Seven Appalachian State wrestlers alive at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Appalachian State finished the first day of action at the Southern Scuffle hosted by Chattanooga. The Mountaineers (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) sit in 14th place of 28 teams with 22.5 points and have one wrestler, Denzel Dejournette, still alive in the heavyweight championship bracket.
Dejournette will face Jared Johnson of Southern Conference rival Chattanooga in the quarterfinal after winning both of his matches on Friday. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native received a first-round bye before defeating Navy’s Nicholas Mabry by major decision.
In his second match, Dejournette edged Doug Vollaro of Lehigh, 7-1, in sudden victory.
App State has seven wrestlers that will be in action Saturday in the consolation bracket.
At 125 pounds, Vito Pasone won his first match over Conner Zigler of Army by a 17-0 technical fall. Pasone then dropped a 9-5 decision to Eddie Kilmara of Oklahoma State in his third-round match.
Jacob Grigg won his opening match at 133 pounds by decision over P.T. Garcia of Wyoming. George DiCamillo of Virginia knocked Grigg into the consolation bracket with a 17-2 technical fall victory.
Michael Longo dropped his first match of the tournament but rallied in the consolation bracket with two technical-fall victories over Cameron Kennedy of Michigan and Jayce Carr of Cleveland State.
Like Longo, Matt Zovistoski also fell in his opening-round match up but fought off elimination with back-to-back decision wins over James Dekrone of West Virginia and Jake Elliot of Wyoming.
Forrest Przybysz defeated Andrew Mendel by major decision in his match of the day. Geno Morelli then won a close 6-5 decision in the first overtime period over Przybysz.
Nick Kee was the only Mountaineer to record a pin on day one when he pinned Gabe Stark of Cleveland State three minutes into the bout. Kee fell in to Jadaen Berstein of Navy by sudden victory in his next round match.
Cary Miller dropped his opening-round match in the heavyweight division in a 7-3 decision to AJ Vizcarrondo of West Virginia. Miller then won by 20-5 technical fall over Jeffrey Keyton of Campbell in his first consolation match.
The Mountaineers will complete the Southern Scuffle on Saturday.
Five Camels advance at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Camels wrap up day one of the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle sitting 27th in the team standings with 12 points and five grapplers continuing on to day two. Lucas Stewart and Ville Heino each went 2-1 on the day, while Drew Walker (133 pounds), Nathan Kraisser (133 pounds), and Paul Duggan (165 pounds) went 1-1 after each receiving first-round byes. All five will all continue to compete in the wrestlebacks on day two of the Southern Scuffle.
Drew Walker received an opening-round bye and drew Zachary Davis (Navy) in the second round of the 133 bracket. Walker scored the first points on a takedown but it was the Davis show from there on, as the Midshipman scored 10 points before finally earning the pin over Walker (5:00). Walker faced Philip Anderson from Gardner-Webb in a tough battle that saw Walker score the first points on a takedown. The two sat tied at the end of the third at nine points apiece, and seconds into the sudden-victory round, Walker recorded a takedown to win the bout in an 11-9 decision and progress to the next round of the consolation bracket.
Nathan Kraisser battled James Szymanski (North Carolina) in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. Kraisser scored five takedowns, an escape, two stalling points and riding time on his way to defeating Szymanski in a 14-3 major decision. In the third round of the championship bracket, Kraisser faced Samuel Brancale from Minnesota, who outmaneuvered the Camel en route to a 12-4 major decision. Kraisser continues in the consolation bracket on day two of the Scuffle.
Lucas Stewart (141 pounds) followed up next as he faced Tyler Vath from Edinboro. After going scoreless through the first period, Stewart earned the only point of the bout as he escaped Vath's clutches to win in a 1-0 decision. In his second bout of the day, Stewart faced Kevin Devoy of Drexel. Devoy got the early lead with a takedown and Stewart closed the gap with an escape. Stewart tied the bout on another escape after choosing bottom for the last points of regulation. After going through the first sudden-victory and two tiebreakers, Stewart won by a 4-3 TB-1 decision. Stewart next faced Kade Moss (Penn State) in the third round of the championship bracket. The bout went much like Stewart's previous match but the outcome was in favor of his opponent as Moss emerged the victor of a 4-3 TB-1 decision.
Paul Duggan (165 pounds) recorded his fourth pin of the season as he defeated Jordan Atienza of Central Michigan in just one minute. In the third round of the championship bracket, Duggan drew George Pickett of Cornell, who handed the Camel his only loss of the day in a 7-2 decision.
Ville Heino (184 pounds) made quick work of his first two opponents as he recorded two decisions. His first win came over Robert Mannier of the United States Naval Academy (dec. 6-3) and his second was a 7-3 decision over Chris Pfarr of Minnesota. In round three of the championship bracket, Heino fell in a 16-0 tech fall to Nate Brown of Lehigh, who recorded a takedown and four 4-point nearfalls.
Collin Stewart, Zane Knight, Kaleb Warner, Austin McNeill and Jeffrey Keyton all went 0-2 on the day, while Jere Heino won his first bout but fell in his final two bouts of the day.
Five Citadel wrestlers move on to day two at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Citadel wrestling team had 15 wrestlers compete in day one of the Southern Scuffle on Friday. This year’s tournament is comprised of roughly 300 wrestlers from 30 teams across the country.
Joe Bexley, Matt Frisch and Aaron Walker were the only Bulldogs who remained in the championship bracket heading into the round of 16. Bexley, who received a bye in the first round of the 285 division, squared off with Pat Gillen of Virginia in the second round of the tournament and advanced by a 2-1 decision. That would set up a SoCon showdown with No. 14 Chattanooga’s Jared Johnson. Bexley (6-5) was unable to pull the upset and was pinned by Johnson in 1:35.
Frisch (10-3) also received a bye in the first round before facing Chandler Pyke, who was wrestling unattached, in the round of 32. Frisch (149 pounds) dispatched of Pyke by an 8-4 decision and moved on to the round of 16, where he would face Laike Gardner of Lehigh. The senior beat Gardner by an 8-6 decision and will face the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Evan Henderson of North Carolina, in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Walker (10-4) earned a bye in the first round of the 157-pound division and then faced Connor Bass of Duke. The junior had no trouble earning the victory and advanced with a 10-5 decision. Walker then faced Zach Beitz from No. 1-ranked Penn State but was unable to earn the victory, taking his first loss of the day by a 9-5 decision.
Ty Buckiso (9-6) went 2-2 at 141 pounds, picking up wins over AJ Vindici from Penn and David Walker of Air Force before eventually losing to Connor Prince in the consolation round of 16.
Marshall Haas, the Dec. 23 Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week, came into the Scuffle with an 11-3 record after a stellar 4-0 outing at the Reno Tournament of Champions two weeks earlier. The senior dropped his first match of the day to Parker Hines of Air Force by a 5-1 decision and moved to the consolation bracket to face Nate Shaw of Wyoming. Haas held a 4-1 lead heading into the third period but Shaw evened things at 5-5 to force overtime. Haas (12-4) wasted no time and earned the win with a pin in 7:37.
Frisch will be the only Bulldog wrestler competing in the championship bracket on Saturday but he will be joined by four other Bulldogs on the mat for the last day of the tournament.
Nine Gardner-Webb wrestlers advance at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Gardner-Webb had six wrestlers advance to the round of 16 Saturday at the 2016 Southern Scuffle and will have nine men alive – one in the quarterfinals and eight in the consolation bracket on Saturday.
The Runnin' Bulldogs sit in 21st place with 18.5 team points when action resumes Saturday morning.
Unattached 165-pounder Tyler Marinelli went 2-0 Friday and will wrestle unattached Michigan wrestler Logan Massa in the quarterfinals. Marinelli followed up a pair of byes with a 4-3 win over Minnesota's Brandon Krone and handled 2015 NCAA All-American and Stanford captain Jim Wilson with a 7-3 decision in the round of 16.
Wilson entered Friday's action ranked No. 7 nationally in the weight class.
Gardner-Webb got a pair of wins at 125 pounds from Cortez Starkes before a close loss to Oklahoma State's' Elijah Hale sent the senior to the consolation bracket, where he will wrestle Saturday.
Tyler Ziegler (133), Chris Vassar (149), Ryan Mosley (149), Christian Maroni (165), Austin Trott (165), Hunter Gamble (184) and Boyce Cornwell (285) will also wrestle Saturday in the consolation bracket.
Mosley went 3-1 Friday, bouncing back from an early loss with two Friday wins in the consolation round to stay alive.
Following Saturday's action, Gardner-Webb will return to Southern Conference competition on Friday, Jan. 8, hosting SIUE in its first home match of the season.
Chattanooga advances nine to second day of Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted another outstanding day of wrestling action with the opening of the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle in McKenzie Arena. Over 2,600 fans enjoyed ringing in the New Year with tons of top-notch action in the Scenic City.
Top-ranked Penn State leads the team race with 47.5 points, followed closely by No. 2 Oklahoma State with 44.5 points. Cornell (40.0), Lehigh (36.5) and North Carolina (32.5) round out the top five. The host Mocs have two individuals still alive in the main draw and are 17th in the 29-team field.
UTC junior heavyweight Jared Johnson came into the match No. 14 in the country and the No. 4 seed in the tournament. He opened with a 4-1 decision over Air Force's Marcus Malecek and advanced to the quarters with a pin (1:35) against The Citadel's Joe Bexley.
Saturday's championship quarterfinals begin at 9 a.m. and Johnson takes on Appalachian State's Denzel Dejournette. Dejournette is currently No. 13 in the nation and the No. 5 seed in the event. He beat Johnson 4-2 in their last meeting, in the second round of the Arby’s Southern Conference Wrestling Championship.
Freshman Kamaal Shakur shook off Virginia's Andrew Atkinson (3-2) in overtime to advance to the quarters at 157. He opened with an 11-5 decision over Navy's Drew Daniels and is currently on a 13-match winning streak.
Shakur has a tall test Saturday with top-seeded and third-ranked Jason Nolf of Penn State. Nolf advanced to the finals at last year's Scuffle as an unattached true freshman.
Junior Michael Pongracz made it to the round of 16 before falling in a one-point affair with Wyoming's 15th-ranked Bryce Meredith (6-5). He opened with a 6-2 decision over Lehigh's Jon Mele and followed with a 4-2 win against Central Michigan's Kyle Noonan. His loss to Meredith was his first of the season, with his record standing at 12-1.
Senior John Lampe also made it to the quarters before falling against a ranked foe. He gave up a late takedown in a tight match against Oklahoma's 18th-ranked Nolan Boyd.
Junior Scottie Boykin came into the event ranked No. 18 in the nation and the No. 10 seed. He opened with a win over North Carolina's Scott Marmoll (6-3) but lost in overtime in the round of 16 to Air Force's Parker Hines (10-8 (SV1).
Freshman Roman Boylen is still alive in the backdraw at 149. Junior Sean Mappes and sophomore Barrett Walthall are also in the wrestlebacks at 174. They are joined in the consolations by Pongracz, Lampe and Boykin.
Doors open Saturday at 8 a.m. with the quarterfinals beginning at 9 a.m. The championship semifinals are 1:30 p.m. and the medal matches are 7 p.m. Links for tickets, live scoring from Trackwrestling and live video of every mat from Flowrestling are all available on TheSouthernScuffle.com.