January 29, 2011
ByTroy Baranik-Wrestling Team Member

Laurinburg, NC-Senior heavyweight Justin Hoover’s 2 wins were some of the highlights for the St. Andrews wrestlers in a pair of losses to UNC-Pembroke and Shorter University (GA) over the weekend.

St. Andrews honored their 3 seniors on Saturday as Troy Baranik (157), Greg Todd (149) and Hoover took to the mat in their final match in Harris Court.

Junior Eric Brown (125) and sophomore Richard Manwarren (174) were the other two Knights to go 2-0 over the weekend with both winning by pins against Shorter.

The Knights first wrestled the Braves of UNCP, who are ranked No. 6 nationally on Friday night. After some good individual efforts, St. Andrews fell 32-15.

Some highlights of the match include Baranik’s close match at 157 that came down to the last period before he lost by a decision. Manwarren also looked good for the first few minutes with a beautiful throw to put 174 lb. Dennis Fix of UNCP to his back before the Brave had to default via a knee injury. In addition, Hoover’s last minute takedown of heavyweight Seth Stewart gave St. Andrews another bright spot on the night as he won 3-2.

After getting beat by the Braves 47-4 last year, Coach Joe Baranik was pleased with the improvement. “It shows we have made strides in our skills and our depth in our 5 th year of having a program” stated Baranik. “We were without three starters and still made a decent showing.”

St. Andrews (3-12) then concluded their home portion of the schedule, with a matinee honoring seniors, against Shorter U. on Saturday. This dual had close matches throughout with the Knights coming up short (no pun intended) in all of them as they lost a tight one 25-18.

Brown’s third-period fall at 125, Manwarren’s dominating pin at 174, and Hoover’s first period bear hug pin at heavyweight were the lone victories for the Knights.

However, senior Greg Todd, in his final home match, dropped a heartbreaker 6-4 in the last few seconds at 149. Baranik, junior Greg Pattis (184), and junior Josh Price (197) were other Knight wrestlers who dropped close matches on Saturday.

“All in all, I am pleased with their effort on Saturday. If some of those close matches go our way, I think the momentum would have switched and we could have pulled that one out. The boys are continuing to work hard and we hope to finish strong in our last two matches of the season and then qualify a few guys for the NCAA tournament in Nebraska,” stated Coach Joe Baranik.

The Knights return to action this Thursday as they travel to Gaffney, SC to challenge Region 2 foe Limestone College. Action begins at 7pm.

UNC-Pembroke 32, St. Andrews 15

125- Eric Brown (SA) won by forfeit
133- Timdarius Thurston (UNCP) won by tech. fall over Sterling Perry (SA), 23-7
141- Tyquan Easton (UNCP) maj. dec. Matt Fletcher (SA) 14-6
149- Brendan Parker-Risk (UNCP) pinned Ranson Lee (SA) in 5:22
157- Chris Foy (UNCP) dec. Troy Baranik (SA) 13-6
165- Mike Williams (UNCP) won by tech. fall over Caleb Mitcler (SA), 19-1
174- Richard Manwarren (SA) won by inj. def. over Dennis Fix (UNCP)
184- Jordan Ford (UNCP) dec. Greg Pattis (SA) 8-3
197- Shane Nolan (UNCP) pinned Josh Price (SA) in 3:33
285- Justin Hoover (SA) dec. Seth Stewart (UNCP) 3-2

Shorter 25, St. Andrews 18

125- Eric Brown (SA) pinned Adam Perdue (SU) in 5:47
133- Nate Galloway (SU) dec. Chauncey Foster (SA) 13-6
141- Colby Rinehart (SU) maj. dec. Matt Fletcher (SA) 18-6
149- Jesse Miller (SU) dec. Greg Todd (SA) 6-4
157- Robbie Collum (SU) dec. Troy Baranik (SA) 8-3
165- Raleigh Abbott (SU) pinned Ranson Lee (SA) in :37
174- Richard Manwarren (SA) pinned Josh Cook (SU) in 5:00
184- Gunny Hoyt (SU) dec. Greg Pattis (SA) 5-2
197- Joe Hinchman (SU) dec. Josh Price (SA) 3-0
285- Justin Hoover (SA) pinned George Monroe (SU) in 1:35