Two Appalachian State wrestlers still alive at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Appalachian State University wrestling concluded day one of the two-day 2014 Southern Scuffle in 26th place out of the tough 34-team field, hosted by Chattanooga at McKenzie Arena on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers battled the field strong and hard all day long in easily one of the most competitive and challenging tournaments outside of the NCAAs.
Vito Pasone and Zack Strickland are still alive for the Apps for their respective weight class consolation bracket. True freshman Nick Kee is wrestling unattached and is also still alive in the consolation bracket.
Pasone, competing at 125 pounds, fell in his first match to Earl Hall of Iowa State by decision 12-5 but rallied back to earn a majority decision over Army's Hunter Wood and a pinning Patrick Rollins of Oregon State to finish day one in strong fashion.
After receiving an opening-round bye, Strickland fell in his opening match at 165 pounds to Casey Kent of Penn. The Muncy, Pa., native then defeated Ethan Ramos of North Carolina with a decision of 6-2.
Lastly for the Mountaineers, at 174, Kee started off strong after receiving a bye and defeated Kyle Meyer of Stanford by decision 8-6. Then Kee had to face defending national champion and scuffle champion Chris Perry of Oklahoma State, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. Kee was defeated by technical fall, 20-5.
The Citadel competes at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Turtogtokh Luvsandorj, Matt Frisch, Ugi Khishignyam and Joe Bexley had a successful opening day at the Southern Scuffle and advanced to day two as The Citadel wrestling team wrapped up first-day action at McKenzie Arena.
Frisch and Luvsandorj, who are both wrestling in new weight classes, are the lone Bulldogs in the championship bracket heading into the final day of the Scuffle.
Frisch, who recently made the move from 157 to 149 pounds, opened the competition with a 6-5 decision over Drexel's Noel Blanco before topping Beau Roberts of Northern Colorado, 4-2.
The Oxford, Mich., native gained another win by decision in the third round when he beat Ohio's Cullen Cummings in a 9-2 decision. The redshirt senior is slated to take on top-ranked Nick Dardanes of Minnesota on Thursday.
Luvsandorj was handed a first-round bye in the 165-pound division and began his day with a second-round win by decision over Carson Powell of Iowa State, 5-4. In his next match, the Mongolia native topped Stanford's 18th-ranked Jim Wilson, 3-2.
The redshirt senior will open up day two with another ranked bout, as he is slated to square off against third-ranked Nick Sulzer of Virginia.
Joe Bexley lost his first match by major decision to drop to the consolation bracket, where he captured two consecutive wins over Stryker Lane (Cornell) and Tyler Swope (Iowa State). Bexley, a true freshman, will take on 18th-ranked Joe Stolfi of Bucknell on Thursday.
Khishignyam, who is wrestling unattached, cruised past his first two opponents in the 141-pound bracket, winning both by major decision, before falling to Virginia's 19th-ranked Joe Spisak in an 8-5 decision. Khishignyam will face Cleveland State's Mike Carlone on Thursday in the consolation bracket.
Two Campbell wrestlers advance at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Sophomore Michael Dahlstrom and redshirt senior Brent Jorge advanced to the second day of the Southern Scuffle after winning two bouts apiece Wednesday.
After each suffered a loss in the first round of action, Dahlstrom and Jorge worked their way to the 141-and 149-pound fourth consolation rounds, respectively.
Dahlstrom fell to North Carolina' Joey Moon in the first round, 8-3, to move to the consolation bracket. He bounced back to blank Griffin Higginbotham (unattached) with a 12-0 major decision. His second win of the day was a 5-2 decision over Cleveland State's Jared McKinley, moving him to 15-11 on the season.
Central Michigan's Scott Mattingly took a 7-2 decision over Jorge in the 149 opening round. In the second consolation round, Jorge posted a 10-6 decision over Thaddeus Keklak (Kent State), for his 15th win of the season. He moved to 16-9 after defeating North Carolina State's Randy Shine for the second time this year, 3-2.
Freshman Drew Walker also won twice in the first day of the Scuffle at 133 pounds but was eliminated in the third consolation round. He was the only Camel to open the tournament with a win, a 12-6 decision over Army's Logan Everett. Walker was then edged out 3-2 by No. 12 Shelton Mack (Pittsburgh), moving to the consolation bracket. He posted a 12-1 major decision over Army's Austin Marsico before Cornell's Logan David defeated Walker 12-6.
Paul Duggan (157), Grant Blumenthal (157), Daniel Luty (157), Carsten Kopp (174), Cody Ryba (174) and Ville Heino (184) each ended the Scuffle 0-2.
Dahlstrom and Jorge will resume action at 9 a.m. Thursday at McKenzie Arena.
Six Chattanooga Mocs alive at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Day 1 of the 2014 Southern Scuffle, presented by Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling, has wrapped up with another record-breaking crowd. Wednesday’s attendance of 2,894 was a new single-day high and the fifth day in the row the tournament has grown since coming to Chattanooga in 2012.
Fans were treated to some excellent wrestling throughout the early rounds. No. 2 Minnesota (53.5) leads the team race by just half a point over No. 1 Penn State (53.0). No. 4 Oklahoma State is right in the mix in third place with 50.5 points. No. 7 Cornell (40.0) and No. 14 Iowa State (39.5) round out the top five.
The Mocs will have six wrestlers competing on day two, led by junior Nick Soto. Soto entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and is in the round of 16 at 133. He opened with a technical fall against Army’s Austin Marsico (18-2) and followed that with a 4-0 win over Central Michigan’s Tyler Keselring. He eked out a 3-2 decision over Oklahoma State’s Brian Crutchmer in the third round.
Soto will take on No. 3 seed David Thorn of Minnesota in Thursday’s action. Thorn was the top seed in 2012 when Soto knocked him out with a 5-1 overtime win in the semifinals.
Freshman Michael Pongracz bounced back from an early loss to advance in the consolations. He fell to Cornell’s Eli Bienstock (5-3) in the first round but came back with a 3-1 win over Navy’s Quentin Leadbetter. He finished his day with a 12-3 major decision over Duke’s Xaviel Ramos.
Junior Shawn Greevy is still alive in the consolations at 149. He lost to Stanford’s Donovan Halpin (4-3) in the first round but scored two wins in the backdraw.
Junior Levi Clemons had three wins on the day at 174. He opened with a 12-3 major decision over Kent State’s Mike Vollant. After losing in the second round, he did not give up a takedown in his two consolation wins.
Sophomore John Lampe also had three wins, opening with a 5-3 decision over North Carolina’s Michael Macchiavello. He was knocked out of the main draw by No. 6 seed Lawrence Thomas of Penn in a 7-4 decision. His two consolation wins were nail-biters, including an 8-7 decision over teammate Clay Dent and a 3-2 win against Army’s Ryan Tompkins. Lampe forced a stalling call against Tompkins with six seconds left to grab the win.
Freshman Scottie Boykin was impressive in his first Scuffle. After a 7-3 opening round-win over Pittsburgh’s Ryan Solomon, he lost a 9-4 decision to Duke’s No. 11-seeded Conner Hartman. He bounced back with two bonus-point wins in the backdraw, including a 16-1 technical fall against Cole Breigel (Northern Colorado) and a 19-7 major decision over Army’s Bryce Barnes.
Action begins at 9 a.m. on Thursday with the championship quarterfinals and the fourth round of consolations. The semifinals are at 1:30 p.m. with the finals and medal matches at 7 p.m.