated to meet another Southern Conference opponent in Kevin Malone, who
grapples for Chattanooga, but the Moc forfeited the match. In the wrestleback
semifinals, Adams forfeited his match to Delaney, with the Keydet taking a
sixth-place finish at the Hokie Open.
At 141 pounds, VMI’s Ryan Goodsell collected a first-round win over
Indiana’s Kris Kerwin with a 5-1 decision. In the second round, Goodsell
suffered a technical fall against North Carolina’s Evan Henderson, who went on
to take third. In the wrestle back second round, Goodsell’ s afternoon was
ended by Duke’s Tanner Hough with a 4-0 decision.
Urayoan Garcia, who took fourth place at last year’s Southern Conference
championships, fell in his first-round match against Ohio’s Kyle O’Donnell in
the 197-pound weight class. Garcia responded in his next match, the wrestleback
first round, with a 6-1 decision over Indiana’s Tarek Alarui, but fell in the
wrestleback second round 7-6 against Virginia Tech’s Darren Hankins.
The Keydets return to action next Sunday as they head to Raleigh, N.C.,
for the Wolfpack Open, hosted by NC State.
Appalachian
State completes action at Hokie Open
SALEM,
Va. – Appalachian State’s wrestling team opened up its 2012-13 season at the
Hokie Open, returning to the tournament for the third straight season, as the
Mountaineers placed two wrestlers on the podium Sunday at the Salem Civic
Center.
Redshirt sophomore Dominic Parisi finished third at 125 points after
finishing second at the Hokie Open last season. Parisi closed out his
tournament run with two straight victories, including a 9-6 decision over
Indiana's Joe Duca in the third-place match.
Highly touted freshman Dylan Cottrell made a claim for the starting
position at 149 pounds, turning in a 4-1 record and a second-place finish.
Cottrell claimed key decisions over Marcus Cain of Duke and Mario Mason of
Rutgers to advance to the final. Cottrell lost by fall to Cole Vonohlen (Air
Force) to end his tournament run.
After dropping his opening match, freshman Jake Smith responded with four
straight victories, highlighted by a 9-2 decision over Air Force Academy's Greg
Rinker.
Redshirt freshman Zack Strickland performed well, totaling three
victories on the day. Strickland started strong, pinning Scott Marmoll of North
Carolina and Eric White, who was unattached, in his first two bouts. After
suffering a loss in his third bout, Strickland picked up his final victory,
earning a 2-0 decision over Air Force Academy's Jesse Stafford.
Sophomore Colin Hedash continues to impress, tallying three wins at 174
pounds. Hedash is now one victory short of 20 for his career after claiming
wins over VMI's Derek Thurman and John Dommert before nabbing a 5-2 decision
over NC State's Steve Ramos.
The Mountaineers open up their home schedule on Sunday at Varsity Gym for
a quad meet. The Apps welcome George Mason, Anderson and Belmont Abbey to the
High Country, as Appalachian faces GMU to begin the day at 1 p.m.
Gardner-Webb
in action at Hokie Open
SALEM,
Va. – Gardner-Webb redshirt senior wrestler Alex Medved’s fourth-place finish
at 157 pounds highlighted a group of Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers who competed at
the 2012 Hokie Open on Sunday at the Salem Civic Center.
Medved (5-2) posted four straight wins to start the tournament, advancing
all the way to the Championship semifinals before being shut out by Indiana’s
Taylor Walsh 6-0.
In the consolation bracket, Medved posted a win over Immanuel Kerr-Brown
to move on to the consolation final, where he was narrowly defeated by Nick Rex
of Campbell 6-2 to finish in fourth place overall at 157 pounds.
Both redshirt-sophomore Robbie Golde (3-2) and redshirt senior Travis
Porter (3-2) posted three wins on the day at 133 and 285 pounds, respectively,
while sophomore Justin Kozera (2-2), who wrestled unattached, had multiple wins,
as well, before seeing his day come to an end in a 2-1 loss to teammate Porter
in the consolation bracket.
Redshirt senior Ryan Medved (1-2) won his first match at 149 pounds by
way of a 16-1 technical fall victory before dropping his next two bouts, while
fellow redshirt senior Blake Salyer (0-2) went winless at 197 pounds.
Gardner-Webb will host both Virginia and George Mason in a tri-match
called the Movember Duals on Saturday starting at 9 a.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
Chattanooga
in action at Hokie Open
SALEM,
Va. – The Chattanooga wrestling team wrapped up its opening weekend with the
2012 Hokie Open on Sunday. The Mocs had
four wrestlers place in the event, led by sophomore Nick Soto, who won the
125-pound title.
Soto, a native of Spring Hill, Fla., racked up four wins on his way to
the championship. Ranked No. 14 in the
nation, Soto opened with a pin (2:47) over King College's Tanner Bates. He followed that with another pin against
North Carolina's Brian Bokoski (4:29) and a major decision (10-2) against
Appalachian State's Dominic Parisi.
The biggest win of the day for the Mocs was Soto's championship match
against Virginia Tech's Jarrod Garnett.
Garnett came into the match ranked No. 6 in the nation, but Soto managed
a 10-9 victory. It was his third win
over a top-10 wrestler in his career.
Senior Dean Pavlou advanced to the semifinals of the 141-pound bracket. He lost to The Citadel's Undrakhbayer
Khishgnyam (8-3), but came back to beat Rutgers' two-time NCAA qualifier Trevor
Melde to advance to the third-place match.
There, he fell (19-2) in a tech fall to UNC's 20th-ranked Evan
Henderson.
Sophomore Trey Stavrum advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw at
157 before falling to Rutger's ninth-ranked Scott Winston (11-3). Junior Jake Young posted a fifth-place finish
at 174. He lost in the quarterfinals to
Virginia Tech's Austin Gabel (2-1) but managed to work his way back to the
podium with three more wins.
Senior Niko Brown was the last Moc to place in the event, finishing third
at 197. He was pinned in the semifinals
by UNC's Antonio Giorio but defeated Virginia Tech's Derrick Borlie (forfeit)
and Rutger's Dan Seidenberg (6-3) to place third overall.
The Mocs are back on the road Sunday at the Wolfpack Open in Raleigh,
N.C.
Davidson
sweeps season-opening tri-meet
DAVIDSON,
N.C. – Led by eight wrestlers going undefeated, including two pins by Kevin
Birmingham, the Davidson wrestling team cruised past Spartanburg Methodist,
43-6, and Belmont Abbey, 34-7, in its season-opening tri-meet Sunday afternoon
in Belk Arena.
Belmont Abbey (1-1) and SMC (0-2) opened the nonconference tri-meet, with
the Abbey scoring a 30-12 win.
The Wildcats (2-0) totaled seven wins by fall in the two matches, with
sophomores Philip Elias (125 pounds), Sejiro Littleton (141), and Birmingham
(149) and junior Scott Patrick (184) earning them against SMC, and sophomores
Anthony Elias (133) and Birmingham (149) and freshman Carson Stack (197) doing
so against Belmont Abbey.
Stack also earned the maximum 12 points between the matches, as SMC did
not send anyone to the mat to oppose him. The Elias twins, Littleton,
Birmingham, senior Chris Cirenza (165 pounds), Patrick and Stack won both of
their matches, while sophomore heavyweight Eddie Isola was victorious in his
lone bout.
The ‘Cats claimed the first nine matches against SMC. Philip Elias scored
a pin in 1 minute, 41 seconds to open the match at 125 pounds, and Anthony
Elias followed with a 13-10 decision after escaping danger late. Littleton, in
his first career bout, pinned Tre Barber in 1:40, and Birmingham followed with
a pin in 5:39 to open up a 21-0 lead for the ‘Cats.
Freshman Nathaniel Powers scored a 3-0 decision in his debut, then a major
decision in Cirenza’s favor and a 4-2 decision for sophomore Ian Solcz at 174
pounds pushed the ‘Cats’ lead to 31-0. Patrick scored the quickest pin of the
match in 1:09, and Stack’s forfeit victory gave Davidson a 43-0 advantage.
Myles Moultrie scored a pin in 2:47 at heavyweight for Spartanburg
Methodist for the final margin.
Davidson swept the first four bouts against the Abbey, highlighted by
Birmingham’s meet-best pin in 24 seconds, to give the Wildcats an 18-0
advantage.
Jason Varilek scored a decision at 157 pounds to put the Crusaders on the
scoreboard, and after a decision in Cirenza’s favor at 165 made the score 21-3,
Joseph Maumoynier earned a major decision at 174 pounds to cut into the ‘Cats’
lead, 21-7.
Patrick responded though with a 13-5 major decision for Davidson to
secure the victory, and Stack’s pin and Isola’s hard-fought 7-6 decision
rounded out the match.
Davidson will next compete at Anderson University on Wednesday.
Davidson
43, Spartanburg Methodist College 6
125:
Philip Elias (D), pinned Joseph Adams (S), 1:41
133: Anthony Elias (D), dec. Edward Contreras (S), 13-10
141: Sejiro Littleton (D), pinned Tre Barber (S), 1:40
149: Kevin Birmingham (D), pinned Mitchell Johnston (S), 5:39
157: Nathaniel Powers (D), dec. Jonathan Dykes (S), 3-0
165: Christopher Cirenza (D), maj. dec. Daquon Wilson (S), 14-1
174: Ian Solcz (D), dec. Micheal Clevenger (S), 4-2
184: Scott Patrick (D), pinned Miguel Mejia (S), 1:09
197: Carson Stack (D), forf.
285: Myles Moultrie (S), pinned Jordan Ownbey (D), 2:47
Davidson
34, Belmont Abbey 7
125:
Philip Elias, (D), dec. Patrick Mestrez, (B), 7-3
133: Anthony Elias (D), pinned Markus Almeida, (B), 2:50
141: Sejiro Littleton (D), dec. Clemente Narviaz, (B), 9-6
149: Kevin Birmingham (D), pinned Matthew Moses, (B), 0:24
157: Jake Varilek (B), dec. Nathaniel Powers, (D), 7-1
165: Christopher Cirenza (D), dec. Brandon Wilkins, (B), 8-4
174: Joseph Maumoynier (B), maj. dec. Ian Solcz, (D), 13-5
184: Scott Patrick (D), maj. dec. Marcus Dwaileebe, (B), 13-5
197: Carson Stack (D), pinned Chris Sloat, (B), 3:19
285: Eddie Isola (D), dec. Kelly Baker, (B), 7-6