Battlers Open Season with 39-9 Win Over West Virginia Tech
Jonathan Hooke, Sports Information Director, Alderson Broaddus University
From gobattlers.com
November 1, 2016
PHILIPPI, W.Va. The Alderson Broaddus wrestling team finished with three falls and a pair of forfeits in route to a 39-9 season-opening win over West Virginia Tech Tuesday night at Rex Pyles Arena.
"I'm happy with the team score and I'm glad we won," said head coach Sam Gardner following the match. "Winning is always better than losing when it comes to wrestling. That said, there were some matches I feel were a bit too close for comfort. On one hand it was great that we had the guts and fortitude to fight until the end and win at 157, 174, and 197. There were some good kids wrestling against us at those weights, and I knew we'd have to battle to win. Still, we weren't pulling the trigger offensively like I'd hoped. I would have like there to have been a larger margin of victory in those bouts."
In the opening match of the night, Breandan Coughlin got called for an illegal move in the opening period to give Paul Gonzales a 1-0 advantage. After the trainers attended to Gonzales he was unable to come back to wrestle and would win by disqualification to give the Golden Bears a 6-0 advantage.
The Battlers (1-0) would even the score in the 133-pound match when Cody Buchanan jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one and then 6-1 in the second before pinning Denis Robles Gomez in 3:48. In the next two matches, Micah Powell and Zachary Gwinn both would win by forfeit as AB took an 18-6 lead after four weight classes.
In the 157-pound match, Matt Harris jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one but Louis Bernard of West Virginia Tech (0-1) had a takedown in the second to cut the lead to 4-3. In the third period, Bernard recorded another takedown to make it 5-4 but with under 30 seconds left, Harris reversed Bernard to take the 6-5 lead and the match for the 21-6 lead.
Keith Stednitz would finish with the second fall of the night for AB when he led 4-0 in the second before pinning Bryan Overton in 4:56. At 174, Davis Solak jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first before holding on for the 3-2 win to make the score 30-6.
At 184, the No.9 ranked wrestler in the country Cody Spinks led Will Van Hoose 8-1 after one period and then had a quick takedown in the second to push the lead to 10-1 before earning the fall 31 seconds into the second for the 36-6 lead and the third pin of the night.
"Having three of our seniors score falls (four if you count Stoney's exhibition match) was huge for the team score and huge for the program," said Gardner. "Each guy has their own way of getting the job done, and we work hard to get to those positions where the odds of scoring are more favorable for us. Spinks looked like he has taken right up where he left off last year. Bucky showed some good athleticism out there, turning when he needed to. Keith is just relentless in the top position. He will make your night miserable if given the chance to ride you. We need to continue that and extend it up and down the line-up if we want to reach our goals."
To close out the evening, Jake Bennett won a tough battle at 197 over Terry Nance 3-2 after taking a late lead in the final set. In the heavyweight matchup, Brady Estrep led 1-0 after two periods before Jason Wainright had an escape and quick takedown in the third to go up 3-1 before holding on for the 3-2 victory for the Golden Bears.
At the beginning of the match, the two teams wrestled a pair of exhibition matches with each team winning a bout. In the opening match, Corey Palmer defeated Charles Gamble of AB 3-0 before Stoney Helmick recorded a fall in just 55 seconds over Giovane Lins.
"It is always nice to see the guys from Tech," said Gardner who previously coached for the Golden Bears. "They are a good bunch of kids. To be able to compete hard against them, and then spend some time afterwards eating together and laughing is a great thing for both teams I believe. Roasting a whole hog is time consuming and labor intensive, but it made for a really fun night."
The Battlers return to action November 10th when they travel to compete against Wheeling Jesuit.
Exhibition Matches
Giovane Lins (WVT) vs. Stoney Helmick (ABU) (Helmick wbf 2:25)
Corey Palmer (WVT) vs. Charles Gamble (ABU) (Palmer wbd 3-0)
Match Results
125: Paul Gonzales (WVT) vs. Breandan Coughlin (ABU) (Gonzales (WVT) won by injury default)
133: Denis Robles Gomez (WVT) vs. Cody Buchanan (Buchanan (ABU) wbf at 3:48)
141: Micah Powell (ABU) wins by forfeit (Powell (ABU) wins by forfeit)
149: Zach Gwinn (ABU) wins by forfeit (Gwinn (ABU) wins by forfeit)
157: Louis Bernard (WVT) vs. Matt Harris (ABU) (Harris (ABU) wbd 6-5)
165: Bryan Overton (WVT) vs. Keith Stednitz (ABU) (Stednitz (ABU) wbf 4:55)
174: Colton Rowe (WVT) vs. Davis Solak (ABU) (Solak (ABU) wbd 3-2)
184: Will Van Hoose (WVT) vs. Cody Spinks (ABU) (Spinks (ABU) wbf 3:31)
197: Terry Nance (WVT) vs. Jake Bennett (ABU) (Bennett (ABU) wbd 3-2)
285: Jason Wainright (WVT) vs. Brady Estep (ABU) (Wainright (WBT) wbd 5-2)
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