Oklahoma State won its first Southern Scuffle title since 2017 (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Two-time All-American Nick Piccininni repeated as Southern Scuffle champions and helped lead the Oklahoma State Cowboys to their first team title since 2017.
Oklahoma State finished with 116 points, seven points ahead of runner-up North Carolina State (109).
The fourth-ranked Piccininni was dominant all tournament at 125 pounds, earning bonus point victories in four of his matches. In the finals, he beat Lock Haven's Luke Werner, 10-0. Oklahoma State's only other finalist was No. 9 Kaden Gfeller at 141 pounds. He fell to No. 12 Real Woods of Stanford, 6-1. The Cowboys finished with seven placewinners, which included three third-place finishers.
No. 2 Hayden Hidlay of NC State cruised to the title at 157 pounds with a 10-0 shutout over No. 7 Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider. Hayden's younger brother Trent Hidlay, also ranked No. 2, was edged in the finals at 184 pounds by Lou DePrez of Binghamton, 3-2, which flipped a result from earlier this season.
Stanford had three champions and finished third in the team standings (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)Stanford finished third in the team standings with 99.5 points on the strength of three individual champions, 12th-ranked Woods (141), redshirt Jaden Abas (149) and seventh-ranked Shane Griffith (165).
West Virginia's Noah Adams was named the event's Outstanding Wrestler (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)West Virginia's Noah Adams remained undefeated on the season by capturing the title at 197 pounds in a field that included seven ranked wrestlers and three ranked in the top eight. Adams had three straight victories over ranked wrestlers, including a pin in the finals against No. 8 Nathan Traxler of Stanford. He was named Outstanding Wrestler of the event.
Unranked Sammy Alvarez of Rutgers was one of the major surprises of the tournament. He entered the tournament unranked but came through to twin the title at 133 pounds with victories over two wrestlers ranked in the top 10: No. 4 Micky Phillippi of Pitt (semifinals) and No. 9 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State).
Penn State redshirt Carter Starocci earned the title at 174 pounds with an 11-6 victory in the finals over Pitt's Gregg Harvey.
Iowa State's Gannon Gremmel claimed the title at heavyweight, winning by injury default in the finals over Northern Colorado's Dalton Robertson.
George Mason's Colston DiBlasi picked up the Gorriaran Award (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)George Mason's Colston DiBlasi (149) was named the Gorriaran Award winner for the most falls in the least amount of time.
Team Standings (Top 5)
1. Oklahoma State 116
2. NC State 109
3. Stanford 99.5
4. Pittsburgh 93
5. North Dakota State 92.5
Placement Match Results
125:
1st: No. 4 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) maj dec. Luke Werner (Lock Haven), 10-0
3rd: Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec. Logan Treaster (Navy), 2-1
5th: Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) by medical forfeit over Michael McGee (Old Dominion)
7th: Sean Carter (Appalachian State) dec. No. 7 Nic Aguilar (Rutgers), 3-2
133:
1st: Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers) dec. No. 9 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State), 5-4
3rd: No. 4 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) maj. dec. Kai Orine (NC State), 10-1
5th: Cole Manley (Lock Haven) dec. Devan Turner (Oregon State), 7-4 TB2
7th: No. 13 Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) dec. Casey Cobb (Navy), 6-4
141:
1st: No. 12 Real Woods (Stanford) dec. No. 9 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State), 6-1
3rd: Dusty Hone (Oklahoma State) dec. Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven), 3-1
5th: Alex Madrigal (George Mason) tech. fall Angelo Martinoni (Cal State Bakersfield), 16-0 4:36
7th: Evan Cheek (Cleveland State) by medical forfeit over No. 11 Tariq Wilson (NC State)
149:
1st: Jaden Abas (Stanford) dec. No. 18 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado), 3-2
3rd: Colston Diblasi (George Mason) pinned Jonathan Milner (Appalachian State), 4:26
5th: Tanner Smith (Chattanooga) by medical forfeit over No. 15 Requir Van der merwe (Stanford)
7th: Jason Kraisser (Campbell) dec. Jaden Van maanen (North Dakota State), 7-5
157:
1st: No. 2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) maj. dec. No. 7 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider), 10-0
3rd: Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) dec. Matt Zovistoski (Appalachian State), 3-1
5th: Luke Weber (North Dakota State) dec. Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 3-0
7th: Jared Franek (North Dakota State) dec. Michael VanBrill (Rutgers), 7-2
165:
1st: No. 7 Shane Griffith (Stanford) dec. No. 10 Tanner Skidgel (Navy), 2-1
3rd: No. 13 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 8 Thomas Bullard (NC State), 9-3
5th: Joe Lee (Penn State) dec. No. 11 Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh), 10-3
7th: Brett Donner (Rutgers) by medical forfeit over No. 19 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel)
174:
1st: Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec. Gregg Harvey (Pittsburgh), 11-6
3rd: Daniel Bullard (NC State) dec. Chris Foca (Finger Lakes RTC), 4-2 SV
5th: Neal Richards (Virginia Military Institute) dec. Dean Sherry (Rider), 7-6
7th: Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State) dec. Jake Logan (Lehigh), 6-5
184:
1st: No. 6 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) dec. No. 2 Trent Hidlay (NC State), 3-2
3rd: Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) maj. dec. Matthew Waddell (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 13-1
5th: David Key (Naval Academy Prep School) by medical forfeit over Anthony Montalvo (Oklahoma State)
7th: Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) maj. dec. Colt Doyle (Oregon State), 11-2
197:
1st: No. 13 Noah Adams (West Virginia) pinned No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), 2:22
3rd: No. 18 Ethan Laird (Rider) dec. Michael Beard (Penn State), 9-7
5th: No. 6 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec. Jacob Cardenas (Finger Lakes RTC), 7-3
7th: No. 19 Jordan Pagano (Rutgers) by medical forfeit over No. 4 Nick Reenan (NC State)
285:
1st: Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) by injury default over Dalton Robertson (Northern Colorado)
3rd: Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh) dec. Brandon Metz (North Dakota State), 6-0
5th: Lewis Fernandes (Finger Lakes RTC) dec. Cary Miller (Appalachian State), 9-3
7th: Deonte Wilson (NC State) dec. Dan Stibral (North Dakota State), 7-2
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