Chris Vassar's pin at 149 pounds started a string of three consecutive victories in the middle weights for the Runnin' Bulldogs, with Ryan Mosley following that with a 3-1 decision at 157 and Austin Trott taking a healthy 11-4 decision over No. 25 Forrest Przybysz at 165 pounds.
Trott's win put GWU up 15-8, before No. 21 Nick Kee stemmed the tide with a 14-3 major decision over Gardner-Webb's Brett Stein at 174.
Hunter Gamble matched that effort with a major decision of his own at 184 pounds - a 10-2 margin over Taylor Jackson - and Gray Jones battled to a 4-1 win at 197 pounds to clinch the match for Gardner-Webb. Jones recorded his points on a takedown, an escape and a late stall point for the win.
Appalachian State heavyweight Denzel Dejournette - ranked 5th nationally - pinned No. 33 Boyce Cornwell in 3:15 for the final margin.
Appalachian State's Vito Pasone (No. 33) nipped Cortez Starkes in a low-scoring bout (3-0) for an early Mountaineer lead, but Gardner-Webb veteran Tyler Ziegler posted a hard-fought, 4-2, decision (TB-3) at 133 pounds - rallying with a takedown for the victory to knot the team score after two matches.
Ryan Hull darted to a quick lead at 141 pounds, but the Mountaineers' Michael Longo took control late in the first period and eventually powered to a 23-7 tech. fall win (5:11) for an 8-3 Appalachian State lead.
The fast-rising Vassar recaptured the lead for Gardner-Webb at 149 pounds, thoroughly dominating the bout and jumping out to a 14-0 lead before pinning Matt Zovitoski late in the second period. That win gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 9-8 lead and Mosley extended the margin with a 3-1 decision at 157 pounds.
Mosley, wrestling up one weight class, picked up a key takedown in the third period to take a 2-1 lead and held on to secure riding time as the clock expired.
Trott nearly posted bonus points at 165 over nationally-ranked Pryzbysz - powered by a pair of near falls - but put momentum squarely in Gardner-Webb's favor with the win.
Gardner-Webb - undefeated so far in 2016 in Paul Porter Arena - will wrestle on its home mat again Sunday at 3:00 pm against Campbell. The match will air live on The Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com), with Alex and Andy Bennett calling the action.
Results:
125: #33 Vito Pasone (ASU) dec. Cortez Starkes (GWU), 12-5 - 0-3
133: Tyler Ziegler (GWU) dec. Jacob Grigg (ASU), 4-2 (TB-3) - 3-3
141: Michael Longo (ASU) tech. fall Ryan Hull (GWU), 23-7 (5:11) - 3-8
149: Chris Vassar (GWU) pinned Matt Zovitoski (ASU), (4:12) - 9-8
157: Ryan Mosley (GWU) dec. David Peters-Logue (ASU), 3-1 - 12-8
165: Austin Trott (GWU) dec. #25 Forrest Przybysz (ASU), 11-4 - 15-8
174: #21 Nick Kee (ASU) major dec. Brett Stein (GWU), 14-3 - 15-12
184: Hunter Gamble (GWU) major dec. Taylor Jackson (ASU), 10-2 - 19-12
197: Gray Jones (GWU) dec. Randall Diabe (ASU), 4-1 - 22-12
285: #5 Denzel Dejournette pinned #33 Boyce Cornwell (GWU), (3:15) - 22-18
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now