Welcome to St. Andrews Presbyterian College

November 10, 2007

Results

PEMBROKE, N.C.—The freshmen quintet of Eric Brown (Norfolk, Va.), Alejandro Soto-Perez (Laurinburg, N.C.), Russell Lindsay II (Whitman, Mass.), Evan Rudisill (Raleigh, N.C.), and Casey Gashaw (Laurinburg, N.C.) account for all eight of the St. Andrews Presbyterian College wins at the 2007 UNC Pembroke Wrestling Classic in the English E. Jones Center on Saturday.

Soto-Perez and Brown were the only two Knights to win their first two matches of the large individual tournament to reach the round of 16 in their respective weight classes.

In his first collegiate competition, Soto-Perez started off his career with two impressive wins at 141-pounds including a first round pin in the opener against a Longwood wrestler in just 1:57. Soto-Perez followed with an 11-2 major decision over a Spartanburg Methodist grappler in the next round. Soto-Perez was finally defeated in the round of 16, when paired up against the No. 4 seed from Division I George Mason. Soto-Perez was then eliminated from competition with a close 5-2 loss to a University of the Cumberlands entrant.

Brown, a lightweight redshirt freshman, doubled his win total on the season to six victories with three more wins on Saturday. Brown blasted past his first two foes with a 12-4 major and 10-3 decision before losing to the No. 3 seed in the ‘Sweet 16’. Brown rebounded in the wrestleback competition with his second fall of the season. Brown pinned a King College wrestler with his fastest time of the season, 1:27. Brown was finally ousted by a D-I grappler from Gardner-Webb.

Rudisill, also in the 125-lb division, garnered his first collegiate victory by forfeit. In a close bout in the next round, Rudisill was edged 2-0 by the No. 7 seed, a D-I wrestler from Virginia Military Institute.

Gashaw picked up his third win of the season at 133-pounds with an opening round pin fall. His second pin of the season against a Cumberland wrestler was in his fastest time of 4 minutes and 44 seconds. Gashaw was then beaten twice by decisions. Gashaw was defeated 9-3 by the No. 5 seed and then eliminated 9-4 from a VMI grappler.

Lindsay was the fifth Knight to post a victory on Saturday, when he gutted out a 4-2 decision at 157-lbs in his first trip to the mat on the day. Lindsay, whose win was his first of his collegiate career, was then defeated by the No. 7 seed. Freshman Cornelius Williams (Raleigh, N.C.) made his collegiate debut in a SAPC singlet in the same 157-lb class but dropped both of his contests by 8-2 and 12-0 scores.

Looking for his first collegiate win, freshman Troy Baranik (Laurinburg, N.C.) just missed out by dropping a couple close battles at 149-pounds by 8-4 and 7-4 scores. Junior lightweight Kyle Craver (Lexington, N.C.) also was eliminated in two close decisions by 8-3 and 5-2 scores.

Senior Charles Richardson (Virginia Beach, Va.), who is still learning to wrestle at a much lighter weight after competing as a heavyweight last season, was defeated in the first round of the 197-lb bracket by the closest of margins, 2-1, and then eliminated by a D-I grappler from Florida. Sophomore DJ Chverchko (Loretto, Pa.) had an unlucky draw at 174-pounds and was pinned in the first round by Gardner-Webb wrestler.

Redshirt freshman heavyweight Kevin Gray (Glenshaw, Pa.), who wrestled unattached, bounced back from an opening 9-2 loss with his first collegiate win by pin fall. Gray recorded his first pin at 1:19 of the first round before being eliminated by a close 3-1 decision.

St. Andrews will next gear up for its first dual match of the season when they host Limestone College on Tuesday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m.