Starting off the afternoon at 141 pounds was freshman A.J. Guardado competing against sophomore Spencer Jasper. Jasper scored early in the match, securing a takedown in the first period and an escape in the second. Guardado pushed hard near the end, closing the gap to 3-2 with a reversal, but ran out of time in his comeback attempt.
The 149-pound match consisted of freshmen Colby Johnson and Mike Bell. A takedown and an escape gave Johnson a 3-1 lead after the second period, but an escape in the opening moments of the third closed the gap to 3-2 for Bell. Showcasing his flexibility, Johnson was able to hold onto his lead in evading a near takedown to claim the victory.
Redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi (149 pounds) gained control of his match with sophomore Danny Torres (157 pounds) near the end of the first period and was able to finish it early.
At the 157-pound class, last year's most successful freshman, Voris Tejada, was able to hold on to a three-point lead and win it 3-1 over sophomore Jared Sernoffsky. Tejada secured a critical stalemate in the third period to prevent a potentially-tying takedown with a hold of Sernoffsky's ankle.
In the 165-pound match, freshman Willy Mello challenged Addison Nuding, the junior captain, as he completed a successful takedown in the second period to reduce the deficit to three points. However, Nuding's experience prevailed as he prevented Mello's shot at a defensive no-control pin. That widened his lead, and he eventually won, 7-2.
There were two matches at 174 pounds, as redshirt sophomore Ben Wales took on sophomore Mat Koelling and redshirt junior Turner Rooney squared off against sophomore Chase Macer. Wales was aggressive throughout the match, securing two takedowns and gaining over one-minute of time advantage. Koelling fought well, successfully completing a two-leg takedown and a reversal late in the third period. Rooney was able win control early in his match with a victory over Macer.
Redshirt junior Dan Fox and sophomore Jack Richards faced off at 197 pounds. Fox acquired an early lead with a takedown in the first period and that set the tone for the rest of the match. Richards was able to even the score at the end of the first with a five-second near fall. Fox regrouped and controlled the rest of the match, showing his quickness in escaping Richards' attempts to grab his leg and swing around back for an easy takedown.
The meet rounded out with the heavyweight match between redshirt sophomores Wade "Tickles" Van Sickle and Mike Tunick, with Van Sickle capturing the victory, 3-1.
"The meet was a great opportunity to get in the competitive mindset and to get an idea of what we want to do this season," said Wales. "It was a good experience for the freshmen to figure out what college wrestling entails. It's their first taste of that so it's good to see them perform as well as they did."
Coach Clar Anderson was pleased with the intensity of all of the wrestlers and excited at the prospects for this year's team. "There were a lot of competitive matches, which I had expected, said Anderson. "The meet gave our guys a great opportunity to compete in a match-type situation in front of friends and other students. The matches were very competitive, as each athlete was vying for a starting position."
Not wrestling in the event were senior Kellan McKeon (125 pounds), redshirt senior Bryan Gibson (133 pounds) and redshirt sophomore John Barone (184 pounds). All three are starters and captains and did not compete due to a lack of good matchups in their respective classes.
The freshmen and sophomores will compete on Saturday, Nov. 3 in The Citadel Open in Charleston, S.C., at 10 a.m. The entire team will come together for the UNC Pembroke Open on Nov. 9 and 10 in Pembroke, N.C.
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