Bluefield, WV – In a long day of Conference Carolinas wrestling at Ned Shott Gymnasium, the Big Blue women went 2-1 in duals against Allen, Newberry, and Southern Virginia, while the men's team lost to Allen and Newberry.
Against Allen, the women won two of the six contested bouts.
Caitlynn Ash continued her current slate of strong performances with a technical fall, while
Suravieve Robertson ended the dual with a 12-second pin.
In the dual against Newberry,
Maria Gonzalez scored a pin with a tight headlock. Ash followed that up and used her signature "St. Alban's Bachelorette Party" hold to score a fall. Freshman Emma Flannagan moved up a weight to score another arm bar pin, while
Charniece McClarence used a big throw to edge of the mat to score a technical fall.
Robertson was awarded the forfeit to clinch the dual meet victory for the women.
Against Southern Virginia,
Paige Altizer and Robertson were awarded forfeit victories. Ash scored another bonus point victory mixing up a series of leg attacks to earn a technical fall. Flannagan gutted out a tough match in the 138 lb. class, using a series of double leg attacks to get the victory. McClarence used a series of powerful upper body attacks to score a crucial pin that enabled the Big Blue to earn a narrow team victory over SVU.
The men had a more difficult day, losing a lopsided match to Newberry and Allen on the day. Against Allen,
Ryder Rhodes scored a major decision victory at 125 lbs. on the strength of several different leg attacks. After two one-point losses at 133 and 141,
Enrique Sanchez used some nifty scrambling to score a technical fall victory at 149 lbs. At 1665 lbs,
Kairyn Hall bumped up from his usual 157 lbs. and earned a gutty win, using a challenging ride and turn in the third period to pull away and score the win. The Big Blue men continued with their momentum and scored a pair of falls to end the match. At 184 lbs.
Landon Marquis used his unique scrambling style to lock up a cradle and score a dramatic match ending pin in the closing seconds of the 184 lbs match. Simeon Bryan continued his strong red-shirt freshman campaign, converting his initial takedown into a hammerlock ride and eventually into a pin to tie the team score at 24 points.
Coach Gardner's Thought:
"Well, we made it. This was the most brutal stretch of the season. Making weight three times in seven days is tough. Some of our kids wrestled as many as eight times over that stretch. Wrestling is stupidly difficult, even when you are pinning people."
"On the men's side, we were not good against Newberry. We were competitive in a couple of weights, but they were just more aggressive and more physical than we were. Against Allen, I felt pretty good about the results. We've got a few injuries that caused us to forfeit a few matches and that was the difference in the match. In the bouts we wrestled, we won more than they did and wrestled well. Larry is super tough. Enrique is starting to turn it around. Landon's high-risk style makes me fearful of dropping dead from a heart attack, but that was a huge moment for him, and Big Sim (
Simeon Bryant) was the first person to reach 10 wins on the year with his pin. I'm especially proud of Kai Hall, he's pretty hurt right now and he asked to bump up and wrestle. In a close bout where had to ride to win, he did so and even scored back points. That was a gutty performance."
"We are going to recover a bit, attack the areas we need to improve in, and we are going to move forward. I'm proud of these kids. They are the toughest group on campus."
