SIUE competes at Joe Parisi Open
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Freshman Karsten Van Velsor led the SIUE contingent at the Joe Parisi Open on Saturday with a second-place finish in the freshman-sophomore division of the 149-pound weight class.
Trevor Feagans, who was wrestling unattached, used a fall over Daniel Rivera in 5 minutes, 13 seconds, to finish fifth at 141 pounds. Russell Coleman, also wrestling unattached, took fifth at 159 pounds.
Van Velsor started his run with a bye and then pinned unattached wrestler Mark Smith in 2:53. He defeated Peter Tatanish (Liberty) 12-8 and Tyler Sonnabend (Hannibal-LaGrange) 16-10 before dropping a 9-7 decision to Missouri's Blake Pepper.
In the open division, Jake Residori was SIUE's top finisher. The Cougar sophomore won six consecutive matches in the consolation bracket to place third overall. He defeated unattached wrestler Quinton Patterson, of Oklahoma State, 6-4 in the third-place match. Patterson earlier had defeated Residori 5-4 in the second round of the championship bracket.
David Devine placed fourth overall but took a medical forfeit in the third-place match. Devine wrestled five matches on the day, including a technical-fall victory over Benedictine's Josh Wilson.
Patrick Myers had to forfeit out of his final matches after being injured. He had a strong day and placed sixth overall, including a first-period pin over Andrew Angelbeck of Lindenwood.
SIUE returns to the Vadalabene Center on Sunday for its regular-season home opener. The Cougars face off with No. 20-ranked Purdue.
Chattanooga finishes fifth at Navy Classic
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team posted a fifth-place finish at the Navy Classic on Saturday. The Mocs had seven wrestlers place in the event, including junior Corey Mock, who won the title at 165 pounds.
Mock has been dominant since transferring to UTC from North Carolina over the summer. He is up to No. 6 in the AWN top 20 at 165 this week. He picked up four wins Saturday to move to 10-0 overall.
UTC had four individuals finish fourth in their respective weight classes, including senior Alex Hudson (157), juniors Levi Clemons (174) and Kevin Malone (285) and sophomore John Lampe (184).
Hudson went 4-1 at 157. His lone loss was to Wisconsin’s seventh-ranked Isaac Jordan on a 4-1 decision. Hudson defeated Navy’s Zach Johnson (7-5) to get to the third-place match but did not wrestle that bout, settling for fourth overall.
Clemons posted his fourth-place showing in the 174 bracket. He scored five wins against two losses in the match. His only defeats were to Wisconsin’s Scott Liegel in both the main draw and the consolation bracket.
Lampe was 4-2 on his way to a fourth-place finish at 184. His only losses were against Wisconsin’s No. 12 Jackson Hein and Kent State’s No. 17 Sam Wheeler.
Malone was also 4-2 in a fourth-place showing at heavyweight. Like Lampe, his two losses were against ranked wrestlers, including No. 6 Conner Medbery (Wisconsin) and No. 13 Joe Stolfi (Bucknell).
Freshman Michael Pongracz had a fifth-place finish at 133 while freshman Barrett Walthall placed sixth at 184. Pongracz had to go through teammate junior Nick Soto, posting an 8-2 decision against his fellow Moc. Walthall was losing 12-0 to Brown’s Richard McDonald before scoring a defensive pin to advance in the backdraw.
UTC’s next match is Sunday, Dec. 15, against Purdue in Atlanta, Ga. The Mocs’ next home contest is the Candlelight Dinner Match against Gardner-Webb on Monday, Dec. 16.
The Citadel finishes 10th at Navy Classic
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Turtogtokh Luvsandorj won five straight matches en route to winning the 174-pound bracket, while Joaquin Marquez took third place and Marshall Haas earned sixth as the Bulldog wrestling team finished 10th at the Navy Classic on Saturday.
Luvsandorj plowed through his competition, allowing no more than three points in his final three decisions to earn the title. The Mongolia native opened the day with a 23-7 technical fall over Franklin & Marshall's Colin Lahiff and continued to roll in the second round with a 17-6 major decision over West Virginia's Christian Chirico.
The redshirt senior cruised to a 9-2 win over Jason Allen (Ohio) in the quarterfinals and earned another 7-3 win over Wisconsin's Scott Liegel to lift him into the championship bout against Mountaineer grappler Bubba Scheffel.
Luvsandorj completed his day with 5-2 win over Scheffel, improving his season mark to 8-1.
Marquez, who took second place at the Hokie Open earlier this season, won his first two bouts by fall at 2:30 and decision (7-0), respectively, before dropping an 11-6 decision to Wisconsin's Ryan Taylor.
The 125-pounder won his next two bouts over Kent State's Alfredo Gray (11-5) and Cleveland State's Dan King (7-0) to secure third place.
Haas won his opening-round bout over Navy's Lukas Schaefer by a 9-2 decision before dropping to the consolation bracket following a loss by fall to Bucknell's Tyler Lester.
The 197-pounder collected two wins by decisions over West Virginia's Leonardo Trinidade (5-3) and Princeton's Daniel Santoro (4-0) before dropping two matches to fall to sixth place.
The Bulldogs finished the day in 10th place with 59.5 points. Wisconsin earned the team title with 164 points, followed by host Navy (106.5).
The Citadel will take a week off of competition before returning to the mats on Dec. 6-7 in Las Vegas, Nev., for the nationally renowned Cliff Keen Invitational.