GWU Wrestling to Open Up the 2013-14 Season This Saturday at the Virginia Quad Meet
October 31, 2013 | Wrestling
Boiling Springs, N.C. - For the second time in the last four years, the Gardner-Webb wrestling team will open up its season in Charlottesville, Va., as the Runnin' Bulldogs will compete at the Virginia Quad Meet this Saturday, November 2nd, at the Memorial Gymnasium.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are slated to open up the quad meet against West Virginia at 10 a.m., then take on host Virginia at 12 p.m., before wrapping up the day with a dual against Anderson (S.C.) at 2 p.m.
This season's opening weekend at Virginia is the second time in the last four years in which the Runnin' Bulldogs have opened up the season in Charlottesville, Va., as GWU competed against Rider, Virginia and Anderson (S.C.) to open up the 2010-11 season.
Gardner-Webb, who is in their third season as an associate member in the Southern Conference, was picked fourth in the 2013-14 Southern Conference Wrestling Preseason Coaches Poll. The Runnin' Bulldogs received 28 points overall in the poll.
Virginia will be the first of three ACC foes that Gardner-Webb wrestle in 2013-14 (N.C. State & Duke), while West Virginia is the lone Big 12 school that the Runnin' Bulldogs will face in dual match action on the year.
The Virginia Quad Meet will be the first-ever official intercollegiate match for a handful of Runnin' Bulldog grapplers in freshman Cole Graves and redshirt-freshmen Ryan Mosley, Kyle Ash, Austin Trott and Boyce Cornwell, who all redshirt last season and competed unattached.
Head Coach Daniel Elliott's lineup will start with sophomore Cortez Starkes, who went 14-14 overall last year and joined the lineup midway through the season, at 125 pounds, and senior Robbie Golde at 133 pounds. Golde, who is the lone senior on the GWU roster this season, recorded 17 wins a year ago for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
At 141 pounds will be Mosley, a 2013-14 SoCon Preseason All-Conference selection who went 21-10 last year wrestling unattached during his redshirt season, and sophomore Tyler Ziegler who recorded 10 wins a year ago while seeing time at both 125 and 133 pounds.
Freshman Cole Graves will suit up for GWU at 149 pounds as he makes his intercollegiate debut, while both the 157 and 165 pound weight classes will see new faces in Ash and Trott. Ash went 21-7 last season unattached during his redshirt season and will start at 157 pounds this year, while Trott recorded 26 wins a year ago during his redshirt year and will move up to 165 pounds this season for GWU.
Redshirt-junior Aaron Rabin, who sat out last spring, will return to the lineup at 174 pounds, while sophomore Gray Jones, who was named to the 2012-13 Southern Conference All-Freshman Team last season with his 18 wins, returns to the lineup for Gardner-Webb at 184 pounds where he started all of last season.
Cornwell will get the start at 197 pounds, as the redshirt-freshman registered 14 wins last season wrestling unattached, while Justin Kozera returns to the lineup at the heavyweight spot where he started two years ago as a freshman. Kozera, who redshirted last season, tallied 19 wins while wrestling unattached in 2012-13.
The Virginia Quad Meet is the first of 12 dual matches for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the 2013 calendar year, with all 12 coming either on the road or at neutral sites away from Paul Porter Arena and Boiling Springs, N.C.
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Gardner-Webb Wrestling Projected Lineup - Virginia Quad Meet
125
Cortez Starkes, So. (14-14, 3-6)
133
Robbie Golde, Sr. (17-20, 6-11)
141
Ryan Mosley, R-Fr. (21-10, 0-0) *
Tyler Ziegler, So. (10-15, 2-8)
149
Cole Graves, Fr.
157
Kyle Ash, R-Fr. (21-7, 0-0) *
165
Austin Trott, R-Fr. (26-8, 0-0)*
174
Aaron Rabin, R-Jr. (1-6, 0-4)
184
Gray Jones, So. (18-14, 10-7)
197
Boyce Cornwell, R-Fr. (14-9, 0-0)*
285
Justin Kozera, R-So. (19-11, 0-0) *
2012-13 record (overall, dual)
* redshirt last season & wrestled unattached
| Week One Match Notes: at Virginia Quad Meet (11/2) |
