Wrestling Opens Action at the Citrus Invitational
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Falcons soaked up the Citrus Invitational on Thursday will 11 wrestlers competing against some of the best in the nation. In a field filled with three teams in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Top-25 Rankings, the Falcons finished the day in 12th place as a team with 44.5 points. No.2-ranked Augsburg leads the competition with 113 points. The Falcons advanced two wrestlers into Friday and secured 19 victories on the day.
Senior Val Kochiu (Oak Creek, Wis.) posted a 4-1 day at 149 pounds. He opened the morning with a fall at 3:39 against Colin Neal of Roanoke. He then cruised past Castleton's Cyr with an 11-8 decision and secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a 5-4 decision over Jacob Ramirez of Cornell. Jake Piccirilli of UNC Pembroke picked up a 15-6 major decision. Kochiu matched up against Landon Card in the consolation bracket and secured a 7-3 decision over Card. He will face Elijah Cyr of Castleton again on Friday.
At 285 pounds, senior Dalton Sell (Muscatine, Iowa) secured a fall against Landen Schemmell of Cornell at 4:28 and a 9-3 decision over Ryan Walker of UNC Pembroke to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals action, Jefferey Allen of Liberty edged Sell by a 5-2 decision. A forfeit from Josh Mancia of Roanoke advanced Sell into Friday. Sell will face Abbas Abdulrahman of Castleton on Friday.
Sophomore Devin Gore (Plymouth, Wis.) picked up a pair of victories on Thursday to start the competition in the 125-pound bracket. He started the day with a 3-1 sudden victory over David Yeh of Williams and then picked up a 5-1 decision over Cristian DiBlasi of New York University. In the quarterfinals, Gavin Bradley of Castleton recorded a fall at 2:22. In the consolation bracket, Gore was nipped with a 3-1 sudden victory against Shelton Chastain of the University of the Ozarks.
Senior Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) also posted a 3-2 day in the Sunshine State in the 157-pound class. He stopped Taylor Stearns of Castleton with a fall at 1:28 and then posted a 6-1 decision against Ryan Foutz of Roanoke. In the quarterfinals, No. 2 Tyler Shilson of Augsburg had a 19-0 technical fall. O'Donnell then withdrew from the consolation finals.
Junior Jonathan Pullen (Joliet, Ill.) participated in the 174-pound bracket on Thursday. Josh Epperly picked up an 8-6 sudden victory in the day's first bout. Pullen bounced back in the consolation bracket with a fall at 4:58 against Finn Eskeland of New York University. Logan Hoffman of UNC-Pembroke could not handle Pullen as the Illinois native earned a 17-8 major decision to advance to face Jacob Sherzer of Cornell. Sherzer secured a 6-1 decision to advance.
In the 133-pound bracket, junior Emilio Acosta (El Paso, Texas) started the day falling at 1:38 against Sean Hall of Roanoke. In the consolation bracket, he started the action with a fall at 5:25 against Christian Diaz of Cornell before Omar Corrales of St. Thomas notched a 3-2 decision.
The 141-pound bracket saw a pair of Falcons fall in their opening bouts. Freshman Frank Budederi (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) had a fall at 2:46 against Anthony Santagata of John Carroll. Naikoa Simao of Schreiner had a 13-6 decision over senior Gabe Rodriguez (Las Vegas, Nev.). Rodriguez then bounced back in the consolation bracket with a fall against Vito Rodriguez of Castleton at 1:59. Josh Feliz of UNC-Pembroke then finished Rodriguez with a 17-5 major decision. Carter Fecht of Cornell knocked off Budederi in the consolation bracket with a fall at 3:31.
Senior Carson Cook (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Bryce Claypool (Morris, Ill.) competed for Concordia in the 165-pound bracket on Thursday. Cook fell at 5:44 to David Over of Liberty and Claypool fell to John Ward of the University of the Ozarks at 1:38. In the consolation bracket, Claypool picked up a sudden victory at 3-1 over Levi Slaydon of Schreiner before a fall at 0:43 against the University of the Ozarks' Zane Sims. Cook claimed a fall at 3:29 against Bradley Sigmon of Ferrum and then came up short with a 10-4 decision against Joseph Olalde of Ferrum.
Senior Alexandros Alexiades (Oswego, Ill.) opened the day in the 184-pound bracket with a 14-6 major decision against Camilo Gil of St. Thomas. Ben Gilbertson of St. John's Minnesota later advanced with a 16-0 technical fall. Stefan Farian of John Carroll then picked up an 18-3 technical fall in the consolation bracket.
The Falcons will be back in action again on Friday in Florida.
