BELMONT, N.C. – The No. 10 Newberry College wrestling team used four wins by fall to take a 29-19 win over the Belmont Abbey College Crusaders at the Wheeler Center in a Thursday matinee.
The match did not start off on the right foot for the Wolves as Trung Duong (Lynchburg, Va.) suffered a loss by decision to Patrick Mestrez at 125 lbs. The match between the two regionally ranked grapplers was destined for overtime, but Mestrez got a late takedown to earn a 7-5 win.
Duong’s teammates responded well though, as 133-pounder Jordan Simpson (Oxford, Ala.) earned a pin of Will Rees at the 3:54 mark to put the Wolves up by a 6-3 count.
141-pounder Nick Lankford (Braselton, Ga.) didn’t let his opponent make it out of the first period, pinning Will James at 2:56 to extend the Newberry lead to 12-3.
At 149 lbs., Dyllan Greene (Watkinsville, Ga.) could not get any offense going, dropping a 13-0 major decision to Scott Bosak, bringing the Crusaders back within five team points at 12-7.
Dennis Flores (Hanahan, S.C.) came into the match ranked tops in the region and sixth nationally at 157 lbs. He was controlling the bout early, but a slip up allowed Daniel Callahan to reverse and pin him at 2:12, sending the lead back to the Abbey at 13-12. Codi Rothermel (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) dropped a 10-6 decision at 165 lbs., pushing BAC’s lead to 16-12.
The Wolves recovered with their two most seasoned and decorated wrestlers, as No. 6 Joe Pittman (Forsyth, Ga.) got a 2:20 pin at 174 lbs. and No. 4 Jared Holliday (Burlington, N.J.) needed just 36 seconds to get a pin at 184 lbs., flipping the advantage and giving the Wolves a 24-16 lead.
Cody Brundage (Chapin, S.C.) clinched the dual win for Newberry with a 15-0 technical fall at 197 lbs., allowing the Wolves to get out to 29-16. Matt Colter (Jacksonville, N.C.) wrapped up the dual with a 2-1 loss in the first tiebreaker period, ending the match with a 29-19 Newberry victory.
The Wolves are off for the Christmas break and will be back in action at 2 p.m. on Friday, January 3, at Coker.
