GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Averett University men's wrestling team split a pair of duals on Saturday night in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the Cougars fell 22-21 to McDaniel College in the opener and then went on to defeat Greensboro College, 22-19.
McDaniel 22, Averett 21
Sophomore
Sam Braswell grinded out a 12-7 decision at 125 pounds to give Averett (3-4) the early 3-0 lead in the dual. Braswell registered five takedowns in the effort. The Cougars dropped the match at 133 pounds before winning the next two matches at 141 and 149 pounds. Sophomore
Brandon Woody (141 pounds) collected two takedowns on his way to an 8-3 decision. McDaniel (6-2) forfeited at 149 pounds which gave Averett a 12-4 lead.
McDaniel won a close 8-6 decision at 157 pounds to cut the Cougar advantage to 12-7. Freshman
Jared Lough wrestled for Averett at 165 pounds and won by technical fall (18-0, 3:00) to put the Cougars ahead 17-7. The Stafford, Virginia, native scored a takedown followed by four 4-point near falls to run away with the victory.
The Green Terror's won by fall at 174 pounds to bring the dual score in favor of Averett at 17-13. Freshman
Demontay Wimbush wrestled next at 184 pounds for Averett and collected a 13-3 major decision victory. The Bassett, Virginia, native was paced by the three takedowns he scored in the first two periods. After Wimbush's effort, the Cougars held a 21-13 lead. However, McDaniel was able to put together a decision victory at 197 pounds and a win by fall at heavyweight to edge the Cougars 22-21.
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
#125 –
Sam Braswell (AU) over Nicholas Malinowski (MC) (Dec 12-7)
#133 – Ryker Eckenbarger (MC) over
Easton Halliday (AU) (MD 15-1)
#141 –
Brandon Woody (AU) over Isaiah Edmond (MC) (Dec 8-3)
#149 –
Caleb Harmon (AU) over Unknown (MC) (Forfeit)
#157 – Wade Bishop (MC) over
Josh Linkous (AU) (Dec 8-6)
#165 –
Jared Lough (AU) over Garrett Vandervalk (MC) (TF 18-0, 3:00)
#174 – Cole Nagle (MC) over
Joshua Crawford (AU) (Fall 1:44)
#184 –
Demontay Wimbush (AU) over Ronald Wuest (MC) (MD 13-3)
#197 – Jamie Rodriguez (MC) over
John Bishop (AU) (Dec 7-3)
#285 – Chris Hauffman (MC) over
Thad Wilkerson (AU) (Fall 0:32)
Averett 22, Greensboro 19
Averett and Greensboro (1-6) started the last dual of the night with the Pride forfeiting the first two weights at 125 and 133 pounds which gave the Cougars a 12-0 lead. Woody made the Averett lead 15-0 with an 8-6 decision at 141 pounds. Greensboro would collect eight team points over the course of the next two matches to make the score 15-8. 2
Lough picked up his fifth consecutive victory and team-leading 19
th win at 165 pounds, beating Conan Wilson 14-4. This result extended Averett's lead to 19-8. The two sides would split the 174 and 184-pound matches. Greensboro took the 174-pound match by major decision while Wimbush collected the victory for Averett at 184 pounds. The 184-pounder registered his third straight win and moved his record to 8-5 on the year. Heading into the last two bouts, Averett held the lead at 22-12. Greensboro would win by decision and major decision at 197 pounds and at heavyweight respectively, but this turned out to not be enough as the Cougars held on for the 22-19 victory.
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
#125 –
Sam Braswell (AU) over Unknown (GC) (Forfeit)
#133 –
Korpesh Gootee (AU) over Unknown (GC) (Forfeit)
#141 –
Brandon Woody (AU) over James Banks (GC) (Dec 8-6)
#149 – Hai Siu (GC) over
Will Merritt (AU) (MD 19-5)
#157 – Michael Jones (GC) over
Logan Howell (AU) (MD 19-7)
#165 –
Jared Lough (AU) over Conan Wilson (GC) (MD 14-4)
#174 – Tyron Dudley (GC) over
Josh Linkous (AU) (MD 10-0)
#184 –
Demontay Wimbush (AU) over Daniel Pearce (GC) (Dec 10-5)
#197 – Carlos Ortega (GC) over
Chris Mohr (AU) (Dec 7-3)
#285 – Brandon Williams (GC) over
Thad Wilkerson (AU) (MD 9-0)
Averett has Sunday off before they return to action on Monday, Dec. 17, when the Cougars travel to Lexington, Virginia, for the Washington & Lee Duals. The first of Averett's three duals that day is against Muskingum University which starts at 10:30 a.m.
