Both upper and lowerclassmen stepped up for the Bulldogs in their home opener Thursday night against VMI. Some of the Bulldogs that led the way include: Chas Franz, Austin Reece, Justin Guthrie, Blake Salyer, Jonathon Velazquez, and Dustin Porter.
Junior Cortney Roberts started off the night for the Bulldogs at the 125 lb. weight class. Roberts recorded two takedowns in the first period and looked to finish the match, but VMI's Jonathon Pope was able to mount a late surge and pull off a 7-6 decision for the Keydets.
After a technical fall by VMI at the 133 class, senior Chas Franz put together an impressive showing at 141 and answered with a technical fall for the Bulldogs. Franz recorded two takedowns and four-three point near falls in the match, giving a 16-1 edge over VMI's Luke Todd.
Freshman Austin Reece put in a great showing Thursday night. Reece looked as if he was going to lose the bout, as he was behind 5-2 entering the third period. However, Reece answered the call and was able to mount a four point swing in the third period behind two takedowns and an escape. VMI's Michael Long was rewarded one point at the end of the third because of riding time he had amounted in the first two periods. With the match tied at 6, the referee called for a one-minute overtime. Reece was able to keep up the momentum in the overtime period and took down Long in the first 10 seconds for the 8-6 decision.
Fellow freshman Justin Guthrie also wrestled a good match, winning by a 10-3 decision. Guthrie looked as if he was inches away from pinning VMI's Jayme Gordon, but an unintentional belch gave way to some fluids and the referee was forced to call for a two-minute injury timeout in order to clean the mat. The decision gave Gardner-Webb its first lead of the match 11-8 over the Keydets.
VMI was able to take the next match as GWU's Dave Pelsang was pinned by Vincent Gallo 30 seconds into the second period, giving VMI at 14-11 edge with four matchups remaining. GWU was able to take the 174 class with a 6-2 decision by Blake Salyer over VMI's Jon Horne. Salyer took advantage of two weak shots by Horne, sneaking behind and getting two easy takedowns.
Jonathon Velazquez stepped up for the Bulldogs at the 184 class with a 11-5 decision, giving the Bulldogs a 17-14 edge with two matchups left. Velazquez put together several good takedowns in the match and was rewarded a point for riding time as well.
VMI evened the match at 17-17 after Ronnie Ellsworth won a 5-4 decision over GWU's Travis Porter. Ellsworth was able to get a couple takedowns and held off Porter in the waning moments for the three-point decision.
Junior Dustin Porter was able to gain his eighth win of the season in the final bout of the night, winning 5-3 over VMI's Leon Barrow. The decision by Porter was clutch as it gave the Bulldogs a 20-17 win.
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