BOONE, N.C. – Gardner-Webb redshirt-senior Tyler Marinelli earned a second consecutive bid to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, taking home the 165-pound weight class title at the 2019 Southern Conference Wrestling Championships.
 
Gardner-Webb finished fifth overall in the final team standings, scoring 24.5 team points.
 
Marinelli cruised to 165-pound title, blanking both opponents to become the first Gardner-Webb wrestler to win two SoCon individual championships. 
 
In the semifinals, Marinelli outworked The Citadel's Dazjon Casto, 3-0, and in the finals, Marinelli defeated Appalachian State's Micheal Elliott by an 8-0 major decision.
 
Kyle Homet brought home a third-place finish at 174 pounds for the Runnin' Bulldogs.  After defeating Hunter Fortner of Chattanooga by a 10-4 decision in the opening round, he would fall in the semifinals to VMI's Neal Richards by a 23-8 tech fall.  Homet fought back in the consolation rounds, picking up two straight wins, including an overtime sudden victory over Appalachian State's Thomas Flitz in the third-place match.
 
At 141 pounds, Blake Mulkey placed fourth overall.  Mulkey picked up a 6-2 decision over VMI'd Dom Gallo in the opening round, but would drop a narrow 3-2 decision to Chris Debien of Chattanooga in the semifinals.  In his first consolation bout, Mulkey downed Davidson's Caleb Ziebell by a 17-3 major decision, but would take another tight 3-2 loss in the third-place match to Campbell's Nathan Boston.
 
Also picking up match wins today were Anthony Perrine at 197 pounds and Chase McKinney at 149 pounds.
 
 
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

133: Brandon Bright (0-2)
Jake Huffine (Chattanooga) def. Brandon Bright (GWU) Dec. 4-2
Kule Gorant (Davidson) def. Brandon Bright (GWU) Dec. 9-2
 
141: Blake Mulkey (2-2)
Blake Mulkey (GWU) def. Dom Gallo (VMI) Dec. 6-2
Chris Debien (Chattanooga) def. Blake Mulkey (GWU) Dec. 3-2
Blake Mulkey (GWU) def. Caleb Ziebell (Davidson) MD 17-3
Nathan Boston (Campbell) def. Blake Mulkey (GWU) Dec. 3-2
 
149: Chase McKinney (1-2)
Tanner Smith (Chattanooga) def. Chase McKinney (GWU) MD 12-2
Chase McKinney (GWU) def. Zach Schmitt (VMI) Dec. 4-3
Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) def. Chase McKinney (GWU) Dec. 5-2
 
157: Evan Schenk (0-2)
Angel Najar (App State) def. Evan Schenk (GWU) Dec. 6-0
Rian Burris (The Citadel) def. Evan Schenk (GWU) Dec. 5-2
 
165: Tyler Marinelli (2-0)
Tyler Marinelli (GWU) def. Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) Dec. 3-0
Tyler Marinelli (GWU) def. Micheal Elliott (App State) MD 8-0
 
174: Kyle Homet (3-1)
Kyle Homet (GWU) def. Hunter Fortner (Chattanooga) Dec. 10-4
Neal Richards (VMI) def. Kyle Homet (GWU) TF 23-8 7:00
Kyle Homet (GWU) def. Kyle Kretzer (The Citadel) MD 18-10
Kyle Homet (GWU) def. Thomas Flitz (App State) SV-1 6-4
 
184: Nathaniel Kale (0-2)
Chris Kober (Campbell) def. Nathaniel Kale (GWU) Fall 0:30
Martin Duane (The Citadel) def. Nathaniel Kale (GWU) TF 20-4 4:40
 
197: Anthony Perrine (1-2)
Anthony Perrine (GW) def. Chris Beck (VMI) Dec. 2-1
Sawyer Root (The Citadel) def. Anthony Perrine (GWU) SV-1 4-2
Austin McNeil (Campbell) def. Anthony Perrine (GWU) Dec. 6-4
 
285: JT Trautman (0-2)
Odgerel Batkhishig (Campbell) def. JT Trautman (GWU) Fall 1:22
Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) def. JT Trautman (GWU) MD 17-7