Gardner-Webb Trio Places At Wrestling Opener; Tate Named Outstanding Wrestler
November 10, 2007 | Wrestling
PEMBROKE, N.C. – Rob Tate was named Most Outstanding Wrestler while Charles Franz and Chad Davis each recorded top-five finishes late Saturday evening at the UNCP Open.
Tate posted a technical fall of UNCP's Mike Nash, the No. 7 seed, in the championship round after just two periods of competition. En route to his title, Tate, the No. 1 seed, had a first-round bye before grappling with Bo Usary in the second round. There, Tate notched a 16-0 technical fall win.
In the third round, Tate shut out GMU's Joe Coughlin by a 3-0 count to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Tate again kept his opposition from scoring by downing Trevour Smith 9-0 to record his first major fall of the season.
In the semifinals, Tate pinned No. 4 seed Kent Pierson just 1:15 into the match for his first fall of the year, setting up a showdown with Nash, who upset No. 2 seed Anthony Easter and No. 6 seed Bryan Gibson to reach the finals.
At 141, Franz rebounded from a third-round loss to No. 3 seed Michael Arias to reach the third-place match. He had a chance for revenge against Arias, but fell to him by a 10-8 margin, earning fourth.
Franz had a first round by and defeated UNCP-s Nick Jones 14-2
in the second round to set up the first match with Arias. After
dropping a 7-1 decision, Franz fought back to the medal rounds
after pinning Jeremy Parker in 62 seconds. From there, he again put
his opponent on his back, recording a fall of Carols Morales in
2:44. Franz downed Jesse Miller 10-3 and posted back-to-back
one-point wins over Will Powars and Spencer Jasper to reach the
third-place match.
At 174, Davis garnered a fifth-place finish by downing No. 2 seed Ben Wales of Duke 6-4 in a hard fought match.
Davis lost his opening match to No. 1 seed Trebor Clavette by a 7-3 margin after receiving a first-round bye. From there, Davis gathered himself and put forth a solid showing. He pinned Timmy Underwood in 3:20 before earning a major decision victory over Mike Wade, 9-0.
Davis posted another major decision victory with his 13-0 win over the Citadel's J.C. Oddo, the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Facing another ranked opponent in the consolation quarterfinals, Davis edged No. 7 seed Derek Sickel 3-1 before falling to No. 5 seed Joby Shreckhise 5-3.
After dropping the match to Shreckhise, Davis bounced back to defeat No. 2 seed Ben Wales 6-4.
The Bulldogs return to action next Saturday at the East Stroudsburg Open.
For full results of the UNCP Open, click on the pdf.
| Full Results |
