Khishignyam fourth, Delaney seventh at NCAAs
DES MOINES, Iowa – It was an historic couple of days for The Citadel's wrestling team as Ugi Khishignyam nabbed fourth place and Odie Delaney took seventh to close out competition at the 2013 NCAA Championship on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Arena.
As a team, The Citadel compiled 27 points to finish 20th in the team standings, good for the highest finish for a Southern Conference team since Chattanooga finished 20th in 2007.
Prior to Friday, just one Bulldog grappler in the history of the program, which dates back to before the 1930s, had achieved All-America status. Delaney and Khishignyam added their names to that elite list when they guaranteed themselves spots in the top eight of their respective weight classes.
Aside from securing himself seventh place at the tournament, Delaney's final victory left the redshirt senior with 125 career wins, moving him into a tie with Sean Markey (2006) for most wins in Citadel history.
Khishignyam entered the final day of competition with his sights set on the third-place match but needed to get by familiar foe Evan Henderson of North Carolina. Henderson topped the Mongolia native in each of their two bouts this season, once in a 4-3 decision at the Nittany Lion Open and then again in a sudden-victory takedown at the Southern Scuffle.
The Bulldog grappler made short work of Henderson in Saturday's bout. Just one minute into the match, the Tar Heel slipped off, allowing Khishignyam to get on top and capitalize with a chicken wing and quick pin at the 1:08 mark to launch him into the third-place bout against top-seeded Hunter Stieber of Ohio State.
The Buckeye grappler managed the clock after a couple of early takedowns in the third-place bout to take the win and end the 12-4 match, completing Khishignyam's season with an impressive fourth-place finish.
The redshirt freshman closed out his first collegiate season with a 42-6 record, plowing through the three and five seeds at nationals. Khishignyam's only losses this season came against wrestlers who were ranked among the top 10 in the country.
Fittingly, Delaney closed out his collegiate career with a pin at the 2:44 mark. The fall was the 61st of his career, which is good for second in Citadel history. Ten of Delaney's 19 Southern Conference-leading pins this season came in the first period.
After a hugely productive three-win day on Friday, the Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., product entered Saturday with a seventh-place bout set against Iowa State's Matthew Bradley.
A takedown in the first period led to the Bulldog grappler's pin on Bradley just moments later and assured him seventh place in the nation. Delaney closed out his career having won 22 of his last 24 bouts.
Team standings (SoCon schools)
20. The Citadel 27 pts.
t49. Appalachian State 3 pts.
T55. Chattanooga 2 pts.
T60. Gardner-Webb 1 pts.
T66. Campbell 0 pts.
T66. Davidson 0 pts.