Takedown Report

College wrestling by North Carolina schools

Men’s Wrestling Tallies First Wins, Conference Triumphs in Historic Fashion
BLUEFIELD, W.Va.— The Montreat men’s wrestling team faced a pair of Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) foes in West Virginia Friday night as the Cavaliers competed against the Bluefield University Rams and the West Virginia University Institute of Technology Golden Bears. With a lopsided 46-4 triumph over the Rams and a near perfect 58-0 shutout of the Golden Bears, the Cavs secured their first victories of the season and moved to 2-7 (2-4 AAC) on the year.
Patrick Wlodyga earned six points with a pin at 125 before Zeke Grabowski notched a 12-4 major decision at 133 and Coy Reid grabbed a quick fall in just 29 seconds to hand the Cavaliers a 16-0 advantage through three bouts against the Rams.
Bluefield (2-10, 2-1 AAC) answered with a major decision to get on the board; however, a pair of forfeits in Montreat’s favor brought the score to 28-4. Dalton Towe flipped the script in his 174-lb matchup to register a pin before another forfeit and a 27-second fall by Grant Trotter in the heavyweight battle sealed the team’s 42-point win.
The Cavs then improved on the scoreline in their second dual of the night. Against the Golden Bears, Montreat captured all 10 bouts and WVU Tech (2-6, 1-2 AAC) avoided pins or forfeits on less than three occasions as the Cavaliers collected bonus points in all 10 matches to register a historic shutout win. The 58-0 result meant the fourth shutout triumph in program history and the most dominant victory in the team’s 4-season existence. **As of the posting of this recap host Bluefield University had not reported the results of individual matchups between Montreat and West Virginia Tech**
The pair of wins marked the initial coaching victories of head coach Jim Connaghan’s career. “Today was a great step in the right direction- the guys looked great,” said Connaghan. “They came out to compete and the energy was right where it needed to be. We had a couple guys wrestle up a weight class to secure the wins. Back to work tomorrow!”
Men’s wrestling now travels to St. Andrews … story at … Montreatcavaliers.com/Mens-wrestling-tallies-first-wins-conference-triumphs-in-historic-fashion

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Trotter Collects AAC Wrestler of the Week Honors
WALESKA, Ga.— Following a week that saw the Montreat men’s wrestling team tally its first two wins of the 2023-24 season, Grant Trotter was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Wrestler of the Week, as announced by the league office Monday afternoon. The weekly honor marked the first in his career and the first such award for the Cavaliers this season.  
Trotter made his season debut this past week after returning from an injury that kept him out during the fall semester. Montreat went 2-1 on the week in AAC action, but Trotter’s individual record was unblemished. Though the Cavaliers fell against Truett McConnell on Wednesday, Trotter picked up a 12-2 major decision victory. He then went on to pin his first opponent Friday night in just 27 seconds as the Cavs collected their first win of the year, a 46-4 tilt over Bluefield. … story at … Montreatcavaliers.com/Trotter-collects-aac-wrestler-of-the-week-honors

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UNC’s Lachlan McNeil Tabbed ACC Wrestler of the Week
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week following his performances last week between Jan. 8-14.  
Over three dual matches for the Tar Heels, McNeil went 3-0 at 141 pounds, with all three victories coming by way of a major decision.  
McNeil started his week with a 15-3 major decision win over No. 12 CJ Composto of Penn, giving the redshirt sophomore his ninth win over a nationally-ranked opponent this season.  
On Saturday, in a tri-meet at home with Brown and Harvard, McNeil was dominant on the mat with a 17-3 major decision win over Ian Oswalt of Brown and a 17-4 major decision victory over Jaden Pepe of Harvard. … story at … ACC.com/news/Uncs-lachlan-mcneil-tabbed-acc-wrestler-of-the-week

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Piccirilli Named Conference Carolinas Wrestler Of The Week
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Junior and seventh-ranked 149 pounder Jake Piccirilli continued his impressive season, earning Conference Carolinas Wrestler of the Week honors, the league announced Tuesday afternoon. Piccirilli turned in a 3-0 mark at the UNCP quad meet last weekend, while also racking up three pins. The Woodstock, Ga. native tallied a second-period pin against Allen, and followed it up with first-period pins over Coker and Davis & Elkins. Piccirilli currently sits at 19-1 on the season, and is a perfect 5-0 in Conference Carolinas dual action. … story at … UNCPbraves.com/Piccirilli-named-conference-carolinas-wrestler-of-the-week

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Gardner-Webb Takes Down Duke 23-15
Runnin’ Bulldogs takes six wins on their way to a win over the Blue Devils
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb University wrestling squad defeated the Blue Devils of Duke University on Tuesday evening inside Paul Porter Arena by a final team score of 23-15.  
Six Runnin’ Bulldogs earned wins over their Duke opponents with Drew West earning a victory by fall against Duke’s Logan Agin to start the match in the 125-weight class. This was a theme in the match as Gardner-Webb earned an early team score lead and did not trail during the match. Other ‘Dawgs with strong performances down the stretch included Tyson Lane, Todd Carter, Zach Price, Jha’Quan Anderson, and Josh McCutchen. Anderson continued his strong 2023-2024 season now with 17 victories on the season. … story at … GWUsports.com/Gardner-webb-takes-down-duke-23-15

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Jackson Arrington Thriving Amid ‘Sophomore Jump’ For NC State Wrestling
After a last-second loss in the Round of 12 at last year’s NCAA Championships, NC State sophomore Jackson Arrington has come back stronger as a sophomore
When inserted into a starting lineup from Day 1, true freshmen often make a splash in collegiate wrestling as the intrigue of an unknown and unproven wrestler on this stage catches a lot of attention. The focus soon shifts to the “sophomore jump” they hopefully will take going into Year 2. One NC State wrestler who has seen that jump midway through his second season in the lineup is Jackson Arrington, the Pack’s 149-pound starter.
As a true freshman last season, Arrington went 23-9, facing 13 ranked foes. An NCAA qualifier, Arrington was an ACC finalist in his first campaign. “I was ready to compete last year,” Arrington said. “If the coaches wanted me to redshirt, I would have done that, but the coaches said I was the guy for 149. I was really happy to do it. “Last year I learned the most during that season than I probably did my entire time wrestling. You come in from high school, you are ready and excited. But you learn so much just from being in the room with All-Americans and all these ranked teammates. I grew a lot last year.” While Arrington was pleased with his first season, the way the season ended was bittersweet. He scored a first-round win then fell to eventual national champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. Battling back in the consolation bracket, Arrington picked up two more victories to reach the blood round. … story at … Flowrestling.org/Jackson-arrington-thriving-amid-sophomore-jump-for-nc-state-wrestling

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Rob Tate Steps Down as Queens Head Wrestling Coach
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rob Tate has stepped down as Queens University of Charlotte head wrestling coach, Queens Director of Athletics Cherie Swarthout announced.
“I want to thank Rob for his time at Queens as both an assistant and head coach of our wrestling program,” Swarthout stated.
Tate has led the Royals since the Spring of 2018 when he was promoted from assistant coach to head coach. In his first full season at the helm, he led the Queens wrestling program into its inaugural Division II season while competing in the South Atlantic Conference Carolinas, a joint conference between men’s wrestling programs in the South Atlantic Conference and Conference Carolinas. During the 2018-19 campaign, the Royals won their first Division II dual meet in program history, while Melvin Rubio became the first Queens wrestler to advance to and record a win at the NCAA DII Championships.  
During the 2020-21 season, Tate helped develop Noah Curreri as he became the program’s first NCAA All-American, finishing eighth in the 174-pound weight class bracket. Curreri went on to graduate with the most wins in program history, notching over 100 in his career. The Royals sent a program-record three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships during the 2021-22 season.  
The Royals competed as a club team in 2017 with Tate at the helm, picking up wins over Clemson, East Carolina, and South Carolina’s club teams. In addition, 10 wrestlers qualified for competition at the NCWA National Wrestling Championships … story at … Queensathletics.com/Rob-tate-steps-down-as-queens-head-wrestling-coach

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Harvard Wrestling Brings Home a Win vs. Tar Heels, 20-15
The Crimson win vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels in its third dual match of the season
CHAPEL HILL, NC –– Harvard wrestling continued its road trip in North Carolina as they faced the UNC Tar Heels. The Crimson took home the victory with big wins from top to bottom, including a huge upset win for Senior 184-pound wrestler Leo Tarantino against No. 19 Gavin Kane. Crimson won, 20-15.
HOW IT HAPPENED

• No. 29 junior 125-pound wrestler Diego Sotelo continued his impressive road trip with a win over Marco Tocci, 9-3.
• Sophomore 149-pound wrestler Jack Crook took home a win with two takedowns early in the first period, holding on to the victory 6-4.
• Tarantino had the upset of the afternoon, beating No. 19 Kane in an overtime battle. He made a quick move and earned the takedown ending the match. 
• Sophomore 157-pound wrestler Joseph Cangro improved to 2-1 on the road trip with a 7-1 victory over Sonny Santiago. 
• No. 31 Senior 165-pound wrestler Joshua Kim secured the victory, winning by major decision against Isaias Estrada.
• No. 11 Senior 174-pound wrestler Philip Conigliaro finished this road trip going 3-0, winning today vs. Tyler Eischens by major decision, 16-7. … story at … GOcrimson.com/Wrestling-brings-home-a-win-vs-tar-heels-20-15

 

January 20, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized