Gardner-Webb 165 lber Rodrick Mosley (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)This is our last week of the regular season - what!!
I was talking to my godfather the other day at dinner about college sports this season. He mentioned that this season for college basketball in particular has been rather unpredictable - if you take a look at college wrestling, this season has had a lot of twists, turns, injuries, and upsets. You name it, it’s probably happened. This weekend for the Southern Conference was no exception.
Last week - the action kicked off on Friday, with Gardner-Webb traveling to Chattanooga for a heart-racing dual. The Mocs won the dual 19-16, coming down to the wire at the heavyweight bout. Logan Andrew (UTC) had a dominating 8-1 victory over Abe Preston (GWU) to seal the deal and secure a win, bouncing back from the loss against App State the previous weekend. #11 Rocky Jordan (UTC, 174) put some bonus points on the board, securing a first-period fall over Andrew Wilson (GWU). The Runnin’ Bulldogs had some key wins for the evening - at 165 #24 RJ Mosley posted a 16-5 major decision over Kamdyn Munro and at 184 Jha’Quan Anderson won in sudden-victory overtime against #26 Matthew Waddell. Gardner-Webb fought HARD this dual - this would have been a huge upset for the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
Also on Friday, Campbell traveled to Bellarmine where they picked up another victory against the Knights 34-15, to remain undefeated in the Southern Conference. Victories for the Knights came in forfeits at 157 and 174, while at 165 Cole Nance (BU) picked up an 11-5 decision over Dom Baker (CU). A nail-biter of the evening was at 149 - Campbell’s Chris Rivera defeated Zac Cowan in sudden-victory overtime, picking up the final win of the evening for the Camels.
Bellarmine turned around to host The Citadel on Saturday, boasting a 22-14 win. The Knights won six of the ten bouts of the evening. If y’all couldn’t tell, I love when matches go into overtime. Zac Cowan (149) seems to enjoy that too, finding himself in the same position two duals in a row, this time against Ethan Willis, and with the takedown to win the match. Cowan’s win at 149 kicked off a string of wins all through 197, to lead Bellarmine to victory over the Bulldogs. The Citadel picked up major decision victories at 125 and 133, while posting decisions at 141 and heavyweight.
Sunday kicked off with action in Clinton, SC - Presbyterian hosted Gardner-Webb for their Senior Day, winning by a tight margin of 19-18. The match started off in favor of the Blue Hose, and quickly became tied after reaching the 165lb weight class. The dual came down to the heavyweight bout - much like Friday for the Runnin’ Bulldogs, and heavyweight Malcolm Wiley (PC) snuck in a bonus point to tip the scales in favor of the Blue Hose. Tyler Brignola (157) and RJ Mosley (165) brought the thunder with major decision and tech fall wins.
Campbell traveled to Chattanooga, continuing their undefeated streak with a 24-13 victory over the Mocs. #22 Domenic Zaccone (CU, 133) swooped in with a sudden victory overtime upset over #18 Brayden Palmer (UTC), alternatively, we saw at 184 #33-ranked Matthew Waddell (UTC) beat #32 Caleb Hopkins (CU) in a close 4-3 decision. #11 Rocky Jordan (UTC, 174) does what Rocky Jordan does, and served up a 10-1 major decision victory over Riley Augustine (CU). The Camels had two falls at 157 and heavyweight, Troy Nation and #17 Taye Ghadiali racked up those extra bonus points to secure the victory for the Camels.
Gardner-Webb bounced back from two tough losses to win against the ACC’s Duke, 30-10. Walking away with seven out of ten match victories, Drew West (125) and Todd Carter (133) posted two falls to start the dual. The two losses of the evening were at 149 and 197.
The question I think most of us have asked this season is “who’s going to take home the conference championship title?” Well, that gets answered this Sunday at 2:00pm in Boone at Varsity Gym. Undefeated foes Appalachian State and Campbell University go head-to-head in a newly-forged rivalry. This will be a day of duals for the Mountaineers, as they face off against Presbyterian College and Davidson College after battling it out against the Camels. Both teams have wrestled tough schedules this season, both teams have great conditioning, both teams have their share of ranked guys. I’ll be there and will for SURE keep y’all updated on all the fun that goes down this Sunday. The dual can also be streamed on The Grind’s Rokfin page - if you head to our Live Streaming Guide you can check out all the action you don’t want to miss!
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