Southern Scuffle Recaps and Results

Cornell claims 2009 Southern Scuffle title, UNCG places three

GREENSBORO, NC – After two days of wrestling and 828 matches, the team from Cornell walked away with the 2009 UNCG Southern Scuffle championship and claimed their second consecutive team title at the event. The Big Red also won three individual titles, as Kyle Dake, Mack Lewness and Cam Simaz came away with titles. UNCG had three wrestlers place as sophomore Peter Sturgeon won his first two matches of the second day before finishing in eighth place. True freshmen Eric Chandler and Caylor Williams also came in eighth place for the Spartans.

Final Team Standings: SSteamfinal

Final Brackets: SSfinalresults

Chandler, wrestling at 125 pounds, recorded a pair of pins over Navy’s Allen Stein and Michigan’s Sean Boyle on his way to finishing in eighth. At 197 pounds, Williams pinned William Widener from George Mason in just over a minute and then scored a 6-2 decision over Zach Bennett from North Carolina. Sturgeon had a pair of wins as a heavyweight, including a 5-4 decision over NC State’s Eloheim Palma.

In the championship finals, Angel Escobedo, ranked second nationally from Indiana, won by injury default at 125 pounds over No. 1 Troy Nickerson after Nickerson injured his shoulder in the first period. At 133 pounds, No. 2 Jayson Ness from Minnesota used a pair of takedowns to score a 7-3 decision over No. 11 Dan Mitcheff from Kent State.

In a tight match at 141 pounds, No. 5 Kyle Dake from Cornell defeated No. 6 Mike Thorn from Minnesota. Dake recorded a third period takedown to tie the match at four and rode Dake out the rest of the period to receive a point for riding time and win, 5-4. At 149 pounds, No. 10 Matt Kyler was leading 3-0 at the beginning of the third period when Penn’s Cesar Grajales was forced to injury default.

In the closest bout of the evening, No. 7 Thomas Scotton from North Carolina scored a 2-1 decision at 157 pounds in the fourth tiebreaker over No. 11 Kurt Kinser from Indiana. No. 4 Dustin Schlatter from Minnesota scored a pair of takedowns to record a 5-1 decision over No. 18 Rick Schmelyun at 165 pounds.

At 174 pounds, No. 1 Mack Lewness scored a takedown in the second and third period as he went on to defeat No. 4 Chris Henrich from Virginia, 6-1. Chris Honeycutt, wrestling unattached from Edinboro, defeated No. 3 Dustin Kilgore, 7-5. Honeycutt trailed 5-3 late in the third period, but scored a takedown and two near-fall points to win the match.

No. 6 Cam Simaz from Cornell scored four takedowns and received a point for riding time as he scored a major decision at 197 pounds over Ohio’s Erik Schuth. In the final match of the evening, No. 6 Nathan Everhart from Indiana had a second period takedown as he defeated Navy’s Scott Steele, 3-2

Courtesy of UNCG Sports Information

Escobedo and Everhart Do It Again, Bring Back Titles

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Two champions, three finalists, seven placers and a third-place finish in the team standings … That is what the No. 13 Indiana University wrestling team accomplished the last two days at the 2009 Southern Scuffle.

Angel Escobedo, ranked second nationally at 125 lbs., concluded his individual title run by avenging his loss to No. 1 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) in last season’s NCAA semifinals, defeating the defending national champion when Nickerson suffered an injury in the early goings and could not continue. Escobedo has run his undefeated season record to 19-0, and is all but assured to be slotted as the nation’s top-ranked 125-pounder next week. The Griffith, Ind., native also defeated No. 3 Zach Sanders, 8-2, in the semifinals.

Escobedo began the championship round by putting IU on top of the podium, and Nate Everhart ended the evening the same way by earning the heavyweight crown. Everhart tallied five victories en route to his championship, inflating his flawless season mark to 21-0. He topped Scott Steele of the U.S. Naval Academy, 3-2, in the finals.

It marks the second time this season in which both Escobedo and Everhart have won individual championships at a nationally-prominent tournament, having each done so earlier this year at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Kurt Kinser made a splash as well, advancing to the 157-pound championship match. The Bloomington High School South product’s biggest win came over Bloomsburg’s Matt Moley, who is ranked third nationally. With a 1-1 score late in the third period, Kinser garnered a takedown in the final seconds to earn a 3-1 triumph. He then came up just shy of snagging Indiana’s third individual title, falling to No. 7 Thomas Scotton (North Carolina), 2-1, in the fourth tiebreaker.

Paul Young and Trevor Perry each placed fourth in the competition. They combined for five pins during the two-day tournament. Young’s season pin total is now a team-high nine falls while Perry has stuck 28 opponents in his career, the eighth most in school history.

Eric Cameron and Matt Powless could also be found on the medals stand, both going out with a win in the seventh place match. Cameron and Powless each racked up five victories the last two days.

The Cream and Crimson receive little rest after their stellar performance at the Southern Scuffle, returning to action just three days later with a dual match at West Virginia on Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. EST.

Courtesy of Indiana Sports Information

Brown and Strawn Lead No. 24 ODU at 2009 Southern Scuffle

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior’s Jesse Strawn and Chris Brown led the No. 24 Old Dominion wrestling team to a 15th place finish at the 2009 Southern Scuffle, which concluded Wednesday at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

After two days of wrestling and 828 total matches, Old Dominion totaled 53 team points, falling one point shy of 14th place Michigan. Cornell claimed their second consecutive team title at the event, edging out Minnesota.

This year’s Southern Scuffle field was perhaps the prestigious tournaments best. It included 53 wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat rankings, including four of the 10 wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the nation at their respective weight classes. The field was also composed of seven teams ranked in the Top 25, including ODU.

Senior Jesse Strawn battled through a very tough field to finish fifth at 197-pounds. Six wrestlers at 197-pounds, including Strawn, were ranked in the Top 20 entering the event.

Strawn was surprisingly sent to the consolation bracket early, dropping a 5-4 decision to Cal State Bakersfield’s Riley Orozco in the opening round. Strawn, who is ranked No. 14 nationally, would not go away quietly though.

The senior won five consecutive matches, including four by pin, to move into the semifinals of the consolation bracket. Once there though Strawn ran into Michigan’s Anthony Biondo, who is ranked No. 5 nationally at 197-pounds.

Biondo was able to pick up an 8-3 decision over Strawn en route to claiming third-place overall. Strawn bounced back once again though, pinning Minnesota’s Sonny Yohn in the fifth-place bout.

Strawn was also honored at the end of the event with the Gregorian Award, which is given to the wrestler with the most pins in the least amount of time. Strawn had five falls in 18:36.

Another Monarch wrestler found himself in a very competitive weight class as ODU senior Chris Brown was one of seven ranked wrestlers at 165-pounds. Besides Brown, the weight also featured returning NCAA Champion Jarrod King.

Brown got off to a hot start by winning his first three matches, including a 4-2 decision over nationally ranked P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra.

In the seminfinals Brown met up with another tough foe, No. 4 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Although Brown gave Schlatter, the eventual champion at 165-pounds, his toughest match of the tournament, he lost a narrow 3-2 decision.

Brown then fell to No. 14 Paul Young of Indiana (9-7) and No. 10 Justin Kerber of Cornell (11-6) to end the tournament in sixth-place.

The Monarchs will compete for the first time this season at home on January 3. ODU welcomes Purdue, UNC Greensboro and Rider to the Ted Constant Convocation Center for a quad meet beginning at 11 a.m.

Courtesy of Old Dominion Sports Information

No. 18 Virginia Wrestling Takes Fifth at Southern Scuffle

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Propelled by eight placewinners, the No. 18 Virginia wrestling team finished in fifth place Wednesday in the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers recorded 96.5 points, just one point outside of fourth place, held by No. 20 Edinboro. No. 8 Cornell won the event with 164 points and was followed by No. 5 Minnesota (151.5) and No. 13 Indiana (131.5).

Fourth-ranked Chris Henrich (Jr., Lansdale, Pa.) notched UVa’s top finish with a runner-up standing at 174 pounds. Henrich (15-2) picked up a 4-0 win over No. 10 Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra in the semifinals before dropping a 6-1 decision to top-ranked Mack Lewnes of Cornell in the championship match.

At 184 pounds, Mike Salopek (R-Fr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) notched a third-place podium finish. Salopek blanked Virginia Tech’s Tommy Spellman, 2-0, in the consolation championship. Jon Fausey (Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.), competing unattached, scored an eighth-place finish at 184.

Nick Nelson (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), competing unattached for UVa, scored an impressive third-place finish at 141 pounds. He finished with seven wins in the tournament, including a 3-2 decision over Ohio’s Germane Lindsay to claim the third-place match.

Derek Valenti (So., Newton, N.J.) took seventh at 141 after eking out a 1-0 decision over Penn’s Zach Kemmerer in the seventh-place match.

No. 16 Danny Gonsor (So., Cleveland, Ohio), after suffering an upset loss Tuesday, rebounded to take fifth place at 157 pounds. He finished with a pin of Ohio’s Clay Tucker in the fifth-place bout. Gonsor’s lone loss Wednesday was a narrow 7-5 defeat to No. 4 Matt Moley of Bloomsburg, a defending All-American.

Ross Gitomer (Sr., Flemington, N.J.) placed sixth at 125 pounds. His tournament was highlighted by a 3-2 upset of No. 5 Eric Morrill of Edinboro on Tuesday. He fell into the consolation bracket after dropping a 7-0 decision to top-ranked Troy Nickerson of Cornell, the reigning national champion. Morrill bounced Gitomer in the fifth-place match with a 3-1 win which needed two sudden victory periods.

Matt Snyder (R-Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) nabbed seventh place at 125. He finished strong with a 16-9 victory over UNCG’s Eric Chandler in the seventh-place bout.

Virginia starts the 2010 portion of its schedule Jan. 8-9 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton. Brackets for the event will be announced early next week.

Courtesy of Virginia Sports Information

Kilgore and Mitcheff Place Second at Scuffle

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Dustin Kilgore (184) and Danny Mitcheff (133) each took second place as Kent State finished in seventh among 31 teams Wednesday at the Southern Scuffle in the Greensboro Coliseum. Mitcheff and Kilgore each suffered their first losses of the season in the finals and each moved to 17-1 on the year.

Kilgore, recorded his third straight first period pin of the tournament in the quarterfinals, needing 1:42 to finish off Edinboro’s Patrick Bradshaw. It was Kilgore’s 10th pin of the season. He then earned an 11-1 major decision over Ohio’s Nick Purdue before falling 7-5 to Edinboro’s Christopher Honeycutt, who was wrestling unattached.

Mitcheff topped Boston University’s Fred Santaite 3-1, setting up a semifinal bout against No. 10 Mike Grey of Cornell. Mitcheff had little trouble with Grey, coming away with a 9-4 victory. No. 2 Jayson Ness of Minnesota handed Mitcheff a 7-3 loss in the finals.

Mallie Shuster (157) and Brendan Barlow (285) each dropped their quarterfinal matches, but battled back to earn seventh places.

Shuster fell to No. 14 Bryce Saddoris of Navy 6-4 in the quarterfinals. He then bounced back and topped Joseph Grygelko 7-5 in sudden victory. After falling to No. 16 Danny Gonsor of Virginia, Shuster won his seventh place match 5-4 over Michigan’s David Johnson.

No. 14 Christopher Birchler of Edinboro handed Barlow a 5-2 loss in the quarterfinals. Barlow then outlasted Liberty’s Joshua Pelletier 2-1, before falling 3-2 against Dustin Porter of Gardner-Webb. In his seventh place match, Barlow cruised to a 17-6 major decision over UNC-Greensboro’s Peter Sturgeon.

Senior Obie Simpson and sophomore Ross Tice were each one match away from placing in the top eight of the 165-pound bracket. Simpson downed Bakersfield’s Joseph Granata 3-1, but lost by the same score in his next bout against No. 10 Justin Kerber of Cornell. With a 1-1 day, Tice finished 4-2 for the tournament.

Sophomore Troy Opfer (125) redshirt freshman Casey Newburg (184) and junior heavyweight Joe Tymoszczuk all dropped their only match of the day. Opfer was edged 9-7 by Tyler Iwamura of Cal State Bakersfield. Newburg was nipped by North Carolina’s Nick Tenpenny 2-0.

Cornell won the team title with 164 points followed by Minnesota with 151.5 points.

The Golden Flashes will look to extend their dual winning streak to 13 on Jan. 5, hosting Cleveland State at 7 p.m. in the M.A.C. Center.

Courtesy of Kent State Sports Information

Tar Heels Scotton Takes Southern Scuffle Title

GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina junior Thomas Scotton defeated a pair of nationally-ranked opponents Wednesday to take the 157-pound title at the 2009 Southern Scuffle at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. With four grapplers earning top-eight finishes, Carolina placed ninth in the team standings with 68.5 points. No. 8 Cornell took the team crown with 164 points.

In addition to the No. 7-ranked Scotton’s first-place finish, other place-winners for the Tar Heels were No. 14 Dennis Drury, who took fourth at 197 pounds, Ziad Haddad, who was fifth at heavyweight, and Jeremy Shaw, who grabbed seventh place at 133.

After winning twice Tuesday, Scotton opened with a 7-1 decision over Penn’s Matt Dragon in the quarterfinals and then defeated No. 9 Bryce Saddoris of Navy for the second time this season by a 5-3 margin. In the final against No. 12 Kurt Kinser of Indiana, Scotton scored a 2-1 overtime victory. After posting a 5-0 mark in Greensboro, Scotton, who has three wins over top-10 opponents on the year, is now a team-best 21-2.

Drury, who also won twice on the opening day of action, posted a 4-3 decision against Riley Orozco of Cal State Bakersfield to advance to the semis, but suffered a 14-3 major decision loss to No. 6 Cam Simaz of Cornell. Drury bounced back to defeat Sonny Yohn of Minnesota, 4-2, to reach the third-place bout against No. 5 Anthony Biondo of Michigan, who posted a 15-8 decision to take third. With his 4-2 record and fourth-place finish, Drury stands 16-6 on the year.

After logging two wins Tuesday, Haddad bested NC State’s Eloheim Palma with a 9-4 decision in the quarterfinals but fell to Navy’s Scott Steele, 6-4, in the semis. Haddad was then pinned by Gardner-Webb’s Dustin Porter in 2:09 to drop to the fifth-place match, where he won via medical forfeit over No. 14 Joshua Arnone of Cornell. Haddad went 4-2 at the Scuffle en route to fifth.

Shaw dropped his first match Tuesday but ran off four straight victories in the consolation bracket before falling to Penn’s Bryan Ortenzio, 7-4, Wednesday to drop to the seventh-place bout. There, he blanked Edinboro’s Ashton Osterberg by a 5-0 margin to lock up a seventh-place finish. Shaw went 5-2 at the Southern Scuffle to improve to 11-8 for the season.

Unattached freshman Zac Bennett, who also reached the quarterfinals at 197, dropped his first two bouts Wednesday to finish the event with a 2-2 record. Sophomores Kyle Kiss (165) and Nick Tenpenny (184) were also eliminated on day two with records of 4-2 and 3-2, respectively.

Carolina returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 12 against Duke at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium.

Courtesy of North Carolina Sports Information

KYLER WIN PRESTIGIOUS SOUTHERN SCUFFLE

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Matt Kyler won the individual championships at 149 pounds and an injured Jordan Thome finished sixth at 133 pounds as the Army wrestling team wrapped up competition at the Southern Scuffle held at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

Army finished with 60 points and placed 12th in the 32-team field. Cornell won the event with 164 points, in front of Minnesota (151.5), Indiana (131.5), Edinboro (87.5) and Virginia (96.5).

“We have a lot of work to do and we’re certainly not content with the final results at all of our weight classes,” said Army head coach Chuck Barbee. “We want to do better. We need to get back in the room, make corrections, get tougher and raise our intensity even more. The whole team wrestled hard. Guys need to keep making jumps and making improvements. We can’t be satisfied with winning a match; we need to get on the podium.”

Kyler secured two major decisions early Wednesday to move into the finals where he claimed the individual championship when Cesar Grajales of Pennsylvania injury defaulted.
Ranked 10th in the latest InterMat rankings, Kyler secured a 17-7 major decision against John Nicholson of Old Dominion followed by a 15-7 major decision over Torsten Gillespie of Edinboro to advance to the finals.

Kyler jumped out to a 5-1 in the third period when Grajales defaulted at the 5:22 mark.

“Matt wrestled hard,” said Barbee. “He has been working on fundamentals and doing the little things right and that certainly added up. He paid attention to the details and was rewarded.”
Thome, a freshman, moved into the semifinals with a hard-fought 8-6 win against Zac Stevens of Michigan. Thome faced Jayson Ness of Minnesota, ranked second in the latest InterMat poll, in the semifinals but injury defaulted, ending his tournament run. Thome, who did not compete in his consolation bout, finished sixth in the event.

“Jordan is wrestling really well,” said Barbee. “Any time you put a freshman out there, you never know how he is going to respond. Jordan shows up at game time and loves to compete. It wasn’t a huge surprise how well he wrestled but he was certainly exciting to watch before he was hurt.”

Three other Army wrestlers competed during the second day of the 10-mat event. Casey Thome was edged in his quarterfinal bout at 141 pounds by Germane Lindsey of Ohio, 3-2, and then fell in the consolation bracket to Zack Kemmerer of Pennsylvania, 8-3.

Nicholas Bundy, who wrestled four times on Tuesday in the 141-pound division, lost his consolation bout to Ivan Lopouchanski of UNC Greensboro, 7-4.
Jimmy Rafferty posted a 4-1 mark at 149 pounds during the first day but lost to Savva Kostis of Appalachian State, 13-4.

Army will return to dual meet action next week, hosting four matches. On Friday, Army will host Hofstra at 7:30 p.m. at Gillis Field House and then welcome Merchant Marine Academy, Boston University and Rutgers for a Sunday quad-meet at Christl Arena. Wrestling Sunday gets underway at 2 p.m.

Courtesy of Army Sports Information

Gayeski Takes Fourth at Southern Scuffle

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Frankie Gayeski had his 14-match winning streak snapped early on Wednesday in the championship round of the Southern Scuffle. However, the Liberty senior was still able to take home fourth place at 149 pounds, spotlighting a 16th-place finish by the Flames at the seventh annual event hosted by UNC Greensboro inside the Special Events Center at the Greensboro Coliseum.

No. 8 Cornell took home the team title, as the Big Red scored 164.0 team points, thanks to three individual champions. No. 5 Minnesota finished second in the event with 151.5 team points, while No. 13 Indiana rounded out the top three with 131.5 team points.

Liberty was able to secure a 16th-place finish with 39.0 team points, placing just behind No. 23 Old Dominion in the team rankings, as the Monarchs netted 53.0 team points during the two-day event, which featured seven Top 25 programs and 53 nationally ranked grapplers.

Liberty entered the day with four of its 20 registered grapplers still active in the draw. Gayeski won three matches on Tuesday to advance the quarterfinals of the 149-pound championship bracket. In the wrestleback side of the tournament, Joe Pantaleo (133 pounds), Shaun Smith (157 pounds) and Josh Pelletier (heavyweight) remained alive, with each taking home three wins and a loss during Tuesday’s action.

Pantaleo was the first to take to Mat 1 for the Flames Wednesday morning, where the 133-pounder suffered a 4-1 setback to Navy’s Ben Levin.

Midway through the first period, Belin took Pantaleo down with a sweeping move to the left and remained in control the rest of the period. Levin chose down to begin the second and Pantaleo controlled the pace of action during the entire two minutes, erasing Levin’s riding time advantage. However, Pantaleo could do no more than keep Belin to the mat during the period, leaving the score 2-0 in favor of Navy’s grappler.

From the neutral position to begin the third, neither wrestler gained much of an advantage during the opening minute, until Levin moved in on Pantaleo and got his right arm around Pantaleo’s head, which led to the second takedown of the match with 45 seconds left. Pantaleo was able to get away from Levin 20 seconds before the final whistle blew, but that would be all Liberty’s 133-pounder could do before bowing out of the event.

Following Pantaleo’s bout, Smith also tried to stave off elimination at Mat 1, but the senior could not, as he suffered a tough 5-3 loss to Michigan’s David Johnson. Smith was able to overcome an early 3-0 deficit to force overtime, but the senior suffered a quick takedown just 12 seconds into the extended period to bow out of the event.

With roughly 50 seconds left in the first period, Smith tried to put a move on Johnson and looked to have him down, but the Wolverine reversed the position and was able to score the match’s first two points with a takedown.

Johnson chose down to being the second and quickly escaped for his third point of the 157-pound match. However, Smith got a hold of Johnson’s right leg with a quick move and took the Michigan grappler down for his first two points of the match. Smith started down in the third and was able to escape the grasp of Johnson to knot the match at 3-3 with 90 seconds left in regulation. Both grapplers scrapped during the waning seconds of the period, but neither could do enough to merit any further points.

Beginning from the neutral position to open the overtime period, Johnson swiftly moved in on Smith for the match’s deciding move to end Smith’s stay at this year’s Southern Scuffle with the 5-3, sudden victory decision.

Wrestleback action remained on Mat 1 for the Flames and this time around the decision quickly ended in favor of the Flames, resulting in Pelletier advancing in the heavyweight wrestleback bracket.

Kent State’s Joe Tymoszuzuk tried to jab in three or four times with his right arm to gain position on Pelletier early in the first, but the fourth time left Tymoszuzk’s left leg open, which Pelletier swooped in on for the takedown 40 seconds in the match.

And 18 seconds later, Pelletier was able to turn Tymoszuzuk completely to the mat and pin the Kent State 285-pounder for the victory at 58 seconds. For Pelletier, it was the junior’s ninth victory in his last 10 bouts and his second by fall this season.

In his next bout, Pelletier ran into a familiar foe, as the junior was pitted against Kent State’s Brendan Barlow for the second time this year. At the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Tournament, Pelletier bowed out of the event after a 6-3 setback to Barlow.

This time around, Pelletier was able to keep things closer, but he still lost, 2-1, to the nation’s No. 19-ranked grappler in a match decided by riding time.

Neither grappler could gain much of an advantage in the first period, sending the bout to the second in a scoreless 0-0 tie. After feeling each other out for the first two and half minutes, Barlow tried to make two or three late moves in the first, but Pelletier fended off the charges.

Barlow started down to begin the second and easily escaped for a point in just eight seconds, and the quick move eventually led to the deciding factor in the match. Pelletier started down in the third and was able to get away from Barlow just before the two grapplers slipped outside the circle midway through third period. But Liberty’s junior slipped away after Barlow had amassed 1:03 of riding time, which eventually gave the Kent State grappler the match and ended Pelletier’s run at this year’s Southern Scuffle.

Gayeski was able to advance to the semifinal round without setting foot on a wrestling mat, as Virginia Tech’s Peter Yates had to bow out of the event due to a medical injury.

With a 14-match winning streak and a ticket to the championship bout at 149 pounds on the line, another low-scoring match did not go the way the Flames would have wanted it to, as Gayeski dropped his bout to Penn’s Cesar Grajales, 2-1, sending Gayeski into the wrestleback bracket.

Neither grappler could gain much of an advantage during the first three minutes of action, leaving the matchup tied at 0-0 after one period. Starting down in the second, Gayeski got to his feet to try and net an escape point, but before he could get away from Grajales, the Penn wrestler was able to sling Gayeski back to the mat. With two seconds left in the period, Gayeski was finally able to escape from Grajales, but the move hurt Liberty’s senior, resulting in a stoppage for injury time.

After starting down to begin the third, Grajales was able to slip away from Gayeski 26 seconds in the third round, tying the match at 1-1. But Grajales was holding a 1:34 riding time advantage, meaning Liberty’s senior was going to have to make a move to win the match. Roughly one minute later, Gayeski was able to get Grajales on his head and nearly gain his needed two points for the takedown. However, the official stopped the bout because he deemed the move was potentially harmful to Grajales. Penn’s grappler was able to stay away from Gayeski to gain the 2-1 victory, thanks to the riding time advantage.

About an hour later, Gayeski was able to rebound and advance to the third-place bout with a 9-6 decision victory over N.C. State’s Bobby Ward in a match that was dominated by reversals.

Ward scored first with a quick takedown, but Gayeski slipped away and reversed the position to knot the match at 2-2. After a quick escape by Ward, Gayeski was able to make a move and take Ward down to the mats to claim a 4-3 lead after three minutes of action.

Ward started the second down and reversed control, scoring two points by moving on top of Gayeski. However, Liberty’s senior scrapped back just seconds later with his second reversal, which allowed him to dominate the remainder of the second period.

Holding a 6-5 lead going into the final period, Gayeski scored his third reversal just 25 seconds into the round out of the down position. Gayeski controlled the pace the rest of the way until Ward slipped away with two ticks left on the clock, but Gayeski was able to add his 2:24 of riding time to secure the 9-6 decision win and advance to the third-place bout at 149 pounds.

However, Liberty’s leading grappler during the 2009-10 season, with 18 wins, was unable to return to the mats, due to injuries suffered during his bouts with Penn’s Grajales and N.C. State’s Ward, forcing the senior to forfeit his attempt at third place.

With tournament action behind them for the season, the Flames will return to dual matches next weekend, when Liberty travels across the Commonwealth to partake in the Virginia Duals.

The event, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary, is slated to include a star-studded field, much like the Southern Scuffle featured.

Action is slated to begin on Jan. 8, where the Flames will square off against two undetermined teams. Should the Flames pick up a dual victory on day one, Liberty would advance to the second day’s action on Jan. 9, with all of the matches taking place inside the Hampton Coliseum.

Courtesy of Liberty Sports Information

Lomas Takes Fourth, Nacita Sixth at Southern Scuffle

GREENSBORO, N.C. -– Sophomore Frank Lomas won four consecutive bouts Wednesday, on his way to earning a fourth place finish at the 2009 Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro. Elijah Nacita added a sixth place finish, helping the Roadrunner wrestling team to a 13th place team finish at the two-day tournament.

Lomas, unseeded in the 125-pound bracket, had gone 1-1 Tuesday, then opened action Wednesday with a 16-1 technical fall against Gardner-Webb’s Michael Slaughter. He continued along with a 5-1 decision against No. 7 seed Frank Perrelli of Cornell, a fall victory against UNC Greensboro’s Eric Chandler and an 8-4 decision against No. 5 seed Ross Gitomer of Virginia.

In the third-place match, Lomas matched up against No. 3 seeded Zach Sanders of Minnesota. Sanders, a reigning All-American and current No. 3 nationally-ranked 125-pound wrestler, claimed a 16-6 major decision over the Bakersfield native.

“Frank had a great tournament,” said Head Assistant Coach Mike Mendoza. “He wrestled really well yesterday and today.”

At 141 lbs., Nacita won his quarterfinals match, 7-0, over No. 11 seed Derek Valenti of Virginia. But things went downhill after that for the Bakersfield junior as he dropped three straight matches and settled for sixth place.

Both Tyler Iwamura and David Morgan finished one win out of placewiner status. Iwamura, a redshirt freshman, went 4-2 in the 125-pound bracket while Morgan was 3-2 in the heavyweight bracket. At 197 lbs., Riley Orozco fell victim to a tough break in his Wednesday morning quarterfinal match. Pitted against No. 5 seeded Dennis Drury of North Carolina, Orozco nearly overcame a 4-3 deficit with a called pin as the final buzzer sounded, but the scorers table determined that the call from the referee came just late of the buzzer, giving Drury the one-point win.

CSUB returns to action just after the New Year, hosting Pac-10 rival Arizona State in the Icardo Center on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.

Courtesy of CSUB Sports Information

Tovuujav Advances to the Semifinal Round at the 2009 Southern Scuffle

GREENSBORO, N.C. (December 30, 2009) – George Mason sophomore Mendbagana Tovuujav advanced to the semifinals of the championship bracket before settling for a sixth-place finish at 174 pounds at the 2009 Southern Scuffle. The annual two-day tournament was held at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro, N.C.

The Ulaanbaatar City, Mongolia native won his first three matches, with two of those wins coming by fall, to make his way into the semifinal round. In the semifinal match, Tovuujav took on Mack Lewnes of Cornell. Lewnes pinned Tovuujav in the third period to advance to the championship bout.

Following the loss, Tovuujav dropped down to the consolation bracket, where he lost his opening bout to Indiana’s Trevor Perry by fall 59 seconds into the first overtime period. Tovuujav ended up with a sixth-place finish at the tournament.

Zachory Huxford (133), Jaaziah Bethea (141) and Bill Widener (197) also wrestled on Wednesday afternoon. Huxford and Bethea both won their opening bouts to begin the day before bowing out in the next round.

George Mason wrestles again on Sunday, Jan. 3 at a tri-meet hosted by Columbia in New York, N.Y. The Patriots will take on Columbia at 1 p.m. and Ohio State at 3 p.m. Sunday’s competition will be the first dual action of the season for Mason.

Courtesy of George Mason Sports Information