The wrestling team’s backup and freshmen-filled lineup travelled to Gardner-Webb Wednesday night and struggled in a 22-17 loss to Appalachian State before responding with a 22-16 win over the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs.
‘I was real proud of the way they came back in the second match,’ coach Carter Jordan said. ‘They wrestled a lot tougher and we won.’
State took four of 10 matches against the Mountaineers, winning the first match before dropping the next five, but then finished strong with victories in three of the final four matches during the App. State match.
Winners for the Pack in the App. match were freshmen 141 pounder Dale Shull, heavyweight Eloheim Palma and a pair of sophomores, 125 pounder Mike Moreno and 149 pounder Bobby Ward. Going into the final two bouts of the loss to the Mountaineers, State trailed by 10 points and held out hope for a comeback victory. But sophomore Scott Norris dropped a 4-2 decision at 133 pounds, and Shull’s quick pin at 141 was then irrelevant in terms of the final outcome.
‘Quite frankly, we probably didn’t deserve to win the first dual,’ Jordan said. ‘We didn’t wrestle hard enough or physical enough.’
State responded to the loss to the Mountaineers by taking six of ten bouts from the Bulldogs. All four wrestlers, Shull, Palma, Moreno and Ward, who won against Appalachian also defeated their opposition in the late match against Gardner-Webb. In addition to the four who posted victories against the Mountaineers, Scott Norris and Quinton Godley also won against the Bulldogs. Shull followed up a pin against his opponent from Appalachian State with a 13-0 major decision over Kurt Wentink of Gardner-Webb.
‘My first match I got caught kind of off-guard,’ Shull said. ‘We were scrambling for a while and then I came out on top of that and got the pin. My second match, I felt really good. I didn’t get tired. I was able to keep my feet, going 100 % for the full seven minutes and I overall felt really good.’
Shull said he and his teammates are determined to avoid needing an early loss to motivate them to wrestle with the necessary intensity.
‘It’s bittersweet because we beat Gardner-Webb but we should have beat App,’ Shull said. ‘It took a butt-kicking from Appalachian to wake us up and to make us wrestle well against Gardner-Webb. Our coach [Steve Anceravage] said we should get that mindset before we lose. We shouldn’t have to lose in order to get that mindset. We should have it right away.’
Three wrestlers, senior 149 pounder Darrion Caldwell, junior 133 pounder Darrius Little and freshman 184 pounder Jonathan Becker are out for the season with injuries. Jordan said youth and inexperience are no longer excuses for the guys attempting to fill in for those three lost starters.
‘We still have three guys that have to learn how to win at this level,’ Jordan said. ‘It doesn’t matter that they’re freshmen. What they have to understand is that the bar is not being lowered. It’s still right where it was.’
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