The Citadel Bulldogs 26-27 Wrestling Season Thread

[romeo07]

Last year there was mention about following a SOCON team on this site and I mentioned that I would share my school's annual wrestling thread here, so this will essentially be a cut-and-paste from that forum. So without further ado...

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Well guys and gals, the 26-27 officially dropped so it's time to start the annual wrestling season thread.
 
This season will mark the first under new Head Coach Timmy McCall and will essentially be a complete overhaul. On staff with McCall is the lone returning coach from the LeBlanc era Jacob Sartorio and new hire Kegan Calkins.
 
The line up will also look very different this year as Thomas Snipes (165) and Carson DesRosier (149) both opted to spend their last year of eligibility in Binghamton with their former coaches, Adam Ortega (197) transferred back home to Gannon for his grad year, George Rosas (141) graduated, Kyrel Leavell (157) transferred to Little Rock and Christian Bell (HWT) transferred to Oklahoma City.
 
Without any hesitation I can say that this is by far the most challenging dual schedule the Bulldogs have faced. Our out of conference schedule includes 5 Power Four schools and 3 duals against top #30 preseason ranked institutions according to Intermat, with the highest being 4th ranked Virginia Tech.
 
Additionally, we will have being hosting #21 Illinois in McAlister field house, marking the second consecutive year a team from the premier wrestling conference in the United States (Big Ten) has visited The Citadel.
 
Also changing this year will be tickets. The Citadel has finally opted to charge admission to wrestling duals, allowing the team to contribute to revenue outside of the few opportunities they previously had. Personally I think this is a great move and shows commitment from the athletic department to invest in the sport.
 
I'm very excited to see how our team competes this year against the tougher competition along with the other contributing factors. So far I've been nothing but impressed with Coach McCall and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he can do with this squad.
 
Below is the full schedule:
 
1/07/26 Purdue (Big Ten) @ The Citadel [Throwdown on the Yorktown]
11/07/26 Air Force (Pac-12) @ The Citadel [Throwdown on the Yorktown]
11/14/26 Illinois (#21 Big Ten) @ The Citadel
11/19/26 The Citadel @ Virginia Tech (#4 ACC)
12/12/26 Rider vs The Citadel [Michigan State Tri-meet]
12/12/26 The Citadel vs Michigan State (Big Ten) [Michigan State Tri-meet]
01/01/27 Southern Scuffle
01/08/27 Gardner-Webb @ The Citadel
01/10/27 Appalachian State @ The Citadel
01/16/27 North Dakota State (Pac-12) vs The Citadel [Davidson Duals]
01/16/27 Utah Valley (Big 12) vs The Citadel [Davidson Duals]
01/22/27 Chattanooga @ The Citadel
01/29/27 Presbyterian @ The Citadel
01/31/27 Campbell @ The Citadel
02/07/27 The Citadel @ Army West Point (#29)
02/12/27 The Citadel @ Davidson
02/14/27 The Citadel @ Bellarmine
02/19/27 The Citadel @ VMI
03/05/27 SoCon Championships
03/18/27 NCAA Championships

[SCWrestlingCoach]

Do you have a projected line-up?

 

[romeo07]

As of right now this is what I'm thinking, but we'll know more after wrestleoffs on 10/28. Middleweights are most likely to change.

125: Gylon Sims

133: Teegan Vasquez

141: Presley Johnson

149: Tommy Johnson

157: Hayden Watson

165: Parker Kearns

174: Jacob Silka

184: Brodie Porter

197: Gunnar DeGroat

HWT: Mason Ayers

[ScottishSteel]

SoCon website once published a SoCon wrestling tourney preview I wrote; I've long found joy in the wrestling in that conference.  I won't claim any specific team for fanhood but rather genuinely want them all to have success.

[romeo07]

It looks like the roster has been completely updated at this point to include the previously unlisted walkons, so here's a list of the fresh faces to Bulldog wrestling this year. Wrestle-offs will be held Oct 28th in McAlister Field House.

Incoming Freshmen (knobs):

A.J. DeLaCruz (Westminster, SC) - 126
2026 SC 3A Wrestler of the Year
3x South Carolina State Champion (1st - Sr, 1st - Jr, 3rd - So, 1st - Fr)

Tallon Widrick (Davenport, Fl) - 141

John Adams (James Island, SC) - 157

Shane Davis (San Antonio, TX) - 157

Abram Davidson (Tolono, IL) - 165
2x Illinois State Qualifier
 
Jacob Cole (Rossville, IN) - 174
1x Indiana State Placer (7th - Sr, qualified - Jr)

Eric Goss (Myrtle Beach, SC) - 174

Andrew Meadows (Pilot Mountain, NC) - 174
3x North Carolina State Champion (1st - Sr, 1st - Jr, 1st - So, 5th - Fr)

Copeland Grooms (James Island, SC) - 184
3x South Carolina State Placer (2nd - Sr, 3rd - Jr, 3rd - So)

Dominic Hittepole (Trinity, NC) - 184
2x North Carolina State Champion (1st - Sr, 1st - Jr, 2nd - So, 4th - Fr)

Kevin Summers (Beaufort, SC) - 184
2x South Carolina State Placer (4th - Sr, 4th - Jr)
 
Mikey Portante (Boone, NC) - 197
1x North Carolina State Qualifier (1st - Sr, 1st - Jr, 2nd - So, 4th - Fr)

Cyrus 'CJ' McCoy (Newton, GA) - HWT
1x Georgia State Qualifier

Sophomore Additions:
 
Henry Gessford (Centreville, Md) - 149
3x Maryland Independent State Placer (3rd - Sr, 3rd - Jr, 4th - So)

Ali Jenkins Jr (Beaufort, SC) - 174
2x South Carolina State Placer (3rd - Sr, 4th - Jr)

 

Edited October 14 by romeo07

[romeo07]

Citadel Wrestle-Off Finals are in the books. Next stop, the USS Yorktown.

125: Sims over Cherichello

133: Vasquez over Wright

141: P. Johnson over Widrick

149: T. Johnson over Gessford

157: Silka over Campbell

165: Meadows over Kearns (OT)

174: Hendricks over Russell (OT)

184: Porter over Hittepole

197: Ayers over Grooms

HWT: Peterson over Dadey