Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

Intermat’s SoCon Mid-Season Recap

The SoCon has seen quite a bit of action this season: upsets, match-ups with top-ranked teams, and plenty of traveling. Here’s a breakdown from A to V of what’s been going on in the SoCon.

Appalachian State University, 4-1 overall, 1-0 conference

The season started out on the road to #9-ranked NC State, winning 4 out of 10 matches. Nailbitinig bouts of the evening included #15 Will Formato (165) and #26 Sean Carter’s (133) sudden-victory overtime wins. The Mountaineers lost to the Wolfpack 26-12, but turned around and beat the other ACC foe then-#21 North Carolina 19-16. Carmichael Arena was absolutely electric after Will Miller (174) upset #8 Clay Lautt with a 7-5 decision. This win earned Miller the honor of being named NCAA and SoCon Wrestler of the Week.

In between, App State headed to Vegas and put three wrestlers on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Jon Jon Miller led the way with a fourth-place finish, while Will Formato was seventh and Tommy Askey eighth.

Varsity Gym’s doors were open on December 20, where Appalachian served up back-to-back shutouts against Bellarmine (39-0) and Queens (50-0). Remember, Queens is a newly-minted Division-I program in North Carolina and in the south…so we may see an addition to the SoCon in the near future.

A New Year’s tradition – The Southern Scuffle – held in Chattanooga, Tennessee; produced three placers from the Mountaineers. There most definitely would have been a fourth; however, Jon Jon Millner (149) did not compete. Caleb Smith (125) earned his third fifth-place finish, Tommy Askey (157) finished seventh, and Sean Carter (133) took home eighth place. This past Sunday, Binghamton traveled to Boone for some dual-meet action. Appalachian won eight of the ten bouts, dropping losses at 184 and heavyweight.

This Friday is definitely going to be special, as #9 Virginia Tech heads to Boone to face off against the #20-ranked Mountaineers. I’m most excited to watch 149 – a likely meeting between two highly-ranked opponents: #8 Jon Jon Millner and #11 Caleb Henson. 125 lbs will surely be a fun match to watch – #21 Caleb Smith and #20 Eddie Ventresca. App State is already 1-1 with ACC competition…let’s see what happens next.

Campbell University, 6-5 overall, 1-0 conference

Campbell started their season off with two back-to-back events – Battle in the River City and Battle at Bragg. The Fighting Camels posted a 2-1 record at the Battle in River City, boasting wins against Little Rock (18-15) and Buffalo (36-3), dropping their loss of the day to #14 Iowa State (34-3). Troy Nation (157) recorded the lone victory against Iowa State, posting an 11-8 decision over Isaac Judge.

The Camels hosted Battle at Bragg, which was truly an event to remember. While there have been matches wrestled on aircraft carriers, I don’t believe there have been any wrestled on a military base, during a hurricane, while being the first collegiate dual streamed on UFC Fight Pass. In an event where competition was stopped to close the aircraft hangar doors in the midst of a literal hurricane, the Camels were met by #5 Michigan and #16 UNC. Campbell lost both duals, picking up two wins at 165 (Dom Baker) and 197 (Levi Hopkins) against the Wolverines (final 26-6), and won three bouts against UNC at 133 (Gabe Hixenbaugh), 157 (Troy Nation), and at heavyweight (Taye Ghadiali).

The Camels traveled to West Point, New York to wrestle in the Black Knight Invitational, bringing home two champions: Taye Ghadiali and Gabe Hixenbaugh and six other place-winners. Mid-December brought the Boilermaker Duals, where Campbell continued to show up, with a 3-0 record for the day. The barnburner dual of the day was against Utah Valley, the Camels posted a 17-16 win, after being tied 16-16, it came down to criteria. Campbell and Utah Valley had split the dual, equally winning 5 matches apiece. After scoring total points scored, Campbell came out on top. Anthony Molton (125) upset Purdue’s #8 Matt Ramos, in a sudden victory overtime win. Campbell won against the EIWA’s Drexel 19-16 and B1G’s Purdue 29-9 – marking a program first for beating a B1G opponent.

Most recently, Campbell hosted a conference competition – beating Gardner-Webb 25-12, and #17 Nebraska, dropping a 37-6 loss. The pair of wins at this dual were earned by heavyweight #12 Taye Ghadiali and #29 Domenic Zaccone. Next up for the Camels is the ever-exciting Virginia Duals, held in Hampton, Virginia where they’ll be up against Kent State, Oklahoma University, Maryland, and South Dakota State.

Gardner-Webb, Davidson and the rest at Intermatwrestle.com/articles/26415

January 20, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

North Carolina D-I Wrestling Results

Gardner-Webb Wrestling Tops Queens 45-0, Falls 20-15 To Army Sunday Afternoon

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb split a pair of duals Sunday afternoon, falling 20-15 in a tight result to Army before rolling past Queens 45-0 in the finale.

Army posted a 52-0 win over Queens earlier Sunday in the day’s first dual.

Gardner-Webb won six of its 10 individual bouts with Army, but bonus points for the Black Knights in three of its four wins proved to be the difference. Army took a major decision at 157 to start the match, then got a quick pin from 19th-ranked Ben Pasiuk at 174 pounds to open up a 10-3 lead. RJ Mosley, ranked No. 25 nationally at 165 pounds, won a 3-2 decision in between those two results.

Jha’Quan Anderson rallied for a 5-4 win at 184 pounds to pull GWU within 10-6 and Sam Mora followed with a 3-1 win at 197 pounds to pull the ‘Dogs within one team point. The Black Knights picked up decisions at 285 and 125 to push the lead to 16-9, but Todd Carter pulled out a 7-3 win at 133 pound to get Gardner-Webb back within striking distance.

Zach Price nearly pulled off a pin late for Gardner-Webb at 141 pounds, but settled for a 9-3 decision that trimmed Army’s lead to 16-15 with one weight class remaining.

Army held on, as Matthew Williams picked up a 14-2 major decision for the final margin.

Gardner-Webb had little trouble with Queens, scoring bonus points in six weight classes en route to a 45-0 win over the Royals.

Tyler Brignola recorded a pin in just 2:16 to open the action at 157 pounds and, … rest of story at GWUsports.com/news/2023/1/15/gardner-webb-wrestling-tops-queens-drops-nailbiter-to-army

Campbell downs No. 23 Maryland, completes action at Virginia Duals

HAMPTON, VA. – Campbell defeated No. 23 Maryland 21-14 and fell to No. 19 South Dakota State 39-3 on Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum, finishing out competition at the 2023 Virginia Duals.

The Camels (8-7) picked up their second win over a Big Ten opponent this season with the dual victory over Maryland (7-2). Saturday marked the fifth and sixth nationally ranked opponents for CU this season. 

Gabriel Hixenbaugh led Campbell with a 4-0 weekend, including a pair of wins on Saturday.

The 133 pounder jumpstarted Campbell against the Terrapins, notching a 15-0 tech fall (5:37) over Conner Quinn. Shannon Hanna followed with a 4-2 overtime win at 141 pounds before Maryland took three of the next four bouts for a 14-11 lead.

No. 27 Caleb Hopkins responded for CU at 184 pounds with a 9-0 major decision, and Levi Hopkins down 11th-ranked Jaxon Smith 8-6 in extra time at 197. No. 12 Taye Ghadiali tacked on another decision to close out the 21-14 win, defeating No. 30 Jaron Smith 3-2, fighting through a scramble with 20 seconds remaining in regulation for the deciding takedown.

The Jackrabbits tallied seven bonus point wins over the Camels, including pins for No. 28 Tanner Jordan at 125 pounds and No. 18 Tanner Cook at 165. Hixenbaugh recorded CU’s lone individual victory against SDSU, topping Derrick Cardinal with a 5-2 decision.

Campbell also defeated Kent State 29-12 while dropping a 22-9 dual to Oklahoma on Friday.

Next up, Campbell returns home to host the 2023 Chippewa Challenge on January 22. … rest of story at GOcamels.com/news/2023/1/14/wrestling-downs-maryland-completes-action-at-virginia-duals

No. 22 App State Rolls Past Previously Unbeaten Bulldogs

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two days after hosting a top-10 team, App State Wrestling hit the road to face an unbeaten conference opponent.
Short on rest — and with two wrestlers making only their second dual starts of the season — the 22nd-ranked Mountaineers were up to the task in a 34-6 win at The Citadel on Sunday afternoon.
Squaring off against the Bulldogs, who were 4-0 overall and 3-0 at home, App State (5-2, 2-0 SoCon) won nine of 10 matches. Luke Uliano‘s six-point pin in the second match produced the first of four bonus-point victories, with the other three coming in the final three matches from Jon Jon Millner (18-7 major decision), Tommy Askey (15-7 major decision) and Will Formato (19-0 tech fall).
App State’s five decisions (worth three team points each) came from Will Miller (9-4 win), Carson Floyd (11-9), Caleb Smith (6-3), Ethan Oakley (4-3 in his second career dual start) and Heath Gonyer (6-0).
App State returned to action after putting up a strong fight Friday night in a 23-11 loss to No. 9 Virginia Tech and improved to 53-5 in its last 58 conference duals.
Two takedowns, plus back points, gave Miller an 8-1 lead after one period of his dual-opening win against Benjamin Haubert, who took third place at last year’s SoCon Championships. … rest of story at APPstatesports.com/news/2023/1/15/-22-wrestling-no-22-app-state-rolls-past-previously-unbeaten-bulldogs

No. 9 Tech prevails on the road against No. 22 App State

The Hokies win seven of ten bouts to finish out of conference competition

BOONE, NC – The No. 9 Virginia Tech wrestling team wrapped up non-conference slate in convincing fashion with a 23-11 win in hostile territory over scrappy No. 22 App State on Friday night. The Hokies were led by bonus point victories from Andy Smith and Hunter Catka but no victory of the evening bigger than that from freshman Caleb Henson. … rest of story at Hokiesports.com/news/2023/1/14/wrestling-no-9-tech-prevails-on-the-road-against-no-22-app-state

Wrestling rolls to first SoCon victory at Davidson

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Bellarmine wrestling team wrapped up its weekend trip to North Carolina on a high note, as the Knights defeated Davidson 27-12 for their first SoCon victory of the season.

Bellarmine (2-2, 1-2 SoCon) fell to the Wildcats (2-5, 1-1 SoCon) in heartbreaking fashion 20-19 last season.  This year, the Knights used a strong start and a pair of pins to earn the conference win.

“Scoring bonus points is something we have been training and working diligently for, so it was great to see us start off with a pin from Royce at 197 and follow up with the Division 1 pin leader recording another in Thadd Huff,” Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said.  “Jack scoring bonus and Zac Cowan running the table after a slow start to get a tech fall was impressive as well.”

Freshman Royce Hall started Bellarmine’s scoring pinning Davidson’s Gavin Henry (2:35) at 197.  After limited action and several tough matches to start the season, Hall’s pin was the first victory of his career.  Fellow freshman Thadd Huff followed with a pin of Oliver Tipton (4:41) at 285.  Huff now leads all DI wrestlers with 13 pins in his 18 total victories.

Jack Parker kept Bellarmine going with a 14-6 major decision victory over Hale Robinson at 125, and Michael Schiffhauer followed with a 4-1 win by decision against Noah Burstein at 133.  Trayce Eckman continued the streak for the … rest of story at Bellarmine.edu/news/2023/1/15/wrestling-rolls-to-first-socon-victory-at-davidson

Black Knights Defeat Queens and Gardner-Webb

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Army West Point wresting team defeated Queens University of Charlotte 52-0 and Gardner-Webb University 20-15 in a tri-dual Sunday afternoon. Ethan Berginc, Trae McDaniel and Kade Carlson went undefeated in their matches.

How it Happened
The Black Knights dominated early on, winning all ten duals against Queens. Army’s Tanner Craig, Dillon Sheehy, Kade Carlson, #32 Ethan Berginc, Ryan Franco, and Trae McDaniel each won their duals by pins. In the dual against Gardner-Webb, #21 Ben Pasiuk also won his dual by a pin.

Tanner Craig kicked things off for Army in the 157 class. Craig went up against Queen’s Toure Moore. After a scoreless first period, Craig scored first with an escape. With 1:30 left in the second period, Craig extended his lead with a takedown making it a 3-0 dual, Craig defeated Moore with a 3-0 fall (4:25).

In the 165-weight class Dalton Harkins faced Vladimir Sukhikh. After a scoreless first period, Harkins struck first after scoring an escape. Harkins defeated Sukhikh by a 7-0 decision after earning four points with a near fall.

In the 174 class, Dillon Sheehy competed against Jay Skalecki where Sheehy bested Skalecki with a 4-2 pin (4:05). Sahm Abdulrazzaq faced Queen’s D’Andree Hunt in the 184 class. Abdulrazzaq struck first with earning two points from a takedown. With a 2-1 lead Abdulrazzaq added points with another takedown. Dominating the match, Abdulrazzaq bested Hunt by a 17-2 tech fall.

Daniel Lawrence competed next in the 197-weight class, … rest of story at Armywestpoint.com/news/2023/1/15/wrestling-black-knights-defeat-queens-and-gardner-webb

January 20, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

UNC WRESTLING COMPLETES SATURDAY DUAL SWEEP

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – The No. 27-ranked North Carolina completed the New England sweep Saturday afternoon, defeating Harvard (22-12) and Brown (36-4), to close out the non conference portion of the 2022-23 schedule. 

Against the Crimson, the Tar Heels collected six victories in the matchup. UNC would jump out to an early lead in the team score, with wins from Jace Palmer (133) and Lachlan McNeil (141). North Carolina would finish the first matchup of the day on the winning side courtesy of Austin O’Connor (157), Gavin Kane (184), Max Shaw (197), and Jack Wagner (125). 

Heading down the road to Providence, R.I., the Tar Heels would close the day just hours later, winning nine of 10 matchups against the Bears. Jace Palmer (133), Zach Sherman (149) and Aydin Guttridge (285) picked up decisions for the Heels. Jack Wagner (125), Lachlan McNeil (141), Joey Mazzara (165) and Cade Lautt (197) were on the winning side … rest of story at GOheels.com/news/2023/1/14/wrestling-completes-saturday-dual-sweep

January 20, 2023 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment