VMI downs Sacred Heart
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Getting back into wrestling mode following a two-week Christmas Furlough, the VMI wrestling team defeated host Sacred Heart by a 23-18 score Saturday afternoon.
The Keydets jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back en route to the victory. The Pioneers made a 12-0 run in the final three bouts, but VMI maintained the lead throughout for its second dual win of the season.
Dalton Henderson (125 pounds) earned three points for the Keydets with a 9-6 decision over SHU’s Gerard Daly before Bennie Pachello (133) pinned Pioneer Tim Johnson in the first period (2:51) to balloon the Keydet lead to 9-0 after two bouts. Hunter Starner then topped Sacred Heart’s Alex Harnsberger by a close 5-4 decision to up the advantage to 12-0.
At 149 pounds, Pioneer Brandon Levesque put six points on the board for SHU by pinning VMI’s Emmitt Kelly in the third period (7:20) to cut the VMI lead to 12-6.
Freshman Neal Richards quickly swung the momentum back in VMI’s favor by earning bonus points with an 18-6 major decision over SHU’s Matt Fisher. In the next bout at 165 pounds, junior Shabaka Johns earned a 6-2 decision over SHU’s Casey Mitchell in what proved to be the match-winning bout as the Keydets jumped to a 19-6 lead.
Junior Mark Darr then earned four security points at 174 pounds by defeating Sacred Heart’s Johnny Vrasidas by a 16-5 major decision to give VMI its final points.
Sacred Heart’s Mark Boyle topped Derek Thurman at 184 points by a 10-4 decision before VMI’s Taylor Thomas was pinned by his SHU opponent at 197 points.
The Keydets return to the mat Sunday in Hempstead, New York, as VMI takes on Bloomsburg in a neutral setting at 1 p.m. before facing host Hofstra at 3 p.m.
VMI 23, Sacred Heart 18
125: Dalton Henderson (VMI) def. Gerard Daly (SHU) 9-6 (3-0 VMI)
133: Benjamin Pachello (VMI) pins Tim Johnson (SHU) 2:51 (9-0 VMI)
141: Hunter Starner (VMI) def. Alex Harnsberger (SHU) 5-4 (12-0 VMI)
149: Brandon Levesque (SHU) pins Emmitt Kelly (VMI) 7:20 (12-6 VMI)
157: Neal Richards (VMI) def. Matt Fisher (SHU) 18-6 major decision (16-6 VMI)
165: Shabaka Johns (VMI) def. Casey Mitchell (SHU) 6-2 (19-6 VMI)
174: Mark Darr (VMI) def. Johnny Vrasidas (SHU) 16-5 major decision (23-6 VMI)
184: Mark Boyle (SHU) def. Derek Thurman (VMI) 10-4 (23-9 VMI)
197: Sasha Oliinyk (SHU) pins Taylor Thomas (VMI) 2:44 (23-15 VMI)
HWT: Duke Sherwood (SHU) def. Sivaatasi Mathias (VMI) 3-1 (23-18 VMI)
Appalachian State’s Dejournette runner-up at Southern Scuffle, Apps 13th
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Appalachian State finished the second day of the Southern Scuffle hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Mountaineers (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) finished in 13th place of 31 teams with 40.5 points.
Entering the day, the Apps had one wrestler alive in the championship bracket and seven wrestlers alive in the consolation bracket.
Denzel Dejournette was the only Mountaineer left in the championship bracket on the second day of action at the Southern Scuffle. Dejournette finished as the runner-up in the heavyweight division. Dejournette took on Southern Conference rival No. 14 Jared Johnson of Chattanooga in the quarterfinal. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native defeated Johnson a by 2-0 decision.
Dejournette faced No. 6 Michael Kroells of Minnesota for a chance to advance to the final match. Dejournette won the semifinal match in a 6-3 decision over Kroells. In the final, Dejournette dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 4 Austin Marsden to finish in second place.
Vito Pasone started his second day with a 24-12 major decision over Cater Ballinger of Central Michigan to advance into the fifth round of the consolation bracket at 125 pounds. Pasone, then dropped a 7-4 decision to William Mason of Virginia to end his tournament.
In Forrest Przybysz’s first match of the day, he won by 14-4 major decision over Christian Maroni of Gardner-Webb. Przybysz fell in the consolation fifth round to Paul Duggan of Campbell, 10-2.
Nick Kee won two matches on day two, starting with a 9-4 decision win over Navy’s Adam Jackson. Kee followed that up with a 3-1 sudden victory over Bryce Carr of Chattanooga to advance to the sixth round of the consolation bracket. Michael Ottinger of Central Michigan defeated Kee by 10-1 major decision to end the redshirt sophomore’s tournament.
Cary Miller won his first match of day two via medical forfeit before winning his next match by 5-3 decision over Joseph Goodhart of Drexel. Miller fell to Nathan Butler of Stanford in the sixth round of the consolation match by a 9-1.
The Mountaineers will be back in action on Jan. 6 for their second Southern Conference match of the season against Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C. Match time is set for 5 p.m.
Campbell finishes 14th at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Nathan Kraisser finished fourth (133 pounds) at the 2016 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle going 6-2 on the weekend. Paul Duggan finished eighth at 165 pounds (4-3) as the Camels finished the tournament 14th overall with 38.5 team points. The 14th-place finish is the highest in school history at the Southern Scuffle.
Ville Heino went 4-2 on the weekend, while Drew Walker and Lucas Stewart both went 2-2 as action wrapped up on day two.
The Camels return to the mat on Wednesday, Jan. 6, as they host conference rival Appalachian State in Carter Gym at 5 p.m. Video and live stats will be available for fans to follow if unable to attend the match.
Kraisser led all Campbell grapplers as he went 6-2 overall to finish fourth at the Scuffle. He started the day by recording a 13-0 major decision over John Twomey from Air Force in round four of the consolation bracket. He followed that performance by knocking out fellow Camel grappler Drew Walker in a tech fall, 18-3.
Kraisser picked up a win over Keegan Moore from West Virginia due to a medical forfeit by the Mountaineer and went on to face Garth Yenter of Michigan State in the seventh round of the consolations. Kraisser cruised to a 5-0 decision over Yenter and received yet another win via medical forfeit from Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) in the consolation semifinals.
Kraisser advanced to the third-place bout, where he faced George DiCamillo of Virginia. DiCamillo scored three takedowns as he defeated Kraisser in a 6-3 decision.
Duggan finished the Scuffle 4-3 overall and eighth at 165 pounds as the only other Camel to place at the tournament. He started his day with a pair of major decisions, his first over Michael Coleman (Navy) 14-3 and his second via 10-2 major over Forrest Przybysz (App State) to put him in the sixth round of the wrestle backs.
Duggan's last win of the day came in a come-from-behind, sudden-victory 12-8 decision over Conner Flynn (West Virginia). Flynn dominated early but Duggan fought back in the third period to tie and force overtime. Moving on to the seventh round of consolation bouts, Duggan faced Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), who beat the Camel in a close 6-5 decision after factoring riding time.
Duggan's day was not yet over, as he had one final match that would determine the seventh-place finisher of the Scuffle. He faced Garett Hammond (Penn State), who pinned Duggan in 2:50 to claim seventh as Duggan finished eighth at the Scuffle with a 4-3 record.
Heino won two matches, a major decision (11-1) over Zach Nevills (Stanford) and a 10-4 decision over Tyler Askey (UVA), before being pinned by Jordan Rodgers from Oklahoma State in just 2:02.
Walker split his two matches of the day, winning his first in a 23-8 tech fall over Franco Ferrina (Drexel) before falling to teammate Nathan Kraisser in an 18-3 tech fall to finish the Scuffle 2-2. Stewart also finished 2-2, as he lost his only match of the day to Mike Carlone (Cleveland State) in a 7-5 decision at 141 pounds.
Chattanooga finishes 20th at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrapped up another outstanding Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle in McKenzie Arena on Saturday. Penn State won its fifth straight title with 183 points, while the Mocs placed 20th in the loaded field.
UTC junior Jared Johnson had a strong showing with a fourth-place finish at heavyweight. Ranked No. 14 in the nation heading into the tournament, he did better than his No. 6 seed at 285.
Johnson opened the day with a loss in the quarterfinals against Appalachian State's No. 13 Denzel Dejournette. He gave up an escape in the second and lost the riding time point for the 0-2 margin.
Johnson followed with a 4-0 decision against West Virginia's A.J. Vizcarrondo in the sixth round of wrestlebacks and a 4-3 decision against Edinboro's William Miller in the blood round.
He had another big win in the consolation semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Cleveland State's 12th-ranked Riley Shaw. That put him in the third-place match against sixth-ranked Michael Kroells of Minnesota. He battled hard against Kroells before falling 5-2.
Some of the other action included an early win from senior John Lampe at 184. He defeated Michigan's Ben Ralston with a 13-4 major decision in the fourth round of consos. He was knocked out in the next round by Stanford's Garet Krohn (5-3).
Junior Sean Mappes looked to be cruising in his match against Wyoming's Ben Stroh. However, Stroh was able to get the pin in the final minute and score a win.
Freshman Kamaal Shakur looked good with an early takedown in his match against Penn State's No. 3 ranked and top-seeded Jason Nolf. He eventually gave up a fall and was knocked out of the backdraw by Lehigh's Drew Longo.
The top-ranked Nittnany Lions beat out No. 2 Oklahoma State (158) in the team race. Lehigh was third with 104.5 points, followed by Cornell (98.5) and North Carolina (97.5).
Another great crowd was at the finals and total attendance for day two at the Southern Scuffle was 3,172. It marks the third year in a row with 3,000-plus on the second day of competition.
Gardner-Webb finishes 22nd at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Gardner-Webb redshirt sophomore Chris Vassar finished eighth at 149 pounds Saturday, pacing the Runnin' Bulldogs on the final day of the 2016 Southern Scuffle.
Vassar started the day's action in style with a pin of Chattanooga's Roman Boylen in just 1:44. He followed with a 6-0 decision over Troy Heilmann (unattached) to reach the consolation quarterfinals but fell to Stanford's Paul Fox in a tight match (6-4, SV-1) in the seventh-place bout.
Unattached redshirt Tyler Marinelli was the lone GWU wrestler remaining in the championship bracket with Saturday's action started after taking down seventh-ranked Jim Wilson of Stanford on Friday night to advance. Marinelli ran into another tough opponent Saturday, falling to Michigan unattached grappler Logan Massa by a 6-0 score. He was pinned by Penn State's Garrett Hammond in the consolation bracket to end his run.
Hunter Gamble picked up a pair of consolation wins Saturday before falling to Oklahoma State's Nolan Boyd at 184 pounds.
Gardner-Webb finished in 22nd position in the 31-team field with 28.5 team points – just one point off the pace of Wyoming and three points behind host Chattanooga. Penn State, Oklahoma State and Lehigh took the top three spots by night's end.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will host Southern Conference foe SIUE in their first home match of the season on Friday, Jan. 8, in Paul Porter Arena.
The Citadel finishes 26th at Southern Scuffle
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Citadel wrestling team completed action at the Southern Scuffle on Saturday, finishing 26th in the 31-team field.
Matt Frisch (149 pounds) was the only Bulldog still alive in the championship side of the bracket but lost his first match of the day to the No. 2 seed Evan Henderson. Frisch lost by pin to the Tar Heel grappler in 4:19 and dropped to the consolation bracket, where he faced SoCon foe Christop Vassar of Gardner-Webb. Frisch then received his second loss of the day to Vassar by a 7-4 decision, giving the senior a 10-5 record on the year and 2-2 in the tournament.
Aaron Walker also took his second loss in the tournament at the hands of Drew Longo by a 7-5 decision. The junior now holds a 10-5 record after going 1-2 in the Scuffle. Sawyer Root’s run in the tournament came to an end after he medically forfeited to Michael Macchiavello in the consolation round of 16.
Marshall Haas’s (12-5) day came to an end after losing by a 4-0 decision to Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State to drop to 1-2 in the tournament. Joe Bexley took his second loss of the tournament at the hands of Adam Robinson of Central Michigan after losing by a tight 3-0 decision in the consolation round of 16.
Other Bulldog wrestlers who competed:
Zach Appleby: (2-7 overall, 0-2 for the tournament)
K.C. Braddock: (2-6, 0-2)
Jason Carr: (5-6, 1-2)
Andrew Clayton: (1-8, 1-2)
Patrick Kearney: (2-7, 1-2)
Tim Knipl: (8-6, 0-2)
Chandler Sambets: (4-6, 0-2)
Caleb Smith: (7-9, 0-2)
Daniel Smith: (0-4, 0-2)
The Citadel returns to the mat on Friday for the Virginia Duals in Hampton Road, Virginia. Results from each day of the two-day tournament will be available at CitadelSports.com.