The Citadel competes at Cliff Keen
LAS VEGAS – The Citadel wrestling team finished day one of action at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Friday.
Marshall Haas (6-3) got the first win for the Bulldogs on the day with an 11-2 major decision over Tyler Greene of Bucknell at 197 pounds. The senior recorded four two-point takedowns in the win as well as taking the riding-time point. With the win, Haas would move on to the round of 32 and face the No. 5 seed out of Virginia, Zach Nye. Haas scored first after recording a two-point takedown but was unable to tally anything else other than escapes and eventually fell by an 8-6 decision.
Aaron Walker (7-1), who was seeded third at 157 pounds, received his first loss of the season after dropping a tough 5-4 decision to Colton Shorts of Cal Poly in the round of 64. Walker bounced back in the consolation round of 32, though, as he took a 3-0 decision over Drew Daniels of Navy, allowing him to move to the round of 16 to face Alex Rice of Newberry, where he would pick up his second win of the day by 10-2 major decision.
The junior would then face Chris Castillo of Boise State and came away victorious after taking an 8-6 sudden-victory decision. Walker continued his string of victories in the nightcap, defeating Utah Valley’s Raider Lofthouse by an 8-1 decision, propelling himself into Saturday’s competition.
Patrick Kearney (1-4), Ty Buckiso (6-4) and Caleb Smith (7-6) all also lost their first-round bouts. Kearney lost by fall to Trey Andrews of Northern Colorado at the 6:34 mark and Smith also took a loss by fall to the No. 9 seed, Samuel Brancale of Minnesota, at 2:45. Buckiso lost by a 5-3 decision to American’s Tyler Scotton at 141 pounds in the round of 64 and then fell to Noah Teaney of Oklahoma in the consolation round of 32 by a close 5-3 decision.
Kearney took to the mat again in the third round of the consolation bracket to square off with Ben Thornton of Purdue and eventually lost by tech fall 19-1.
Smith, who was wrestling at 133 for the first time this season, dropped his second match of the day to Angelo Amenta of Columbia by an 8-0 major decision.
Tim Kniple (7-6) fell to fourth-seeded Matt Reed of Oklahoma in 3:14 at 174 pounds and moved on to the second round of the consolation bracket, where he faced Christian Smith of California Baptist.
Sawyer Root (8-5) lost a nail-biter in his first match, dropping a 3-1 decision to Bucknell’s Tom Sleigh, who was seeded at No. 9.
Joe Bexley (4-4) dropped two bouts at 285 after getting pinned by Matt Williams from CSU Bakersfield and losing by a 4-0 decision to Spencer Empey of Cal Poly in the second round of the consolation bracket.
The second round of the Cliff Keen Invitational begins Saturday at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. Live stats will be available at CitadelSports.com.
Appalachian State falls to No. 7 NC State
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State took on No. 7 NC State in Varsity Gym on Friday night. The Mountaineers were tied with the Wolfpack with two matches left but were topped in the final two matches and fell, 21-14.
The match started with key matchup at heavyweight between No. 12 Denzel Dejournette and No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski. Both wrestlers were undefeated coming into the bout with Dejournette at 12-0 and Gwiazdowski at 7-0. Dejournette battled hard with the reigning national champion for three rounds but fell to Gwiazdowski, 11-4.
Vito Pasone dominated the 125-pound match to push the Mountaineers into the lead with his 14-2 major decision over Jamel Morris.
With App leading 4-3, Jacob Grigg took the mat against Jamal Morris. Grigg fought off an early deficit and was inches from a second-round pin. Grigg held on to win an 8-3 decision and extended the Mountaineer lead, 7-3.
Michael Longo took on Kevin Jack, the No. 1 141-pound wrestler in the nation. Jack pulled away from Longo in the third period, winning the bout 10-1 and leveling the team scores at seven.
At 149 pounds, Matt Zovistoski faced Beau Donahue. Zovistoski was down, 5-4, heading into the third period but rallied for a 10-5 decision win. With the win at 149 pounds, the Apps took a 10-7 lead.
David Peters-Logue took on No. 7 Tommy Gantt at 157 pounds. Gantt pushed the Wolfpack back in front, 11-10, with a 16-6 major decision. Forrest Przybysz hung with No. 8 Max Rohskopf through three rounds but eventually fell 4-0.
With NC State leading 14-10, Nick Kee dominated the third period of the 174-pound match and earned bonus points for the Apps with a 12-3 major decision. The major decision tied the team score at 14 with two matches left.
Taylor Jackson fell to No. 17 Pete Renda at 184 pounds by a 13-3 major decision to give NC State an 18-14 advantage going into the final match of the night. Malik McDonald topped Randall Diabe, 4-1, sealing the 21-14 Wolfpack victory.
The Mountaineers return to the mats of Varsity Gym on Dec. 15 to take on the Duke Blue Devils. The match is set for 6:30 p.m.
No. 7 NC State 21, App State 14
Hwt: Nick Gwiazdowski (NCST) def. Denzel Dejournette (APP), D, 11-4 (3-0 NCST)
125: Vito Pasone (APP) def. Jamel Morris (NCST) MD, 14-2 (4-3 App)
133: Jacob Grigg (APP) def. Jamal Morris (NCST) D, 8-3 (7-3 App)
141: Kevin Jack (NCST) def Michael Longo (APP) MD, 10-1 (7-7 tied)
149: Matt Zovistoski (APP) def. Beau Donahue (NCST) D, 10-5 (10-7 App)
157: Tommy Gantt (NCST) def. David Peters-Logue (APP) MD, 16-6 (11-10 NCST)
165: Max Rohskopf (NCST) def. Forrest Przybysz (APP) D, 4-0 (14-10 NCST)
174: Nick Kee (APP) def. Lee Davis (NCST) MD, 12-3 (14-14 tied)
184: Pete Renda (NCST) def. Taylor Jackson (APP) MD, 13-3 (18-14 NCST)
197: Malik McDonald (NCST) def. Randall Diabe (APP) D, 4-1 (21-14 NCST)