GWU Redshirt-Senior Dustin Porter Takes Fifth at Hokie Open
November 09, 2009 | Wrestling
Salem, Va. - Gardner-Webb redshirt-senior Dustin Porter bounced back from a 5-2 loss in the preliminaries to win his next five matches to claim fifth-place overall in the heavyweight division at the 2009 Hokie Open on Sunday afternoon in Salem, Va.
Porter, who wrestled unattached at 285-pounds, started off with a 5-2 loss to Andy Hartshorn of Ohio, who finished fourth overall, in the preliminaries, dropping him immediately to the consolation bracket. In his first consolation match, Porter pinned Collin Campbell of Arrichion WC at 1:40 into the match to advance. Porter then went on to beat Andrew Cekuta of North Carolina 4-2, Jack Danilkowicz of Virginia 5-2 and then Peter Sturgeon of North Carolina 3-1.
In the consolation semifinals, Porter went on to defeat Tom Minwell of Chattanooga 5-2 to take fifth-place overall in the heavyweight division.
Porter's fifth-place finish highlighted a solid season opener for the Bulldogs, as a number of individuals wrestled well on Sunday afternoon.
At the 125-pound weight class, the Bulldogs had three grapplers compete at the open event, with two Bulldogs going head-to-head in one of the consolation rounds. Freshman Marc Rocha was the first to compete, as the newcomer fell to Steven McLeod of Newberry 3-1 in the round of 64. In the second round, freshman Brett Kostern lost to Devin Carter of Virginia Elite by way of a pin fall at 2:59, while junior transfer Michael Slaughter pinned his opponent Ian McLaughlin of North Carolina 3:50 into the match to advance to the preliminaries.
In the preliminary round, Slaughter lost to Eric Chandler of North Carolina 10-5, sending the newcomer to the consolation rounds. In the consolation pre-PF round, Slaughter squared off with GWU's Kostern who had advanced by defeating Jonathan Pope of VMI 15-8. In the head-to-head match up, Slaughter defeated Kostern 3-1 advancing the junior on to the consolation pre-QF where he lost to Matt Zarth of Davidson 10-4
At 133, redshirt-freshman Richie Spicel made it to the quarterfinals, as he defeated William Scheve of Cumberland 9-5, Josh Sandoval of Chattanooga 5-3 and Clint Spencer of Newberry 2-0. In the quarterfinals, Spicel lost to eventual champion Kyle Hutter of Old Dominion 8-2.
Redshirt-freshman Ryan Medved went 2-2 on Sunday at 149, as he started off the day with a 9-2 win over Mike Burnett of VMI in the round of 64. After falling to John Nicholson of Old Dominion, the eventual first-place champion, 3-2 in the second round, Medved bounced back to defeat Billy Heemer of Campbell 16-7 in the consolation pre-PF. In the next round, Medved lost to Cam Watkins of Old Dominion 7-4, ending his day at 2-2.
Like his brother, Alex Medved went 2-2 on the day at 157, advancing to the quarterfinals by picking up a 6-4 win over Cumberland James Casadaban in the second round and defeating Joe McGinley of Davidson by a pin fall at 1:32 in the preliminaries.
In the quarterfinals at 157, Medved fell to Jesse Dong of Virginia Tech by way of a pin fall at 4:27. Dong went on to take second-place overall at the 157-pound class.
At 165, the Bulldogs had three grapplers compete, as freshman Miguel Gordon and senior David Pelsang both went 1-2 on the day, while sophomore Justin Guthrie dropped both of his bouts at 165.
Like at the 165-pound class, Gardner-Webb had three compete at 174, yet failed to come away with a win as sophomore Blake Sayler lost in his only bout, while Randall Herring and David Sweeney both went 0-2 on the day.
GWU's Jonathan Velasquez led the charge at 184, as he picked up a second round 12-5 win over Spencer Adams of Campbellsville to advance to the preliminaries. However, in the preliminary round, Velasquez fell to Andrew Saunders of North Carolina 4-2, dropping him into the consolation round where he won his next two bouts including using a takedown in overtime to defeat Kari Reed of Newberry 14-12.
Not to be outdone at 184 was redshirt-freshman Jason Porter, as he too advanced to the preliminaries by defeating Mike Wade of King 5-0 in the second round. However, like Velasquez, Porter fell in the preliminary round to Joe Budi of Old Dominion 10-0, who went on to take first-place for the 184-pound weight class.
At 197, redshirt-freshman Travis Porter bounced back from an opening round 3-2 loss to Chris Penny of Virginia Tech to finish at 2-2 on the day. In the consolation rounds, Porter defeated Dion Mosley of VMI by way of a pin fall at 3:58 in the bout and continued to advance by picking up a win over Duke's Robert Holbrook due to an injury default. Porter then had his day ended in the consolation pre-quarterfinals, as he fell to Kyle Sanders of Ohio, who finished fifth overall, 9-1.
The Bulldogs will have its first dual meet of the 2009-10 season next Saturday, November 14th, as Gardner-Webb will go head-to-head with Chattanooga in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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