 |
SAPC wrestling begins season with 13 wins at The Citadel Open
November 4, 2007 CHARLESTON, S.C.—Freshman Eric Brown (Norfolk, Va.) led the St. Andrews Presbyterian College wrestling team with three individual wins at The Citadel Open on Sunday afternoon in a largely NCAA Division I individual tournament to start the 2007/08 season. The Knights, who are only in their second season in NCAA Division II wrestling, had a promising start to the year with seven of their 10 grapplers entered in The Citadel Open picking up victories. Brown, competing in the lightweight division, won his first two bouts of the tourney after red shirting last season. Brown opened up the day with a three minute and 15 second pin against an Appalachian State wrestler. In the quarterfinals, Brown advanced past a Belmont Abbey opponent with a 12-2 major decision. Brown just barely missed advancing to the finals of the 125-pound class by losing a slim 6-4 decision to Virginia’s Wyatt Anderson. Brown bounced back with a 9-3 decision in the wrestleback semi’s but then lost the third place crown in another decision, 8-1. Sophomore Will Harcum (Williamsburg, Va.) started his second season with a 20-8 major decision victory in the 165-lb division. After dropping the next match to a George Mason wrestler, Harcum logged the Knights fastest fall of the tournament with an impressive 20 second pin. Harcum just missed winning a third match losing a 7-3 decision to the top seed in the class from The Citadel. Freshmen Andre Ellerbe (Laurinburg, N.C.) and Eric Fulmer (Glenshaw, Pa.) each tallied a victory in their first collegiate match. In the heavyweight division, Ellerbe advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4 decision against a UNC Pembroke wrestler before being pinned twice. Fulmer started off winning a 4-2 decision against a Central Florida wrestler in the 174-lb class before losing a pair of close decisions by 10-6 and 8-5 scores. After losing his first collegiate match, freshman Casey Gashaw (Laurinburg, N.C.) rebounded with two consecutive victories to advance to the wrestleback semifinals at 133-pounds. Gashaw recorded his first career pin in 5:35 and then gutted out a 12-10 decision to a Citadel grappler. Gashaw was finally eliminated by a 10-3 decision. At 184-pounds, the freshmen duo of Will Hess (Lexington, N.C.) and Jamie Roberts (Wilmington, N.C.) both earned their first collegiate victories after losing in the first round by major decisions. Hess posted his first pin fall in 3:02 over a Pembroke wrestler while Roberts edged a Gardner-Webb entrant with a 13-6 decision. Hess and Roberts were both eliminated in their next trip to the mat. Junior Kyle Craver (Lexington, N.C.) went the distance in both of his matches in the lightweight division but lost each time including a close 4-1 decision to a Central Florida wrestler in his second bout. Freshmen Troy Baranik (Laurinburg, N.C.) and Russell Lindsay II (Whitman, Mass.) both lost their first two collegiate matches. Baranik lost to D-I foes in the 149-pound division from The Citadel and Virginia. Lindsay fell to D-I opponent from Duke in the first round of the 165-lb bracket and then was eliminated by a Spartanburg Methodist grappler. St. Andrews next competes in the UNC Pembroke Wrestling Classic on Saturday, November 10 in Pembroke, N.C. |