CLEVELAND, Ohio – Austin Trott dominated the field to win the title at 165 pounds, pacing a strong showing for Gardner-Webb Saturday at the 2014 Cleveland State Open.
Trott (Kingsland, Ga. / Camden County HS) continued a strong start to the season near the Great Lakes, whipping his competition in each round and improving his overall mark to 13-2 on the season.
Trott took major decisions over Buffalo's Derek Holcomb (13-3), Eastern Michigan's Dakota Juarez (9-0) and Campbell's Paul Duggan (8-0) to get into the semifinals, then needed just 51 seconds to pin Ohio wrestler Austin Reese.
He capped the evening with another quick pin, putting Michigan's Garrett Sutton away in just 1:02.
Ryan Mosley (Stone Mountain, Ga. / Shiloh HS) finished second at 149 pounds, going 4-1 with major decision wins over Bloomsburg's Brendan Colbert (9-1) and Notre Dame's George McGuire (16-2). He fell to Kent State's Michael Depalma in the title bout by a 10-2 margin.
Cortez Starkes also placed in the top-4, taking fourth at 125 pounds. He pinned Bloomsburg's Jon Haas to bounce back after a loss, advancing to the third-place bout. He fell to American's David Terao in that final effort.
Gardner-Webb took 26 wrestlers to the Cleveland State event, and seven men came away with at least three wins. A total of 10 wrestlers captured at least two wins on Saturday, including a pair of wins in the early going by 174-pound NCAA hopeful Hunter Gamble – who logged his first action on the mat since mid-November.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will break for Christmas, then will get back to tournament action on January 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn., at the traditionally strong Southern Scuffle (All Day).
Gardner-Webb returns home on January 9 to host Binghamton at 7:00 pm in its next dual match.
2014 Cleveland State Open
125: Cortez Starkes (3-2) – 4th Place
def. Andrew Coghill (Cleveland State), 10-4
def. Luke Nace (Ohio), 8-4
lost to Stevan Micic (Northwestern), 10-3
pinned Jon Haas (Bloomsburg), 4:29
lost to David Terao (American), 14-3 (major dec.) – 3rd Place Match
125: Landon LoAlbo (0-2)
lost to Armando Torres (Eastern Michigan), 9-1 (major dec.)
lost to Drew Dickson (Kent State), 6-5
133: Tyler Ziegler (3-2)
def. Kyle Noonan (Central Michigan), 3-2
def. Luke Schroeder (Purdue), 5-3
def. Joshua Parrett (Ohio), 7-6 double OT
lost to David Bavery (Notre Dame), 3-2
lost to Nick Zannetta (Pittsburgh), 10-4
141: Ryan Hull (2-2)
def. Robert Mason (Ashland), 12-2 (major dec.)
def. Adam Nichols (Central Michigan), 8-7
lost to Chris Mecate (Old Dominion), 17-0 (tech. fall)
lost to Kyle Springer (Eastern Michigan), 12-11
141: Joby Armenta (1-2)
def. Nathan Cobush (Old Dominion, 11-5
lost to Ryan Dunphy (Finger Lakes Prep), 14-4 (major dec.)
lost to Sam Gross (Northwestern), 14-1 (major dec.)
149: Dallas Roemer (0-2)
lost to Sean Heggs (Mercyhurst), 9-8
lost to Ryan Snow (Finger Lakes Prep), 7-3
149: Ryan Mosley (4-1) – 2nd Place
def. Brendan Colbert (Bloomsburg), 9-1 (major dec.)
def. George McGuire (Notre Dame), 16-2 (major dec.)
def. Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 3-2
def. Tom Page (American), 6-1
lost to Michael Depalma (Kent State), 10-2 (major dec.) – Championship Match
157: Todd Hargis (0-2)
pinned by Nathan Wynkoop (Cleveland State), 6:14
pinned by David Church (Gannon), 1:15
157: Alex Bennett (1-2)
lost to Rocco Borg (Eastern Michigan), 8-1
def. Ryan Hall (Campbell), 11-6
lost to John Boyle (American), 10-1 (major dec.)
157: Joseph Evans (0-2)
pinned by Austin Eads (Old Dominion), 4:54
lost to Jared Vanvleet (Findlay), 9-1 (major dec.)
157; Kyle Ash (3-2)
def. Francesco Fabozi (Princeton), 8-4
lost to Jake Danishek (Indiana), 10-3
def. Chad Decker (Eastern Michigan), 13-1 (major dec.)
def. Grayson Davis (Ohio), 17-0 (tech. fall)
pinned by Austin Eads (Old Dominion), 0:33
157: Cole Graves (2-2)
def. Daniel Richardson (Campbell), 10-6
lost to Jonathon Rivera (Notre Dame), 8-2
def. Jared Vanvleet (Findlay), Injury Default, 6:17
lost to Mitchell Malott (Eastern Michigan), 13-2 (major dec.)
165: Austin Trott (5-0) – 1st Place
def. Derek Holcomb (Buffalo), 13-3 (major dec.)
def. Dakota Juarez (Eastern Michigan), 9-0 (major dec.)
def. Paul Duggan (Campbell), 8-0 (major dec.)
pinned Austin Reese (Ohio), 0:51
pinned Garrett Sutton (Michigan), 1:02 – Championship Match
165: Christian Maroni (1-2)
lost to Ryan Harris (Ohio State), 6-3
def. Logan Dean (Campbell), 3-2
lost to Auston Hummel (Bloomsburg), 9-6
174: Payton Mills (0-2)
pinned by Dominic Rigous (Clarion), 1:46
pinned by John D'Agostino (Old Dominion), 2:33
174: Andy Bennett (0-2)
lost to Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern), 16-3 (major dec.)
lost to Blake Reid (Purdue), 10-2 (major dec.)
174: Hunter Gamble (2-2)
def. Jacob Bresciani (Ohio State), 9-0 (major dec.)
def. Jonathan Goetz (Central Michigan), 4-2
forfeit loss to Jacob Davis (Eastern Michigan)
forfeit loss to Tony Dailey (Notre Dame)
184: Gray Jones (1-2)
lost to Nick Corba (Cleveland State), 2-1
def. Shawn Shadaia (Michigan State), 6-2
lost to Ayoola Olapo (Michigan), 8-3
197: Boyce Cornwell (3-2)
def. Matt Patrick (Pittsburgh), 8-1
lost to Dustin Conti (Clarion), 5-4
def. Matthew Okaiye (Michigan State, Forfeit
def. Dom Carfagno (Bloomsburg), 15-12
lost to Kyle Conel (Kent State), 17-8 (major dec.)
197: Terry Henderson (1-2)
lost to James Empfield (Mercyhurst), 5-4
def. Nigel Toussaint (Gannon), 1-0
lost to Dom Carfagno (Bloomsburg), 6-4
285: Drew Barrett (0-2)
pinned by Samuel Breese (Kent State), 3:21
pinned by Greg Moray (Ohio), 1:09
285: Jackson Price (0-2)
lost to Nicholas Gajdzik (Unattached), 13-4 (major dec.)
lost to Logan Rimmer (Notre Dame), 7-0
285: Tristan Majors (1-2)
def. Brian Lipps (Mercyhurst), 7-0
pinned by Amon Willis (Cleveland State), 1:20
pinned by Payne Hayden (Michigan), 0:51
285: Justin Kozera (3-2)
pinned Chris McDermnd (American), 1:43
def. Logan Rimmer, (Notre Dame), 3-1
lost to Fletcher Miller (Indiana), 13-5 (major dec.)
def. Connor Tolley (Chattanooga), 5-0
lost to Conan Jennings (Northwestern), 3-1
