Wrestling Earns Five Individual Champions at Panther Open
February 4, 2017
FERRUM, Va. – The Alderson Broaddus wrestling team had a strong-showing at the Panther Open finishing with five individual champions on Saturday at Ferrum College.
"This was a small tournament, but I'm pleased with the results over all," said head coach Sam Gardner. "We were forced to face some difficult situations, and we had to come from behind a few times today. You love it when your guys just go out there and dominate, and a few of our guys did that today. You also like to see how the guys react when they are tested, when they are behind late in a match. A number of times today we were faced with that situation, and we were able to rise to the occasion and overcome those late deficits."
The first champion of the day came at 125 pounds when Breandan Coughlin earned a first-period pin over Ben Doll of Penn College in the championship. At 141 pounds, Micah Powell won the individual bout with a 34-second pin over Zach Fitzsimmons from Penn in the finals.
"At 125 Breandan showed us glimpses of the skills and talent we know he possesses," said Gardner. "If he's going to be building momentum, this is the right time of year to do it. Micah had a small weight, and his finals opponent forfeited to him. But he came to compete and showed his mettle in his semi-final bout. He's won his second tournament in a row, and he's been really wrestling well as of late."
Zachary Gwinn earned a pair of decisions to win the title at 149 pounds as he won 11-6 in his first match and then topped Amir Harper from Ferrum 6-5.
"Zach Gwinn looked excellent on his feet today on his way to the finals," said Gardner. "In the final he used a last second reversal to take the victory. He made a tactical error in the third period that put him behind, but he never stopped wrestling and came out on top. I'm really proud of him."
Winning the final two championship victories of the day was Jason West at 157 with three victories including a pin in the finals while Keith Stednitz had a pair of tight matches in the first two rounds before earning a 14-2 major decision win over Darian Edwards from Southern Virginia in the finals.
"Jason West rolled to his third tournament title of the season," said Gardner. "He scored bonus points in every match he wrestled. In the finals he saved his best performance for last and scored a sweet pin on the edge of the mat in the first period. Keith had an interesting day. He won, and was dominant in the finals, but he said he didn't feel sharp throughout the day. We talked about how if you can win wrestling matches, win a tournament, when you aren't feeling and wrestling your very best, that's not a terrible thing. It is way easier to compete and win when you feel great. It takes heart and guts to fight through tough bouts when you aren't firing on all cylinders. today he displayed heart and guts and I'm proud of him."
Also capping off place finishes for AB at the Panther Open was Davis Solak and Sam Solomon at 184 pounds. Solak earned a pin in the semifinals before falling to Max Baker from Ferrum 8-4 in the finals to place second. Solomon lost his semifinal match before winning back-to-back matches in the consolation round to take third.
"Davis and Sam were both pretty good at 174," Gardner said. "They both lost close matches to a very good wrestler from Ferrum today. In their other matches they were excellent. They were aggressive and physical and pursued bonus points non-stop."
The Battlers will return to action next Sunday when they travel to Penn State University to compete in the USCAA National Invitational held at Rec Hall.
Panther Open Results for Alderson Broaddus
Open 125 - Breandan Coughlin's place is 1st and has scored 14.00 team points.
Round 1 - Breandan Coughlin (Alderson Broaddus) won by disqualification over Chase Andrus (Penn College) (DQ)
Round 2 - Breandan Coughlin (Alderson Broaddus) received a bye () (Bye)
Round 3 - Breandan Coughlin (Alderson Broaddus) won by fall over Ben Doll (Penn College) (Fall 2:42)
Open 141 - Micah Powell's place is 1st and has scored 12.00 team points.
Round 1 - Micah Powell (Alderson Broaddus) received a bye () (Bye)
Round 2 - Micah Powell (Alderson Broaddus) won by fall over Zach Fitzsimmons (Penn College) (Fall 0:34)
Round 3 - Micah Powell (Alderson Broaddus) received a bye () (Bye)
Open 149 - Zach Gwinn's place is 1st and has scored 13.00 team points.
Round 1 - Zach Gwinn (Alderson Broaddus) won by decision over Cole Dillard (Ferrum College) (Dec 11-6)
Round 2 - Zach Gwinn (Alderson Broaddus) won by decision over Amir Harper (Ferrum College) (Dec 6-5)
Round 3 - Zach Gwinn (Alderson Broaddus) won by forfeit over Matt Harris (Alderson Broaddus) (FF)
Open 149 - Matt Harris's place is 4th and has scored 2.00 team points.
Round 1 - Amir Harper (Ferrum College) won by major decision over Matt Harris (Alderson Broaddus) (Maj 16-4)
Round 2 - Cole Dillard (Ferrum College) won by forfeit over Matt Harris (Alderson Broaddus) (FF)
Round 3 - Zach Gwinn (Alderson Broaddus) won by forfeit over Matt Harris (Alderson Broaddus) (FF)
Open 157 - Jason West's place is 1st and has scored 18.50 team points.
Quarterfinal - Jason West (Alderson Broaddus) won by tech fall over Mitch Barney (Southern Virginia University) (TF 15-0)
Semifinal - Jason West (Alderson Broaddus) won by major decision over June Otey (Unattached) (Maj 15-6)
1st Place Match - Jason West (Alderson Broaddus) won by fall over Logan Armstrong (Ferrum College) (Fall 2:31)
Open 165 - Keith Stednitz's place is 1st and has scored 16.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Keith Stednitz (Alderson Broaddus) won by decision over Clifford Harrison (Ferrum College) (Dec 14-8)
Semifinal - Keith Stednitz (Alderson Broaddus) won by decision over Jared Watts (Southern Virginia University) (Dec 8-4)
1st Place Match - Keith Stednitz (Alderson Broaddus) won by major decision over Darian Edwards (Ferrum College) (Maj 14-2)
Open 174 - Sam Solomon's place is 3rd and has scored 13.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Sam Solomon (Alderson Broaddus) received a bye () (Bye)
Semifinal - Max Baker (Ferrum College) won by decision over Sam Solomon (Alderson Broaddus) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Semi - Sam Solomon (Alderson Broaddus) won by tech fall over Pablo Zanistanavicius (Ferrum College) (TF 18-2)
3rd Place Match - Sam Solomon (Alderson Broaddus) won by fall over Rhett Honeycutt (Southern Virginia University) (Fall 2:07)
Open 174 - Davis Solak's place is 2nd and has scored 15.00 team points.
Quarterfinal - Davis Solak (Alderson Broaddus) won by major decision over Pablo Zanistanavicius (Ferrum College) (Maj 13-0)
Semifinal - Davis Solak (Alderson Broaddus) won by fall over Rhett Honeycutt (Southern Virginia University) (Fall 3:37)
1st Place Match - Max Baker (Ferrum College) won by decision over Davis Solak (Alderson Broaddus) (Dec 8-4)
Open 285 - Dalton Smith's place is unknown and has scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Dalton Smith (Alderson Broaddus) received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Alex Brunner (Southern Virginia University) won by decision over Dalton Smith (Alderson Broaddus) (Dec 5-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Sean Alberts (Bridgewater College) won by decision over Dalton Smith (Alderson Broaddus) (Dec 9-5)
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