Campbell 39, Davidson 9
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell remained unbeaten in Southern Conference action Saturday night, defeating Davidson 39-9 at Gore Arena.
The Fighting Camels stand at 4-1 overall and 4-0 atop the SoCon leaderboard, while Davidson fell to 4-11 and 0-4 in the league.
The Camels took eight individual matches, including two pins, a technical fall and a major decision.
Campbell stormed to a 15-0 lead, taking three straight bouts.
The Wildcats forfeited the 125-pound spot to give CU the 6-0 start, and freshman Tyler Walker stayed undefeated at 4-0 overall and in the conference.
At 133 pounds, freshman Drew Walker picked up his third league win with a 7-5 decision over Anthony Elias. Walker is 12-12 on the season and 3-1 in the SoCon.
Sophomore Michael Dahlstrom evened his league record at 2-2 with his fifth pin of the year. Improving to 17-15 overall, the 141-pounder put Alexander Palinski on his back in 1:18 for the six team points
The Wildcats’ first win of the night came at 149 pounds, as Kevin Birmingham pinned Collin Munson in 1:37, putting Davidson on the board with six points.
Grant Blumenthal earned his third SoCon win of the year with his second major decision of the year, 12-1 over Christopher Talevi.
In the 165-pound bout, Paul Duggan moved to 2-2 in the league with his fifth pin of the year and the fastest for a Camel this season. He took the 23-second fall over Patrick Devlin for his 10th overall win of the year.
Davidson’s Nathaniel Powers blanked Cody Ryba 6-0 at 174 pounds in the Wildcats’ final win of the night. The loss was Ryba’s first in conference action, moving to 3-1.
Ville Heino was the first Camel to reach 4-0 in the Southern Conference. He edged Donald Patrick 3-2 in the 184-pound bout to give Campbell the 28-9 lead.
Taylor McGiffen picked up his third major decision of the season, taking down Michael Moore 21-6 at 197 pounds. The sophomore was the second Camel to reach a perfect 4-0 in the league, standing 11-8 overall.
In the final bout of the night, Eloheim Palma earned his team-leading seventh win of the season in 1:32 over Eddie Isola. He tacked on the final six CU points of the night, rounding out the 39-9 win.
The Camels return to action in Gore Arena Feb. 8 at 6 p.m., taking on preseason favorite Chattanooga, which sits at 3-0 in the SoCon.
Davidson will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., next week for a Feb. 7 dual at West Virginia. The match is set for 7 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
Campbell 39, Davidson 9
125: Tyler Walker (CU) won by forfeit.
133: Drew Walker (CU) dec. Anthony Elias (DC), 7-5
141: Michael Dahlstrom (CU) pinned Alex Palinski (DC), 1:18
149: Kevin Birmingham (DC) pinned Collin Munson (CU), 1:37
157: Grant Blumenthal (CU) maj. dec. CT Talevi (DC), 12-1
165: Paul Duggan (CU) pinned Patrick Devlin (DC), 0:23
174: Nathaniel Powers (CU) dec. Cody Ryba (CU), 3-2
184: Ville Heino (CU) dec. Scott Patrick (DC), 3-2
197: Taylor McGiffen (CU) tech. fall Michael Moore (DC), 21-6 (5:27)
HWT: Eloheim Palma (CU) pinned Ed Isola (DC), 1:32
Four Citadel wrestlers take titles, Bulldogs finish second at All-Academy Championships
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Ugi Khishignyam, Matt Frisch, Aaron Walker and Turtogtokh Luvsandorj were crowned as champions, while five others placed in the top four on Saturday at the 20th-annual All-Academy Championships hosted by the Coast Guard Academy. The Bulldogs finished in second place with 92 points.
Eighteenth-ranked Khishignyam plowed through his competition by way of medical forfeit, fall at 44 seconds and 7-4 decision to earn the 141-pound title.
Frisch earned a major decision, decision and injury default win to take the 149-pound title, while Walker carried his winning streak to 10 with his 157-pound championship at 157.
Eighth-ranked Luvsandorj cruised to his second 165-pound All-Academy title with two major decision wins in the opening and second rounds before earning a 4-2 decision over 17th-ranked Peyton Walsh of Navy to capture the title.
True freshman Joe Bexley narrowly missed out on a first-place finish at heavyweight with a TB-2 loss in the championship round against Marcus Malecek of Air Force. Bexley finished in second place after collecting two decision victories.
Joaquin Marquez and Aaron Hansen earned third-place finishes at 125 and 133, respectively, while Kenneth Radford (184) and Marshall Haas (197) earned fourth-place finishes.
The Citadel wrestling team travels to Gardner-Webb for a Southern Conference match on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. before returning home to take on military rival VMI on Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. in McAlister Field House.
Adams finishes third, VMI fifth at All-Academy Championships
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Redshirt junior Juan Adams took third place at the 2014 All-Military Academy Championships, hosted by the United States Coast Guard Academy Saturday afternoon. With his point total from the podium finish, the Virginia Military Institute finished fifth among the eight teams competing.
The United States Naval Academy won the team championship with 108.5 points, topping The Citadel’s 92.0 points. The United States Air Force Academy finished third with 83.0 points, while the United States Military Academy took fourth with 71.0 points. VMI tallied 17.5 points, edging the Merchant Marine Academy and its 16.5 points. Norwich took seventh with 6.5 points as the host Academy finished with 2.0 points.
VMI, which sent a freshmen-less lineup to Merriam Gym in Roland Hall due to the Institute’s Breakout event, got fourth-place finishes Emmitt Kelly at 141 pounds and Mark Darr at 165 pounds to add to the team’s points.
Adams opened the day with a decisive 7-1 win over Coast Guard’s Joel Wyman to advance to the heavyweight semifinals. In the next round, the Texan was edged 3-1 in a sudden victory to eventual champion Marcus Malecek of the Air Force. Adams bounced back in the consolation semifinals with a 4-0 win over Navy’s Colynn Cook. Squaring off with Army’s Trevor Smith in the third-place bout, Adams bested the Black Knight 7-0.
Kelly kicked off his day with a narrow 2-1 win over Air Force’s David Walker before running into defending Southern Conference champion Ugi Khishignyam from The Citadel and was pinned in the first period. Kelly rebounded with a 10-3 win in the consolation semifinals against Merchant Marine’s Nathan Twito. Kelly fell in the third-place bout by a 3-1 sudden victory against Army’s Tyler Rauenzahn.
At 165 pounds, Darr got the event off on the right foot with a 19-5 major decision over Air Force’s Joseph Baucke. In the semifinals, Darr fell against eventual champion Turtogtokh Luvsandorj of The Citadel 16-4. Darr did not let the loss affect him, tech falling Benjamin Greene 15-0 in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place bout, Darr was topped 6-2 against Army’s Chandler Smith.