Ten Different Bulldogs Place Third-Place or Higher at the 2009 Davidson Open
December 06, 2009 | Wrestling
Davidson, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb wrestling team had ten different grapplers finish in third-place or higher on Saturday afternoon at the 2009 Davidson Open hosted by Davidson College, as the Bulldogs picked up first-place finishes at the 149-pound class, 165-pound class, 197-pound class and at the heavyweight class.
Redshirt-junior Dustin Porter, who wrestled unattached, continued his strong start thus far this season, as he went 4-0 on the day with all four wins coming by way of pin fall en route to a first-place finish in the heavyweight class. Porter pinned Charlie Woff of Davidson at 1:55 in the finals to win the championship.
With only three wrestlers in the 197-pound weight class, redshirt-freshman Travis Porter reached the finals by way of a bye, where he then disposed of Kenneth Lindsey of UNC Pembroke in the finals, defeating his opponent 11-4 for the first-place win.
At 149, redshirt-freshman Ryan Medved posted a perfect 4-0 day, picking up two major decision wins on his way to the finals. In the finals, Medved defeated Richie Dehnz of Appalachian State 10-7 to be crowned the champion at the 149-pound class.
Gardner-Webb's success continued at 165, as the Bulldogs dominated the open bracket, taking both first and second-place on the day. GWU's David Pelsang and Justin Guthrie, who wrestled unattached, both rode a first round bye and two victories to the final match where they squared off against each other. Guthrie was able to get the upper hand early in the match and defeated Pelsang 5-1, giving Guthrie first-place and Pelsang second-place overall.
Four Bulldog grapplers competed at 184, as Jonathon Velazquez went 2-1 overall, falling to eventual champion Ryan Sughrue of UNC Greensboro 6-0 in the finals, while Jason Porter took third-place overall with a 4-1 day, including wins over fellow Bulldogs Evan Rhodes and Randall Herring.
Newcomer Michael Slaughter took second-place at 125, going 3-1 on the day with two major decision wins, while redshirt-freshman Richie Spicel also took second, posting a 3-1 record on Saturday with the lone lose being a 5-4 decision in the championship match.
Fellow redshirt-freshman Alex Medved finished third overall at 157, going 4-1 with two pin falls and two shutout victories on the afternoon.
Other notable performers on Saturday include freshman Morgan McDaniel, who took fourth-place at 141 with a 3-1 record, and Dave Sweeney, who finished fourth at 174 with a record of 4-2.
The Bulldogs will now look to continue its success from this weekend, as Gardner-Webb will take on VMI in dual meet action on Friday, December 11th, at 7:30 p.m. in Lexington, Va.
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| Complete Results - 2009 Davidson Open |
