Appalachian
State 26, Davidson 15
DAVIDSON,
N.C. – Appalachian State closed out its 2012-13 regular season with a 26-15
victory over Davidson on Sunday afternoon at Belk Arena.
The Mountaineers end the regular season with an 8-6 overall record and
enter the Southern Conference Championship on March 9 with a 5-2 conference
mark. Davidson ended the regular season at 6-14 overall and 1-6 in the SoCon.
With the dual beginning at 125 pounds, the Mountaineers jumped out to a
quick lead when redshirt sophomore Dominic Parisi was awarded a forfeit and
senior Brett Boston claimed a 5-1 decision over Anthony Elias. The win for
Boston was his second over Elias in the last two seasons.
Davidson senior Matt Zarth made the most of his final match in Belk Arena
though, forcing overtime at 141 pounds by virtue of earning the riding time
point over William Johnson. Neither wrestler scored in the first three overtime
rounds before Zarth finally scored a takedown in the second sudden-victory
period for the 3-1 win.
Wildcat sophomore Kevin Birmingham also earned a decision for Davidson,
following Zarth at 149 pounds with a 9-8 victory over Zach Kechter. Freshman
Nathaniel Powers scored a pin over Collins Creech in 4 minutes, 6 seconds at
157 pounds to give Davidson a 12-9 lead at the halfway point of the match.
Redshirt freshman Zack Strickland got the Mountaineers back into the dual
with his 12th dual victory of the season, earning a 13-1 major decision over
Chris Cirenza. Classmate Colin Hedash followed Strickland's performance with a
major decision of his own, defeating Ian Solcz, 8-0, at 174 pounds.
Davidson junior Scott Patrick won his fourth straight match with a
takedown in the final seconds for a thrilling 5-4 decision over Jake Johnson at
184, but at 197, Appalachian State’s Paul Weiss was awarded the second Davidson
forfeit on the afternoon, clinching the match for the Mountaineers.
Sophomore Joe Cummings closed the Mountaineer scoring with a 3-0 decision
over Eddie Isola at heavyweight. With the decision, Cummings snapped an
eight-bout losing streak.
The Appalachian State victory marked the 23rd straight victory
over the Wildcats as the Mountaineers ride a two-match winning streak into the
SoCon Championship.
The Mountaineers now wait a week before returning to the mats for the
SoCon Championship, hosted by VMI. The tournament will determine the league's
top wrestlers and who will be moving on to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines,
Iowa.
Appalachian
State (8-6, 5-2 SoCon) 26, Davidson (6-14, 1-6 SoCon) 15
125:
Dominic Parisi (APP) won by forfeit (APP 6-0)
133: Brett Boston (APP) dec. Anthony Elias (DC), 5-1 (APP 9-0)
141: Matt Zarth (DC) dec. Chris Johnson (APP), 3-1 (SV-2) (APP 9-3)
149: Kevin Birmingham (DC) dec. Zach Kechter (APP), 9-8 (APP 9-6)
157: Nathaniel Powers (DC) pinned Collins Creech (APP), (4:08) (DC 12-9)
165: Zack Strickland (APP) maj. dec. Chris Cirenza (DC), 13-1 (APP 13-12)
174: Colin Hedash (APP) maj. dec. Ian Solcz (DC), 8-0 (APP 17-12)
184: Scott Patrick (DC) dec. Jake Johnson (APP), 5-4 (APP 17-15)
197: Paul Weiss (APP) won by forfeit (APP 23-15)
285: Joe Cummings (APP) dec. Eddie Isola (DC), 3-0 (APP 26-15)
Gardner-Webb
drops three duals to end regular season
CLEVELAND
– The
Gardner-Webb wrestling team had a handful of wrestlers record multiple wins on
Sunday, however, the Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers were unable to come away with a
match win overall at the CSU Quad meet hosted by Cleveland State in Cleveland,
Ohio.
GWU, which now has dropped seven straight dual matches, falls to 4-13
overall in dual match competition on the season.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs suffered a 22-12 loss to Northern Illinois in the
opening dual, then suffered a 40-6 loss to the Bobcats of Ohio before finishing
the day with an 18-15 defeat to Cleveland State in the nightcap.
The Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers opened the quad match on Sunday afternoon
with a 22-12 loss to Northern Illinois in dual match action.
With the match starting at 174 pounds, freshman Hunter Gamble got
Gardner-Webb off on the right track, as he recorded a 5-3 win over Matt Mougin
to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs up 3-0 in the dual match early.
Fellow newcomer Gray Jones followed up Gamble with a 9-4 decision at 184
pounds over Bryan Loughlin to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs up 6-0 with eight weight
classes remaining.
However, GWU would suffer back-to-back losses at 197 and 285 pounds to
allow the Huskies to tie the match score up at 6-6.
Another freshman would come up big for GWU next, as Cortez Starkes came
out on top in a hard-fought match to earn a 7-5 overtime win over Derek Elmore
at 125 pounds to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs back in front at 9-6.
The lead would not last long, as the Huskies defeated GWU in each of the
next four matchups, including a major decision at 133 pounds and a fall at 141
pounds, to take a 22-9 lead with one contest remaining.
With the match win already out of reach, GWU redshirt senior Justin
Guthrie edged Sam Bennett to post a 4-3 decision at 165 pounds and put the
final match score at 22-12 in favor of the Huskies of NIU. The win was
Guthrie’s 10th victory on the season.
In GWU’s second match up of the day, the Runnin’ Bulldogs suffered a 40-6
loss to the Ohio Bobcats, who improved to 11-5 overall on the season and pushed
their winning streak to seven straight contests with the win.
Gardner-Webb fell behind early and was never able to build any momentum
in the dual, as Ohio won the first seven matches of the dual, which started at
174 pounds, to pull out to a 34-0 lead with two bouts remaining.
Refusing to quit, redshirt senior Ryan Medved earned a 6-2 decision over
Andrew Romanchik at 149 pounds to put GWU on the scoreboard and spoil the
shutout bid by the Bobcats.
GWU’s Alex Medved, the twin brother of Ryan Medved, followed up with a
7-3 victory over Sparty Chino at 157 pounds, who is ranked No. 26 overall in
the nation in the NCAA coaches’ rankings at 157 pounds, to give the Runnin’
Bulldog grapplers two wins in the dual and put the score at 34-6 with one
contest remaining.
However, a fall at 165 pounds in favor of the Bobcats would conclude the
dual with Ohio on top 40-6.
Just like in the first match of the day versus Northern Illinois, the
Runnin’ Bulldog grapplers took an early match lead yet were hurt by a fall at
141 pounds, which propelled Cleveland State to an 18-15 win over GWU in the two
teams’ third match of the day.
Gamble posted a 9-2 decision over Kort Leyrer at 174 pounds to put
Gardner-Webb up early at 3-0 after one bout.
After Jones earned a 5-2 win over Bobby Blankenship at 184 pounds to put
GWU in front at 6-0, the home-standing Vikings recorded two straight decisions
of their own at 197 and 285 pounds to tie the match score up at 6-6.
GWU’s Starkes would earn his second win of the day at 125 pounds, as he
narrowly defeated Ben Willeford, who is ranked No. 33 nationally at 125 pounds,
4-3 to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs back out in front at 9-6.
The back-and-forth match continued with Cleveland State posting a win at
133 pounds and a fall at 141 pounds to give it its first lead of the dual at
15-9 with three contests remaining.
The Medved duo would post back-to-back decisions at 149 and 157 pounds,
Ryan with a 7-3 win over Mike Mencini at 149 pounds and Alex with a 6-0 shutout
victory over RJ LaBeef at 157 pounds, to tie the match back up at 15-15.
With the dual match on the line heading into the final bout at 165
pounds, Cleveland State scored a 10-8 win to escape with an 18-15 dual-match
victory.
Gardner-Webb (4-13) will now set its sights on the 2013 Southern Conference
Wrestling Championship, which will be hosted by VMI in Lexington, Va. on March
9.
Northern
Illinois 22, Gardner-Webb 12
174 –
Hunter Gamble (GWU) dec. Matt Mougin (NIU) – 5-3 (GWU 3-0)
184 – Gray Jones (GWU) dec. Bryan Loughlin (NIU) – 9-4 (GWU 6-0)
197 – Parker Settecase (NIU) dec. Blake Salyer (GWU) – 9-4 (GWU 6-3)
285 – Jarred Torrence (NIU) dec. #32 Travis Porter (GWU) – 5-3 (Tied 6-6)
125 – Cortez Starkes (GWU) dec. Derek Elmore (NIU) – 7-5 OT (GWU 9-6)
133 – Nick Smith (NIU) maj. dec. Robbie Golde (GWU) – 17-6 (NIU 10-9)
141 – Kevin Fanta (NIU) FALL Davante Andujar (GWU) – 4:05 (NIU 16-9)
149 – Rob Jilliard (NIU) dec. Ryan Medved (GWU) – 7-3 (NIU 19-9)
157 – Andrew Morse (NIU) dec. Alex Medved (GWU) – 7-2 (NIU 22-9)
165 – Justin Guthrie (GWU) dec. Sam Bennett (NIU) – 4-3 (NIU 22-12)
Ohio
40, Gardner-Webb 6
174 – #11
Cody Walters (OU) FALL Hunter Gamble (GWU) – 4:10 (OU 6-0)
184 – Michael Duckworth (OU) maj. dec. Gray Jones (GWU) – 10-0 (OU 10-0)
197 - #15 Phil Wellington (OU) maj. dec. Blake Salyer (GWU) – 10-0 (OU 14-0)
285 - #14 Jeremy Johnson (OU) tech. fall #32 Travis Porter (GWU) – 20-5 (OU
19-0)
125 – KeVon Powell (OU) dec. Cortez Starkes (GWU) – 6-1 (OU 22-0)
133 – Joe Munoz (OU) FALL Robbie Golde (GWU) – 3:42 (OU 28-0)
141 – Kagan Squire (OU) FALL Tyler Ziegler (GWU) – 2:41 (OU 34-0)
149 – Ryan Medved (GWU) dec. Andrew Romanchik (OU) – 6-2 (OU 34-3)
157 – Alex Medved (GWU) dec. #26 Sparty Chino (OU) – 7-3 (OU 34-6)
165 – Harrison Hightower (OU) FALL Justin Guthrie (GWU) – 0:40 (OU 40-6)
Cleveland
State 18, Gardner-Webb 15
174 –
Hunter Gamble (GWU) dec. Kort Leyrer (CSU) – 9-2 (GWU 3-0)
184 – Gray Jones (GWU) dec. Bobby Blankenship (CSU) – 5-2 (GWU 6-0)
197 – Corbin Boone (CSU) dec. Blake Salyer (GWU) – 6-2 (GWU 6-3)
285 - Riley Shaw (CSU) dec. #32 Travis Porter (GWU) – 4-3 (5OT) (Tied 6-6)
125 – Cortez Starkes (GWU) dec. #33 Ben Willeford (CSU) – 4-3 (GWU 9-6)
133 – #33 Mike Carlone (CSU) dec. Robbie Golde (GWU) – 5-2 (Tied 9-9)
141 – Nick Flannery (CSU) FALL Tyler Ziegler (GWU) – 3:51 (CSU 15-9)
149 – Ryan Medved (GWU) dec. Mike Mencini (CSU) – 7-3 (CSU 15-12)
157 – Alex Medved (GWU) dec. RJ LaBeef (CSU) – 6-0 (Tied 15-15)
165 – Corey Carlo (CSU) dec. Justin Guthrie (GWU) – 10-8 (CSU 18-15)