Chattanooga wins Navy Classic
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team had an outstanding day at the Navy Classic on Saturday. The Mocs won the 13-team event behind six individual placers.
Twenty-third-ranked Chattanooga’s 108.5 points edged Princeton’s 106.5. No. 24 Ohio was third (105.5), followed by No. 19 Wisconsin (105.0) and West Virginia (84.5).
Seniors Sean Boyle and Shawn Greevy led the way with runner-up showings at 125 and 149, respectively. Senior Nick Soto and sophomores Michael Pongracz (141) and Sean Mappes (174) placed third in their brackets. Sophomore McCoy Newberg was fourth at 174, while junior John Lampe finished fifth at 184.
Boyle brought in a No. 16 ranking at 125 and went 3-1. He defeated Cleveland State’s 19th-ranked Ben Willeford in a major decision (12-4) in the semifinals before falling to No. 17 Paul Petrov of Bucknell in the championship match (11-8).
Greevy went 4-1 on his way to the final at 149. He scored a 10-5 decision over The Citadel’s Matt Frisch in the semifinals but lost to No. 12 Tywan Claxton (Ohio) in the finals.
Soto took his No. 17 ranking at 133 to a third-place trophy. He was knocked out of the main draw in the quarterfinals by Wisconsin’s Ryan Taylor (15-2). Taylor is currently No. 7 at 125 but moved up for the Navy Classic. Soto won two more matches in the backdraw to make the podium.
Pongracz had a busy day after falling in the round of 16 in the 141 main draw. He posted four wins in the consolations to place third. Mappes and Newberg were set to meet in the third-place match, but Newberg forfeited. Lampe went 5-2 at 184 on his way to a fifth-place showing.
The next match for the Mocs is Dec. 12 against Purdue in Maclellan Gym.
The Citadel’s Walker takes second at Navy Classic, Bulldogs 12th
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Citadel sophomore Aaron Walker, competing at 157 pounds, earned second place at this weekend's Navy Classic as he finished 4-1 in matches on Saturday afternoon. Walker, a 2013 NCAA qualifier, was joined by Matt Frisch (149), who placed sixth, as one of the top Bulldog competitors at the event.
As a team, The Citadel finished 12th in the 13-team field.
Walker's day began with a 7-4 victory over LaTrell Davis (Cleveland State), which was quickly followed by a 13-2 major decision against Southern Conference rival Jared Presley of Chattanooga.
He polished off the third round with a decisive 9-4 victory against Jacob Crawford (North Carolina) before reaching the finals with a 6-2 win over Gregory Flournoy (George Mason).
Walker squared off with Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) in the finals, where he snapped his streak with an 8-6 decision.
Frisch advanced to the second round with a bye, where he earned a 10-3 decision against Timothy Tuschell (Wisconsin). In the semifinals of the 149-pound division, he came away with a 6-3 decision over Joseph Moon (North Carolina).
Like Walker, Frisch faced a SoCon rival when he went head-to-head with Chattanooga's Shawn Greevy in the semifinals, who captured the 10-5 victory. That put Frisch into the fifth place match with James Dekrone (West Virginia), who captured a win by fall at the 53 second mark.
The Citadel returns to action on Dec. 5-6 when it heads to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the Cliff Keen Invitational.
SIUE competes at Joe Parisi Open
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Two SIUE wrestlers placed in the top five in the gold division at Saturday's Joe Parisi Open.
Three more Cougars also made the finals in the freshman and sophomore division of the tournament, including Nate Higgins, who was the champion at the 157-pound weight class.
Jake Residori was SIUE's top finisher with fourth place at 174 pounds, dropping a 3-2 decision to Oklahoma State's Kyle Crutchmer in his final match.
Chris Johnson took fifth place in the heavyweight division after a medical forfeit against Liberty's Josh Pelletier.
In the freshman and sophomore division, Higgins bested Oklahoma State's Hestin Lamons 7-5 in the championship match. John Muldoon (141 pounds) and Jake McKiernan (heavyweight) both placed second.
Gardner-Webb falls at NC State
RALEIGH, N.C. – Gardner-Webb picked up individual wins from Ryan Mosley, Kyle Ash and Austin Trott on Saturday at NC State, but the Wolfpack came away with a 26-8 dual match win.
Mosley took down Rodney Shepard by a 5-3 score at 149 pounds, breaking up an early 10-0 run by NC State.
Gardner-Webb (2-4) cut the lead to 10-6 in its next match, when Kyle Ash outlasted Chad Pyke at 157 pounds, winning 11-9.
Trott’s 9-7 win over Max Rohskopf at 165 pounds was significant, as it pulled Gardner-Webb within just two team points after six bouts.
The Wolfpack rallied from there, picking up a tech fall win at 174 pounds and capping the match with major decision victories at 197 and 285 pounds for the final margin.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs return to the mats on Dec. 3, opening Southern Conference action by hosting VMI in Paul Porter Arena.
NC State 26, Gardner-Webb 8
125: Joe DeAngelo (NCSU) dec. Cortez Starkes; 9-5 3-0
133: Bryce Meredith (NCSU) dec. Tyler Ziegler; 8-2 6-0
141: Sam Speno (NCSU) major dec. Ryan Hull; 18-6 10-0
149: Ryan Mosley (GW) dec. Rodney Shepard; 5-3 10-3
157: Kyle Ash (GW) dec. Chad Pyke; 11-9 (SV-1) 10-6
165: Austin Trott (GW) dec. Max Rohskopf; 9-7 10-8
174: Pete Renda (NCSU) tech fall Christian Maroni; 17-0 15-8
184: Michael Macchiavello (NCSU) dec. Gray Jones; 8-2 18-8
197: Michael Boykin (NCSU) major dec. Terry James Henderson; 14-3 22-8
285: Nick Gwiazdowski (NCSU) major dec. Justin Kozera; 14-4 26-8