Appalachian State 29, Duke 6
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University wrestling began its final weekend of the regular season in impressive fashion, routing Duke, 29-6 in non-conference action at Varsity Gymnasium on Saturday. Appalachian State (12-4) will wrestle its final dual against Davidson on Sunday, while Duke (3-10) looks forward to its ACC tournament in two weeks.
Sophomore Russ Benner (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) kicked off Appalachian's efforts at 149 pounds. In his first dual of the season, the Mountaineer carried a 3-1 lead into the third period before expanding it to an 11-2 major decision.
Senior Chip Powell (Greensboro, N.C./S.W. Guilford) followed at 157 pounds, building an 8-0 lead after two periods before falling just one point short of major decision in his 12-5 victory.
No. 15 Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) failed to break open any big leads at 165 pounds but did lead by as many as six points as he captured an 8-2 win.
Carter Downs (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter Christian) returned to the Appalachian lineup at 174 pounds. The senior capitalized on a 4-0 first-period lead and was able to expand the advantage but once again the Mountaineers fell short of bonus points in Downs' 12-5 win.
Senior Austin Trotman (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor), ranked No. 11 in the nation entering the weekend, earned his first takedown around the two minute mark of the first period. Leading 5-1 entering the final stanza, Trotman rattled off three more escapes en route to a 12-4 major decision.
Freshman Paul Weiss (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) kept the Black and Gold winning streak alive, scoring a second period takedown and bringing his Blue Devil opponent to the mat with 10 seconds remaining in the match to triumph, 5-2. Having won the first six bouts of the match, Appalachian saw itself in possession of a 20-0 lead to begin the evening.
Duke staved off the shutout at 285 pounds, as Robert Mello squeaked out a 3-2 decision to put the Blue Devils on the scoreboard, trailing 20-3.
Junior Tony Gravely's (Martinsville, Va./Magna Vista) chaotic 125-pound match saw the Mountaineer leading 6-4 with 30 seconds to go. His Blue Devil opponent took an 8-6 lead with 10 seconds left before Gravely answered to tie the match with a reversal. As the final ticks elapsed, Gravely notched the decisive pin with less than 5 seconds to go and sealed the ASU victory with the Apps in front 26-3.
Duke picked up its final win at 133 pounds, when Brandon Gambucci pulled out an 8-6 decision.
To cap off the night, senior Mike Kessler (came to matt to face Duke's Tanner Hough. After a scoreless first period, Kessler rode the duration of the second, picking up two near-fall points in the process. It took the Mountaineer nearly a minute to escape in the third period, but his efforts would put the final point on the board, as Kessler came out in front, 3-0.
Appalachian State concludes its regular season on Sunday as the 2012 Southern Conference champions look to clinch the outright title with a win against Davidson. Action begins at 2 p.m. in Varsity Gymnasium.
Ohio 28, Gardner-Webb 18
Boiling Springs, N.C. - In Gardner-Webb's final home match of the season, the Runnin' Bulldogs posted wins at 133, 157, 165 and 197 pounds, yet suffered four falls over the other six matches to ultimately fall to Ohio 28-18 on Saturday night in Bost Gymnasium.
Prior to the start of the match, Gardner-Webb recognized head coach Richard Wince, who after 23 years overall with the Runnin' Bulldog wrestling program is retiring at the conclusion of this season.
After Gardner-Webb took a 9-0 match lead with a Michael Slaughter forfeit win at 125 pounds and a 6-3 decision by sophomore Robbie Golde over Andrew Hammer at 133 pounds, Ohio posted back-to-back pins at 141 and 149 pounds to take a 12-9 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
GWU's Alex Medved continued his winning streak at 157 pounds, as he scored two early points and held on for a 3-1 win at 157 pounds over Harrison Hightower.
With the match scored knotted up at 12-12, GWU's Justin Guthrie used a two-point takedown late in the third period to post a 5-2 win over Casey Gordon and put the home team in front by three at 15-12.
The match lead would not last long, as Ohio posted a major decision win at 174 pounds and a pin at 184 pounds to take a 22-15 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs with two bouts remaining.
Redshirt-junior Travis Porter earned a 6-0 shutout at 197 pounds over Beau Wenger to put the score at 22-18 in favor of the Bobcats.
Ohio's Jeremy Johnson tallied a fall over Gardner-Webb freshman Justin Kozera at the 285 pounds, giving the Bobcats the 28-18 match win.
Gardner-Webb (6-12, 2-5 SoCon) will next be in action on March 3rd, as the Runnin' Bulldog grapplers will compete at the 2012 Southern Conference Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Ohio 28, Gardner-Webb 18
125 - Michael Slaughter (GWU) wins by forfeit. (GWU 6-0)
133 - Robbie Golde (GWU) dec. Andrew Hammer (Ohio) - 6-3 (GWU 9-0)
141 - Darrin Boing (Ohio) Fall over Alex Hamm (GWU) - 5:16 (GWU 9-6)
149 - Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) Fall over Davante Andujar (GWU) - 2:07 (Ohio 12-9)
157 - Alex Medved (GWU) dec. Harrison Hightower (Ohio) - 3-1 (Tied 12-12)
165 - Justin Guthrie (GWU) dec. Casey Gordan (Ohio) - 5-2 (GWU 15-12)
174 - Nick Purdue (Ohio) maj. dec. Erin O'Dell (GWU) - 13-2 (Ohio 16-15)
184 - Ryan Garringer (Ohio) Fall over Jason Porter (GWU) - 0:50 (Ohio 22-15)
197 - Travis Porter (GWU) dec. Beau Wenger (Ohio) - 6-0 (Ohio 22-18)
285 - Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) Fall over Justin Kozera (GWU) - 4:02 (Ohio 28-18)