William Penn Splits Pair of Heart Duals
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen men’s wrestling squad took to the mat for the first time in over a month, facing off with two Heart of America Athletic Conference foes in dual-meet action Tuesday.
WPU (6-2, 2-1 Heart) opened the evening with a 50-3 win over Waldorf, but failed to pull an upset with a 32-21 loss to #9 Graceland.
Competing at home for the first time this season, the navy and gold dispatched the under-manned Warriors (0-2, 0-2 Heart) with ease, including recording four falls.
Nadhelo Charles-Pierre (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Sports Management) started things off by slipping past Arie Reyes 5-2 at 125 pounds.
WU then knotted it up at 133 before Darian Diaz (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla., Sociology) gave his team the lead for good with a forfeit at 141 pounds.
The remainder of the match was all William Penn, beginning with 149-pounder Joe Eads (Jr., Morrison, Ill., Biology) pinning Itai-Hod-Tuszynski in only 53 seconds. 157-pounder Cameron Hargrove (Fr., Bolingbrook, Ill., Undecided) thoroughly dominated Anthony Salvo to the tune of an 18-2 technical fall to make it 20-3.
Makail Stanley (Fr., Orena, Ill., Biology), at 165 pounds, and Steven Skewes (Fr., Duchesne, Utah, Exercise Science), at 174 pounds, each earned forfeits, while Ross Via (Fr., Rural Retreat, Va., Biology) won by fall over Christian Martinez in 3:24 at 184 pounds.
197-pounder Dylan Comstock (Jr., New Sharon, Iowa, Business Management & General Accounting) collected a pin in 4:55 over Cole Litteken, and Branson Bottorf (Fr., Mackinaw, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) finished off Donte Wood in 4:25 at 285 pounds.
“I thought our guys wrestled really well against Waldorf,” Head Coach Aron Scott said. “We were aggressive and pushed to get a lot of bonus-point wins.”
The Yellowjackets (6-1, 2-1 Heart) were a much different opponent unfortunately, jumping out to a 12-0 advantage after the first two weights.
Diaz then turned the tide a bit by holding off Zack Wicks 3-2. Eads had some early trouble with Colby Wilken, but figured it out quickly to post a fall in a time of 1:51.
Hargrove nearly notched a signature win, narrowly falling 6-5 to #12 Israel Casarez.
Following a setback at 165 pounds, Stanley wrestled up two weights and posted a pin of Mark Leija in 2:26.
GU then flexed its muscle at 184 (Brennan Swafford is ranked #1 at 174 pounds) and 197 (Drew Sams is #3 at 184 pounds) and put the dual meet out of reach.
Bottorff allowed the Statesmen to have the last laugh, however, as he rallied and eventually pinned #14 Dalton Sell in 4:14.
“Although we lost, I think we showed we are making up ground on the top teams,” Scott said. “Had a few moments gone our way, it could have been a different story. It is always tough coming out of break, but our guys wrestled well and we look forward to improving our next time out.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Atchison, Kan. next Tuesday to face Benedictine in a Heart dual at 7 p.m.
William Penn 50
Waldorf 3
125–Nadhelo Charles-Pierre (WP) won by decision over Arie Reyes, 5-2 (3-0)
133–Alfredo Moreno (WAL) won by decision over Sean Inswasty, 7-2 (3-3)
141–Darian Diaz (WP) won by forfeit (9-3)
149–Joe Eads (WP) won by fall over Itai Hod-Tuszynski, 0:53 (15-3)
157–Cameron Hargrove (WP) won by technical fall over Anthony Salvo, 18-2 (20-3)
165–Makail Stanley (WP) won by forfeit (26-3)
174–Steven Skewes (WP) won by forfeit (32-3)
184–Ross Via (WP) won by fall over Christian Martinez, 3:24 (38-3)
197–Dylan Comstock (WP) won by fall over Cole Litteken, 4:55 (44-3)
285–Branson Bottorff (WP) won by fall over Donte Wood, 4:25 (50-3)
Graceland 32
William Penn 21
125–Joseph Lupton (G) won by fall over Nadhelo Charles-Pierre, 6:55 (0-6)
133–Xaiver Sampsel (G) won by fall over Sean Inswasty, 1:54 (0-12)
141–Darian Diaz (W) won by decision over Zack Wicks, 3-2 (3-12)
149–Joe Eads (W) won by fall over Colby Wilken, 1:51 (9-12)
157–Israel Casarez (G) won by decision over Cameron Hargrove, 6-5 (15-9)
165–Robert Denny (G) won by fall over Steven Skewes, 0:45 (9-21)
174–Makail Stanley (W) won by fall over Mark Leija, 2:26 (15-21)
184–Brennan Swafford (G) won by fall over Ross Via, 1:28 (15-27)
197–Drew Sams (G) won by technical fall over Dylan Comstock, 16-0 (15-32)
285–Branson Bottorff (W) won by fall over Dalton Sell, 4:14 (21-32)
