BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb scored bonus points in three of its first six bouts Friday night and cruised to a 35-6 Southern Conference win over SIU Edwardsville in the 2015-2016 home opener in Paul Porter Arena.

The Runnin' Bulldogs (3-4, 2-0 SoCon) will travel to preseason favorite Chattanooga next Friday for another key SoCon dual (7:00 pm).

The match started well for the 'Dogs at 165 pounds, with Austin Trott jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead over Nate Higgins. A four-point near fall early in the second period effectively put the bout out of reach, and Trott cruised to a 15-9 victory.

Brett Stein followed with a dominant first period at 174, taking a 12-2 lead after the first period – with a near fall aiding that effort in the final minute. Stein pulled away in the second period and ended the match with another near fall – which resulted in a 18-3 technical fall victory.

The match continued to trend in Gardner-Webb's favor at 184 pounds, as 2013 NCAA qualifier Hunter Gamble methodically put away Derek Nagle, pinning the Cougars' grappler with 50 seconds remaining in the bout to push GWU's team lead to 14-0.

Jake Tindle got the Cougars on the board with an 8-4 win over Gray Jones at 197 pounds to snap Gardner-Webb's early streak.

Boyce Cornwell put Gardner-Webb back in the win column at 285 pounds, outlasting Chris Johnson in a tight match. Cornwell led 6-5 late in the third period, and registered a takedown with 17 seconds on the clock for the final 8-5 margin. Cornwell improved to 15-4 overall on the season (2-0 SoCon) and 7-0 in dual competition.

Cortez Starkes fell behind very early at 125 pounds, but rallied just as quickly and put the pedal down in the final 10 seconds of the second period – recording eight points on a pair of four-point near falls. Starkes added another near fall midway through the third period to end the match with Gardner-Webb's second technical fall win of the night.

Tyler Ziegler opened up a lead in the second period at 133 pounds and held off a late rally by Dakota Leach to take a 7-5 decision and push Gardner-Webb's team lead to an insurmountable 25-3 with three bouts remaining on the card.

SIU Edwardsville captured a win at 141 pounds – a 13-7 decision by John Muldoon over Ryan Hull – but a forfeit win for Gardner-Webb at 149 pounds and a major decision at 157 pounds for Chris Vassar capped a fine night for the Runnin' Bulldogs.

TEAM SCORE: GWU 35, SIUE 6
165 – Austin Trott (GW) dec. over Nate Higgins (SIUE) – 15-9 (3-0)
174 – Brett Stein (GW) tech. fall over Clayton Bass (SIUE) – 18-3 (8-0)
184 – Hunter Gamble (GW) pinned Derek Nagle (SIUE) – 6:10 (14-0)
197 – Jake Tindle (SIUE) dec. over Gray Jones (GW) – 8-4 (14-3)
285 – Boyce Cornwell (GW) vs. Chris Johnson (SIUE) – 8-5 (17-3)
125 – Cortez Starkes (GW) tech. fall over Joe Antonelli (SIUE) – 19-3 (22-3)
133 – Tyler Ziegler (GW) dec. over Dakota Leach (SIUE) – 7-5 (25-3)
141 – John Muldoon (SIUE) dec. over Ryan Hull (GW) – 13-7 (25-6)
149 – Ryan Mosley (GW) win by forfeit – (31-6)
157 – Chris Vassar (GW) major dec. over Erik Travers (SIUE) – 10-2 (35-6)