Vassar and Gamble Take Third-Place Overall at The Citadel Open on Saturday
November 03, 2013 | Wrestling
Charleston, S.C. - The Gardner-Webb wrestling team sent a number of individuals to compete at The Citadel Open on Saturday afternoon in Charleston, S.C., where freshman Chris Vassar and sophomore Hunter Gamble highlighted the open invite for the Runnin' Bulldogs with each posting a third-place finish in their respective weight classes.
Vassar, who wrestled unattached at 141 pounds, posted back-to-back falls over Randy Hawes of St. Andrews (1:28) and Nicholas Young of Newberry (4:15) over the first two rounds of the championship bracket and then earned a 14-5 major decision win over Zach Wright of Dartmouth to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarters, Vass fell to Joseph Ward of North Carolina, the eventual champion at 141 pounds, 12-2 to fall into the wrestleback bracket.
The freshman responded well, as he turned in a pin over Justin Street of King College (1:55) and then registered another fall of Frank Yattoni of King College (2:14) to move into the wrestleback semifinals.
Vassar finished his day with a 15-3 major decision win over Jake Velarde of Old Dominion and then a 10-0 shutout of Rashad Cunningham of Coker to go 7-1 overall and take third-place at the 141 pound bracket.
Gamble also picked up a third-place finish overall, as the sophomore earned a 21-5 technical fall win over Sean Mann of CFL in the first round, before suffering a 6-3 loss to Nick Kee of Appalachian State, the eventual 174 pound champion, in the second round to fall into the wrestleback bracket.
There, Gamble ran off six straight wins which included victories over Joseph Holland of Coker (Fall, 2:38), versus Trevor Wentt of King College (Fall, 2:42), against Scott Marmoll of North Carolina (1-0), over Mitchel Thomas of North Carolina (MD, 15-4), against Khali Abdush-Shakur of Life (Fall, 1:26) and over Arthur Walthour of BRP (4-3) to finish 7-1 overall and take third-place overall at 174 pounds.
At 165 pounds, freshman Brett Stein took fourth-place overall, as the newcomer suffered a tough 7-6 defeat in the third-place match to Ethan Ramos of North Carolina.
Stein started his day out strong, posting a victory over Deandre Johnson of SMC (MD, 17-4) and a huge win over Elliott Morales of SFL (TF, 18-3), before losing in the quarterfinals to Ramos 12-7 to fall into the wrestleback bracket.
In the consolation rounds, Stein earned a medical forfeit win over John Anthony of Life, defeated Dennis Flores of Newberry (10-7) and then took another medical forfeit win over Justin Cash of King before suffering a second loss to Ramos in the third-place bout.
A trio of freshmen posted multiple wins on the day, as Philip Anderson rebounded from a first round loss to record four wins over Andrew Sowerbrower of Mercer (TF, 19-3), against Evan Dipsiner of CFL (Fall, 0:45), versus Mikel Nelson of Coker (MD, 13-2) and over Cody Karns of North Carolina (Fall, 6:17) to finish the day at 4-2 overall at 125 pounds, while Victor Blasucci went 3-2 on the day at 133 pounds with wins over David Nguyen of FGC (MD, 11-1), against Norman Gallon of FGC (11-9) and versus Ian Clevenger of SMC (7-5). Fellow freshman Alex Bennett went 2-2 on the day at 165 pounds, as the freshman posted a fall over Ellison Sanders of Coker (3:45) and a 6-3 decision against Brandon Vovan of Newberry.
Freshmen Terry Henderson (184 pounds) and Andy Bennett (197 pounds), as well as returners Zach Bennett (197 pounds) and Joseph Evans (165 pounds), all went 0-2 on the day at their respective weight classes.
Gardner-Webb will return to action next week, as the Runnin' Bulldog grapplers will compete at the Hokie Open on Sunday, November 10th, in Blacksburg, Va.
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| The Citadel Open Final Brackets |
