Harrogate, TN – Bluefield State University men's and women's wrestling travelled to Lincoln Memorial University on Wednesday for a Conference Carolinas dual meet action.
The women dropped a tight matchup to the Railsplitters by a 20-18 margin in the opening bout. Securing wins for the Big Blue were Suravieve Robertson, Caitlynn Ash, and Paige Altizer. Altizer was especially impressive, converting several takedowns into turns, which she was able to finish with a first-period fall.
The Big Blue men earned their fourth dual meet victory of the year, and their second in two days with a 36-18 victory against the host team on Senior Night. Larry Rhodes kicked things off with a slick single leg takedown followed by a pair of turn which finally ended in a pin fall. Rhodes is on the cusp of being the first Bstate wrestler to have back-to-back seasons winning 20 matches.
Kai Hall earned the second pin of the evening when he took the mat at 165 lbs. A single leg attack to a cutback finish put Hall in a position to lock up a low leg cradle which he used to secure the fall in under a minute.
After receiving forfeits to Thomas Dolo, Landon Marquis, and Oluwojuwon Omotoso, the Big Blue marched out freshman heavyweight Simeon Bryant. Bryant was aggressive, getting in on the leg early and drawing a stall call as his opponent attempted to leap out of bounds to avoid an imminent takedown. After leading the first period 3-1, Big Sim took the bottom position, earned the escape and then used a head outside leg attack to secure a takedown. Once on top, the Baltimore native bundled his opponent's arms up and ran him over for the match-ending fall.
Coach Gardner's Thoughts:
"Wrestling and traveling on back-to-back days is never easy. I think some of our guys showed the effects of these back-to-back dates. That said, we showed some poise in difficult situations. The guys did what they had to do to make weight two days in a row. That's the miserable part of the sport, but everyone has the same burden."
"On the men's side, Larry, Kai, and Sim did what we expect of them. They are good young nucleus to build around. Larry is super stingy and wrestles a very controlled style. Kai on the other hand is just free and is willing to wrestle in some crazy positions. Simeon's still a newcomer to this sport, but he's doing a solid job. It was a good night for us. On the women's side, depth is an issue. We've got a few injuries we are working around, but the girls will scrap. Paige and Caitlynn showed that last night.
