"It is exciting get our first win last week and then beat a team in our region," said second year head coach Joe Baranik. St. Andrews, only in its second season of NCAA Division II wrestling, picked up the programs first win a week earlier with a 24-16 victory over the Apprentice School "This was the first time we did not forfeit a weight since I have been there. We got the win with nine freshmen and one senior in the lineup. We still have a lot of work to but I am proud of the team because they work so hard. We have some correctable mistakes that can be easily fixed but we will keep moving forward."
Freshman lightweight Eric Brown (Norfolk, Va.) gave St. Andrews a quick 6-0 lead with a first-period pin over Trojan freshman Nick Moreira (Miami, Fla.). Brown disposed of Moreira with his fastest pin fall of the year just one minute and six seconds into the match. Brown has three pins on the season.
Freshman Casey Gashaw (Laurinburg, N.C.) increased the Knights lead to 9-0 with a 7-4 decision over sophomore Chris Francis (Columbia, S.C.) at the 133-pound ranks. Gashaw's win was his first collegiate dual match win and fourth overall.
"Brown's pin was huge because it gave us momentum for the rest of the match as Gashaw won the next match and it continued down the line," expressed Baranik. "The early wins took the wind out of Anderson's sails as I don not think they thought would go down 9-0."
Anderson fought back and tied the match at 9-9 after the DiCarlo brothers from Covington, Ga., won the next two bouts. Sophomore Anthony DiCarlo posted a 23-6 technical fall at 141-pounds while freshman Nick DiCarlo registered a 13-4 major decision at 149-lbs.
Senior T.J. Selke (Irmo, S.C.) won the third straight contest for the Trojans with a 6-2 decision over freshman Greg Todd (Gloucester, Va.). Selke's win at 157-pounds gave AU a 12-9 team lead at the halfway point.
Freshman 165-pounder Trevor Sanford (Sebastian, Fla.) increased the Trojan lead to 16-9 with a 21-8 major decision over Knights freshman Rickey Flood (Martinville, Va.).
Freshman Eric Fulmer (Glenshaw, Pa.) pulled St. Andrews to within two, 16-14, with his third straight technical fall victory in dual matches to start his collegiate career. Fulmer posted the 16-1 tech fall after receiving riding time as he improved to 3-0 on the season at 174-lbs.
"I got a little nervous after Todd lost, even though it was a close match against a tough opponent, being he is a state champion and his teammates look up to him and thought the losses could continue to snowball," stated Baranik. However, Fulmer came out and got us back in the match with a big win. Fulmer's match started off slow and I thought it was going to end up a close decision but he opened it up. Fulmer was pretty intimidating after he brought the Anderson wrestler up off the mat and then used a double-leg takedown to take control."
St. Andrews catapulted back into the lead, 19-16, with its second straight technical fall. Freshman Will Hess (Lexington, N.C.) stopped the 184-pound showdown just 3:14 into the bout by building an 18-3 lead. Hess' tech fall was his first collegiate dual match victory.
"I did not know how it was going to go in Hess' match being a true freshman but he got us another big win," remarked Baranik. "He came out aggressive and on fire. I see these things in practice but it is another thing to do it in a match. Hess finally did it on the match and I am waiting for the same thing to happen with Flood as they both show talent in practice."
Senior Charles Richardson (Virginia Beach Va.), the only upperclassman in the St. Andrews starting lineup, doubled the Knights lead to 22-16 with his first victory of the season. Richardson gutted out a 7-2 decision over freshman Logan Watson (Lyons, Ga.) for SAPC to give the designated visitors a six-point lead heading into the heavyweight battle.
"Charles is a special kid who is one of the few wrestlers who is still on the team that helped started the program and have been with the program since its foundation," complimented Baranik. "He stuck around and is hardest worker on the team. It was nice to see him fight back to get back into the starting lineup and then get the win."
In the finale, senior Justin Smith (Valdosta, Ga.) edged freshman Andre Ellerbe (Laurinburg, N.C.) with a 6-2 decision to pull the margin of defeat to only three, 22-19.
"Ellerbe did what he had to do to get us the win for the second straight dual match," added Baranik.
"It was a good team match with great team effort and it is nice getting different wrestlers to come through in our two wins. It helps unite the team when everyone contributes. We now have a two week break that we can use to get healed and then start fresh. Timing was good for these wins," concluded Baranik.
St. Andrews will return to the mat after the holiday break and will compete in the Sunshine Open in Lakeland, Florida on Friday and Saturday, December 28-29.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now