BECKLEY, W.Va.— After a month-long break from competitive action, the Montreat wrestling program returned to the mat on Saturday for the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Duals in Beckley, W.Va. Facing a quartet of conference opponents, the Cavaliers split their four duals, moving their season record to 4-7 (2-2 AAC).
Montreat fell behind early in both of its victory efforts before storming back to defeat St. Andrews University and West Virginia University Institute of Technology by double digits. In its dual with the St. Andrews Knights, the Cavaliers forfeited their first two matches to start in a 12-0 hole; however, the Knights would later go on to forfeit matches against
Freddy Guardiola and
Seth Williamson. When two wrestlers took to the mat, the Cavaliers were in control, winning four of the six matches with a few high-scoring results.
Jonathan Zafra, wrestling at 141, pinned his opponent in 54 seconds, while
Dalton Towe, wrestling at 184, pinned his foe in 4:46.
Ethan Bennett and
Easton Griffin secured the other two Montreat victories. Wrestling in the 149-lb weight class, Bennett procured a 16-0 tech fall, while Griffin won a 9-5 decision in the 165-lb weight class. Adding it all up, the Cavaliers defeated the Knights, 32-21.
The Cavaliers cruised past the WVU Tech Golden Bears for their other victory on the day, 37-9. While both sides left the 125-lb weight class open, Montreat earned 18 points through three forfeits compared to WVU Tech's six points via one forfeit. Montreat went 4-1 in the other five matchups, outscoring the Golden Bears by 16 (19-3) in the process.
Branson Bennett (6:17) and
Taquel Young (5:55) overpowered their opponents and earned pins. Towe earned his second individual win of the day via a 16-5 majority decision, and
Tyler McDonald helped close out the victory with a 5-3 decision.
Montreat did suffer two team defeats on Saturday, including a nail-biter against the Truett McConnell Bears. Truett McConnell held a 6-0 edge after the Cavaliers forfeited at 125 and both sides left the 133-lb weight class open, but the Cavs roared back with three successive wins via pin. At 141,
Louis Mehaffey needed just 42 seconds to pin his opponent.
Landon Chambers, the No. 10-ranked individual in the 149-lb weight class, did the same to his foe in just 45 seconds. Young (3:59) also snagged an important pin, one of two he had on the day, to establish an 18-6 Montreat advantage halfway through dual; however, the Bears made a charge over three matches to erase the Cavalier lead, scoring 16 points via two pins and a major decision. Williamson responded positively in Montreat's favor at 197, recording the dual's third lead change with a pin in 6:14. But, in the dual's final matchup, TMU flipped the script and registered the fourth lead change, utilizing a pin to give the Bears a 28-24 victory.
The Cavaliers other defeat came at the hands of the Reinhardt Eagles, the No. 5-ranked men's wrestling program in the NAIA. Young's third win of the day, a 6-4 sudden victory, proved to be Montreat's lone points of the dual. Reinhardt ultimately claimed the showdown by a 50-3 scoreline.
For a complete list of Montreat's results at the AAC Duals, click
here.
Montreat wrestling returns to the mat next Saturday for a dual at Greensboro College. The action is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.
