The Citadel 33, Gardner-Webb 9
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Citadel won eight of 10 bouts, including pins by Aaron Walker and Marshall Haas, en route to a 33-9 victory over Gardner-Webb on Friday evening at the Paul Porter Arena.
The win improved The Citadel to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in Southern Conference action, while Gardner-Webb dropped to 6-14 overall with a 2-4 league mark.
Fifteenth-ranked Ugi Khishignyam opened the match with a 6-3 decision over Ryan Mosley at 141 pounds to improve his record to 14-3 on the season and extend his Southern Conference winning streak to 10 bouts.
Nick Kiter, wrestling in the place of Matt Frisch, who took the night off to rest, lost a 6-3 decision in the second bout to even the score at 3-3.
Walker, who was coming off a Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week honor, pinned Cole Graves at the 4:06 mark to collect his 23rd win of the season and improve his perfect dual mark to 8-0 in 2013.
At 165, No. 8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj won his sixth ranked bout of the season and 14th of his career when he topped No. 17 Austin Trott 6-3 to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 12-3.
Luvsandorj improved his season record to 28-5 and now has 123 career wins, leaving him three shy of becoming The Citadel's all-time winningest wrestler.
Freshman Terrell Forbes earned a dominant 5-0 win at 174, followed by Jack Duane’s 9-5 decision at 184 to give the Bulldogs an 18-3 lead with four bouts left.
Duane took the mat for the first time since injuring his hamstring at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6. The redshirt junior is 11-7 on the season and 2-0 in duals.
A first-period pin by Haas put the match out of reach and secured The Citadel its sixth dual win of the season.
Joaquin Marquez won by decision at 125 before Aaron Hansen collected a win by forfeit at 133 to close out the match.
Gardner-Webb’s Tyler Ziegler posted a 6-3 decision at 149 pounds and Justin Kozera pinned Joe Bexley in the heavyweight bout.
The Citadel concludes its SoCon home slate on Sunday against military rival VMI at McAlister Field House at 2 p.m. The Citadel has won its last seven matches against the Keydets dating back to 2007.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 19, with a SoCon matchup against SIUE on the Campbell campus in Buies Creek, N.C., at 5 p.m.
The Citadel 33, Gardner-Webb 9
141 – #15 Ugi Khishignyam (CIT) dec. Ryan Mosley (GWU), 6-3 – 0-3
149 – Tyler Ziegler (GWU) dec. Nicholas Kiter (CIT), 6-3 - 3-3
157 – Aaron Walker (CIT) pinned Cole Graves (GWU), 4:06 - 3-9
165 – #8 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) dec. #17 Austin Trott (GWU), 6-3 – 3-12
174 – Terrell Forbes (CIT) dec. Aaron Rabin (GWU), 5-0 – 3-15
184 – Jack Duane (CIT) dec. Zach Bennett (GWU), 9-5 – 3-18
197 – Marshall Haas (CIT) pinned Terry Henderson (GWU), 4:18 - 3-24
HWT – Justin Kozera (GWU) pinned Joe Bexley (CIT), 1:21 - 9-24
125 – Joaquin Marquez (CIT) dec. William Anderson (GWU), 5-0 – 9-27
133 – Aaron Hansen (CIT) won by forfeit – 9-33
Appalachian State 30, VMI 7
BOONE, N.C. – In its first home Southern Conference battle and a near full-strength roster, the Appalachian State wrestling team exploded for a 30-7 win against VMI on Friday at Varsity Gym.
The Mountaineers picked up four major decisions and a pin on the night, losing only two matches.
The match started at the 197-pound weight class. Tyler Radford picked up the first takedown and never let the lead go. He won by a 5-2 decision, giving the Mountaineers the early 3-0 lead.
The Mountaineers gave up the next match in a hard fought battle. Denzel Dejournette lost by 16-7 major decision to Juan Adams that gave the Keydets the 4-3 lead.
After being out almost a month, Dominic Parisi looked as if he didn’t lose a step. Parisi dominated the next match, gaining takedown after takedown and only giving up one point, collecting a 13-1 major decision and regained the lead for Appalachian (7-4).
Using momentum from the last match, Chris Johnson stepped on the mat and picked up a convincing win. He grasped the second major decision of the night (12-2) against Michael Flora. Appalachian held an 11-4 lead until Jake Smith dropped a 6-2 decision at the 141-pound weight class against Emmitt Kelly right before intermission.
After the intermission, nationally ranked (No. 7) Dylan Cottrell amassed his 10th straight win with a 3-1 decision against Shabaka Johns to move Appalachian’s lead to 14-7.
In one of the most interesting matches of the evening, Nick Hall found himself down 5-3 late in the third period. He got a takedown with 13 seconds left in the match and earned the one-point riding time in the end to win the wild match with a 6-5 decision.
The Mountaineers would not look back, winning the next three matches of the night.
Nick Vetell at the 184-pound weight class closed the match with a 34-second pin. That pin would put him in second place on the team for the fastest pin of the season behind Cottrell, who had a 23-second pin in his first official match this season.
Appalachian took the 30-7 win against the Keydets. With the win, Appalachian would increase its series record to 28-13.
The Mountaineers will continue their three match homestand against Davidson on Feb. 16 at Varsity Gym at 2 p.m.
The Keydets head to Charleston, S.C., to take on military college rival The Citadel on Sunday. The match is scheduled for 2 p.m. at McAlister Field House.
Appalachian State 30, VMI 7
197 - Tyler Radford (APP) won by decision over Andrew Embree (VMI) 5-2. (APP leads 3-0)
285 - Juan Adams (VMI) won by major decision over Denzel Dejournette (APP) 16-7 (VMI leads 4-3)
125 - Dominic Parisi (APP) won by major decision over Dalton Henderson (VMI) 13-2 (APP leads 7-4)
133 - Chris Johnson (APP) won by major decision over Michael Flora (VMI) 11-2 (APP leads 11-4)
141 - Emmitt Kelly (VMI) won by decison over Jake Smith (APP) 7-2 (APP leads 11-7)
149 - Dylan Cottrell (APP) won by decision over Shabaka Johns (VMI) 3-1 (APP leads 14-7)
157 - Nick Hall (APP) won by decision over Edward Gottwald (VMI) 6-5 (APP leads 17-7)
165 - Zack Strickland (APP) won by decision over Mark Darr (VMI) 6-2 (APP leads 20-7)
174 - Adrian Soto-Perez (APP) won by major decision over Jake Koch (VMI) 17-6 (APP leads 24-7)
184 - Nick Vetell (APP) won by pin over Hardy Hendren (VMI) 0:34 (App wins 30-7)
West Virginia 45, Davidson 0
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Missing key pieces, the Davidson wrestling team couldn’t overcome a Big 12 opponent and fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers 45-0 at WVU Coliseum on Friday evening.
The match was a homecoming for head coach Bob Patnesky, who was a three-year starter for the Mountaineers before graduating in 2001.
Four of the Wildcats’ losses came at the hands of nationally ranked Mountaineers.
Anthony Elias put up a fight at 133 but couldn’t overcome No. 23 Nathan Pennesi and dropped the bout by a score of 8-3. The win gave the Mountaineers a 9-0 lead as the Wildcats were forced to forfeit at 125.
With WVU leading 15-0, Kevin Birmingham took the mat at 149 looking for his 10th win in 11 matches after being named the SoCon Wrestler of the Month for the month of January. Though he kept it close for most of the bout, he eventually succumbed to No. 26 Mike Morales by a score of 9-6.
Nathaniel Powers kept it tight vs. No. 23 Bubba Scheffel at 174 but ended up yielding a 12-4 major decision to his nationally ranked foe in the third period as he fended off a last-second pin attempt.
Michael Moore dropped a 7-0 decision at 197 to Leo Trindade, giving the Mountaineers a 41-0 advantage. Ed Isola fought valiantly in his bout at heavyweight but ended up taking a 15-5 loss to AJ Vizcarrando as the Wildcats fell 45-0 in their final nonconference dual of the season.
The Wildcats return to Belk Arena this Sunday to host No. 20 Chattanooga in SoCon action. The match, their home finale for the 2013-14 season, is also the annual Senior Day celebration and will start at 1 pm.
West Virginia 45, Davidson 0
125: Cory Stainbrook (WVU) won by forfeit.
133: No. 23 Nathan Pennesi (WVU) dec. Anthony Elias (DC), 8-3
141: No. 14 Colin Johnston (WVU) pinned James McCord (DC), 3:51
149: No. 26 Mike Morales (WVU) dec. Kevin Birmingham (DC), 9-6
157: Jason Luster (WVU) pinned Dan Hagemann (DC), 1:04
165: Ross Renzi (WVU) maj. dec. Patrick Devlin (DC), 20-8
174: No. 23 Bubba Scheffel maj. dec. Nathaniel Powers (DC), 12-4
184: Mac Mancuso (WVU) pinned Josh Sawyer (DC), 2:22
197: Leo Trindade (WVU) dec. Michael Moore (DC), 7-0
HWT: AJ Vzcarrando (WVU) maj. dec. Ed Isola (DC), 15-5