Montgomery, AL – Bluefield State University men's and women's wrestling competed at the Hawk Open, hosted by Huntington College. The Big Blue left the arena with five athletes placing, and a number of hard-fought wins.
Ryder Rhodes led the team with a finals appearance at 125 lbs. Rhodes was dominant on his way to the finals, scoring a fall, a major decision, and a decision to make the championship bout, where he fell to a nationally ranked opponent from Life University (GA). Rhodes has won eight of his last nine matches.
Kai Hall was the second of four Big Blue athletes to make the semi-finals. Hall won a pair of matches to make his way into the semi-finals. After losing a one-point match to the eventual champion, he won a pair of consolation matches to finish third.
Big Simeon Bryant made the semi-final on the strength of a pair of pins. After losing a sudden victory overtime bout on a penalty point, Bryant defaulted his next match out of an abundance of caution.
Maria Gonzalez made the semi-finals of the 117 lbs women's bracket on the strength of a pair of pins. After losing in the semi-finals, Maria finished in 5th place.
Charniece McClarence finished in 3rd place at 145 lbs, going 3-1 on the day. In her final match, she defeated her opponent from the host institution, 8-2. Her opponent had been a nemesis for a while, wrestling numerous times at the state tournament in High School. This marked McClarence's first victory over her rival after numerous close matches.
The current team leader for victories, Caitlynn Ash, added four more to her ledger, including four falls on her way to the consolation finals.
Enrique Sanchez and Thomas Dolo were both 4-2 on the day at 149 lbs and 174 lbs, respectively. Sanchez, a prolific pinner, had three pins and a come-from-behind victory in the tournament's largest bracket. Dolo opened with an overtime victory and a pinfall victory before falling into the consolation bracket. On the backside, he added a major decision and a technical fall victory to his record for the season.
Also winning bouts for the Big Blue were Paige Altizer and Calvin Roberts, both from the Greenbrier area of West Virginia, as well as Juwon Omotoso.
Coach Gardner's thoughts:
"It was good to get back on the mats after the holidays, we had some decent training leading up to this event. It was a long way away, but that allowed us to spend some more time together and bond as a team. The kids fought hard and scrapped. We're missing a few due to illness, but the kids who wrestled all fought hard. We have to work on our mental approach to each match and improve how we handle some of the hurdles we face. We also have to learn how to manage a lead. We had a few heartbreakers we lost that we were winning early."
"Rhodes and Hall had really strong days. Rhodes continues to do his thing. He showed a side I'm not used to seeing when he chose top in the third period just so he could punish his opponent with a grinding ride. Hall is settling into 165 well. The move up has allowed him to work on training to improve technically, and he has more energy to wrestle to his full potential. There's a qualitative difference between training to improve and training to make weight."
"Overall, I think we are moving in the right direction. We have a little more than a week to prepare for our next men's dual, the women's wrestle at Southern Virginia on Saturday. We'll take what we learned this weekend and get better."
