Pembroke, N.C. The Citadel grapplers recorded nine major decisions, two tech falls and nine pins, with the fastest coming in 33 seconds, adding up to 30 bonus points during the wrestling action at the UNC Pembroke Open. The Bulldogs place six, including two second, two third, one fourth and one fifth place finish. Keith Koziel, Aaron Brown, Michael Arias and Justin Sparrow all recorded only one loss on the day.
125-pound Bulldog freshman, Paul Sanford, placed for the second week in a row in open tournament action. No. 6 seed, Sanford, recorded wins in the first three rounds of competition with decisions over John Erickson of King College and Tommy Bennett of Gardner-Webb and a 17-6 major decision over Carson-Newman's No. 3 seed Kody Pierson in the championship quarter-finals. After two very close losses to the No. 2 and No. 5 seed respectively, Sanford pinned the No. 7 seed Jeremy Adams of VMI in 1:46, en route to a fifth place finish.
No. 3 seed, redshirt-senior Michael Arias went 6-1 on the day, finishing third for the Bulldogs. Arias began the tournament with a 17-2 tech fall over John Delgado of George Mason in 5:45. Following his impressive first round performance, Arias defeated Chase Franz of Gardner-Webb 7-1. Arias came back strong scoring a 10-1 major decision over Aaron Hollifield of UNC Pembroke, after losing a 6-5 battle to Newberry's No. 6 seeded Kyle Packer. Holding his next opponent to only two points and shutting out the No. 4 seed in the wrestleback semi-finals 6-0, Arias set himself up for a challenging 141-pound third place match. The wrestling Bulldog came through as the victor once again in his rematch with Gardner-Webb's Franz taking the third place in the open tournament.
The Citadel took the third and fourth place titles in the 149-pound weight class, through a combine 9-3 effort by freshman Justin Sparrow and sophomore Derek Royster. Sparrow, the No. 3 seed recorded a fall in his colleigate wrestling debut, pinning Jim Ballantyne of Gardner-Webb at the 4:00 mark. Building on the momentum, Sparrow shut out his next opponent 16-0 in a 4:30 tech fall. Royster also started the day strong with two major decisions over Kevin Sanchez of the University of the Cumberlands and Limestone's Dustin Leutz. The Bulldog's No. 4 seed held the two opponents to only two points total in the 12 combined minutes of action. Sparrow and Royster knocked down the No. 6 and 4 seeds respectively in the championship quarterfinals before two tough losses in their semi-finals matches. Recording win number four on the day, Sparrow defeated No. 5 seeded Tim Burdine of Spartanburg Methodist 9-2. Royster matched Sparrows efforts recording a fourth win by pinning UNC Pembroke's No. 8 seed Dennis Fix at the 3:20 mark. Their final challenge came as the Bulldogs faced one another in the third place match. Sparrow narrowly defeated Royster in their challenging match up 5-2.
Holding his first four opponents to only two points total was freshman 157-pound Cadet Keith Koziel. Going 4-1 on the day, No. 6 seeded Koziel recorded major decisions against Austin Reece of Gardner-Webb and Rashaad Saunders of UNC Pembroke in the first and second rounds of competition. Koziel narrowly defeated Christian Johnson of Newberry in a 2-1 battle in the championship quarter-finals before knocking the No. 2 seeded Jared Sternoffsky of Duke into the consolation bracket. Koziel finished second for the Bulldogs after a challenging finals match-up with VMI's No. 4 seed, Brandon Franklin.
Heavyweight redshirt-junior Aaron Brown recorded a first round fall, pinning Marcus Porter of King College in the first period at the 1:30 mark. Brown continued his success defeating Erik Stancil of UNC Pembroke 9-3 and No. 8 seeded Drew Doyle of Newberry 11-7 advancing him into the championship semi-finals. Recoding his second fall of the day, Brown pinned No. 5 seed Wade Van Sickle of Duke at the 7:45 mark after an evenly match first three periods. The Citadel heavyweight lost a tough finals match to Newberry's No. 3 seed Cy Wainwright 3-1 en route to a second place finish.
Other Bulldogs that competed for The Citadel in the tournament were freshmen Kip Thompson (2-2) and Kevin Ciccone (0-2), redshirt-sophomore Mike Fenton (0-2) and junior Anthony Easter (2-2) at 133 pounds, freshmen Brendan Prince (4-2) at 165 pounds, Derek Sickel (2-2) at 174 pounds, Cy Edelson (1-2) and Joe DeLisle (1-2) at 184 pounds and redshirt-senior John Buck (4-2) at heavyweight. The Bulldogs also had four athletes compete unattached in the tournament, freshmen Casey Underwood (1-2) at 165 pounds, J.C. Oddo (1-2) at 174 pounds, Brian Hurley (0-2) in the 184-pound bracket and heavyweight Ivan Muller (1-2).
The Bulldogs will be back in action Wednesday, Nov. 14 at home in McAlister Field House at 2 p.m. when they will face Limestone. Live audio and video of The Citadel's home matches can be viewed on Bulldog Insider at www.CitadelSports.com. For all of the latest news on The Citadel wrestling team and Bulldog athletics visit wwwCitadelSports.com.
The Citadel Results
Championship First Round
165 Brendan Prince (The Citadel) DEC Brendan Couture (Gardner-Webb) D 6-0
Championship Second Round
125 #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) DEC John Erickson (King College-Unattached) D 10-5
133 Trevour Smith (Campbell - Unattached) DEC Michael Fenton (The Citadel) D 3-1
133 Kip Thompson (The Citadel) DEC Ryan Goodsell (Virginia Military Institute) D 5-3
133 Michael Slaughter (Spartanburg Methodist) DEC Kevin Ciccone (The Citadel) D 13-8
133 #2 Anthony Easter (The Citadel) DEC Brandon Flood (Southern Virginia) D 8-2
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) WBTF John Delgado (George Mason) T1 17-2; 5:45
149 #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) DEC Kevin Sanchez (Univ of Cumberlands-Unattached) M 11-2
149 #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) WBF Jim Ballantyne (Gardner-Webb) F 4:00
157 #6 Keith Koziel (The Citadel) DEC Austin Reece (Gardner-Webb-Unattached) M 11-1
165 Brendan Prince (The Citadel) DEC Tim Paige (King College) D 6-3
184 #1 Dan Scanlan (Limestone) WBTF Cy Edelson (The Citadel) T1 16-1; 6:30
184 Bill Widener (George Mason) DEC Joseph DeLisle (The Citadel) D 3-0
197 #3 John Buck (The Citadel) DEC Ronnie Ellsworth (Virginia Military Institute-Un) D 3-1
285 #1 Aaron Brown (The Citadel) WBF Marcus Porter (King College-Unattached) F 1:30
Wrestleback Second Round
184 Joseph DeLisle (The Citadel) DEC Mike Walsh (Limestone-Unattached) D 6-4
Championship Third Round
125 #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) DEC Tommy Bennett (Gardner-Webb) D 5-1
133 #5 Joe Mavins (UNC Pembroke) DEC Kip Thompson (The Citadel) M 17-5
133 #2 Anthony Easter (The Citadel) WBF Doug Locascio (Campbell - Unattached) F 0:33
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) DEC Chase Franz (Gardner-Webb) D 7-1
149 #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) DEC Dustin Leutz (Limestone) M 9-0
149 #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) WBTF Clayton Buckley (King College-Unattached) T1 16-0; 4:30
157 #6 Keith Koziel (The Citadel) DEC Rashaad Saunders (UNC Pembroke) M 8-0
165 #5 Brandon Kelly (Newberry) DEC Brendan Prince (The Citadel) D 2-1
174 #7 Derek Sickel (The Citadel) DEC Wesley Beck (Spartanburg Methodist) M 11-0
197 Cayle Byers (George Mason) DEC #3 John Buck (The Citadel) D 6-3
285 #1 Aaron Brown (The Citadel) DEC Erik Stancil (UNC Pembroke) D 9-3
Wrestleback Third Round
133 Stephen Deaugistino (Central Florida) DEC Kevin Ciccone (The Citadel) D 10-5
133 #8 Ben Canning (Marion Military Institute) DEC Michael Fenton (The Citadel) D 5-1
184 Eric Lybarger (The Apprentice School) DEC Joseph DeLisle (The Citadel) M 9-1
184 Cy Edelson (The Citadel) WBF Ryan Brock (Carson-Newman) F 1:55
Wrestleback Fourth Round
133 Kip Thompson (The Citadel) DEC Brandon Flood (Southern Virginia) D 5-2
165 Brendan Prince (The Citadel) WBF Brandon Smith (King College) F 5:48
184 William Campbell (Carson-Newman) DEC Cy Edelson (The Citadel) D 10-3
197 #3 John Buck (The Citadel) DEC Chris Wetmore (Newberry) M 12-3
Championship Quarter-Finals Ro
125 #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) DEC #3 Kody Pierson (Carson-Newman) M 17-6
133 #7 Mike Nash (UNC Pembroke) DEC #2 Anthony Easter (The Citadel) M 11-2
141 #6 Kyle Packer (Newberry) DEC #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) D 6-5
149 #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) DEC #5 Tim Burdine (Spartanburg Methodist) D 5-3
149 #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) DEC #6 Rob McCarty (Central Florida) D 8-2
157 #6 Keith Koziel (The Citadel) DEC Christian Johnson (Newberry) D 2-1
174 #2 Ben Wales (Duke) DEC #7 Derek Sickel (The Citadel) D 9-8
285 #1 Aaron Brown (The Citadel) DEC #8 Drew Doyle (Newberry-Unattached) D 11-7
Wrestleback Fifth Round
133 Pat Seidel (Limestone) DEC Kip Thompson (The Citadel) D 6-5
165 Brendan Prince (The Citadel) WBF Mike Lemieux (Central Florida) F M FOR
197 #3 John Buck (The Citadel) DEC #5 Dave Bush (Limestone) D 7-4
Wrestleback Sixth Round
133 Joe Coughlin (George Mason) DEC #2 Anthony Easter (The Citadel) D 8-2
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) DEC Aaron Hollifield (UNC Pembroke) M 10-1
165 Casey Bradley (Limestone) DEC Brendan Prince (The Citadel) D 4-3
174 #7 Derek Sickel (The Citadel) DEC Joe Lafaille (Unattached) M 13-4
197 #3 John Buck (The Citadel) WBF #8 Jermiah Webb (Spartanburg Methodist) F 3:57
Championship Semi-Finals Round
125 #2 Denny Herndon (George Mason) DEC #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) D 3-2
149 #1 Dustin Center (University of the Cumberlands) WBF #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) F 1:24
149 #2 Michael Degli Obizzi (Duke) DEC #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) M 17-8
157 #6 Keith Koziel (The Citadel) DEC #2 Jared Sternoffsky (Duke) D 2-0
285 #1 Aaron Brown (The Citadel) WBF #5 Wade Van Sickle (Duke) F 7:45
Wrestleback Quarter-Finals Rou
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) DEC Thomas Knapp (Gardner-Webb-Unattached) D 4-2
174 Chad Davis (Gardner-Webb) DEC #7 Derek Sickel (The Citadel) D 3-1
197 Dan Fox (Duke) WBF #3 John Buck (The Citadel) F 3:47
Wrestleback Semi-Finals Round
125 #5 C.J. Hamilton (Marion Military Institute) DEC #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) D 8-4
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) DEC #4 Brandon Bucher (George Mason) D 6-0
149 #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) WBF #8 Dennis Fix (UNC Pembroke-Unattached) F 3:20
149 #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) DEC #5 Tim Burdine (Spartanburg Methodist) D 9-2
Finals - First Place
157 #4 Brandon Franklin (Virginia Military Institute-Un) DEC #6 Keith Koziel (The Citadel) D 8-4
285 #3 Cy Wainwright (Newberry) DEC #1 Aaron Brown (The Citadel) D 3-1
Finals - Third Place
141 #3 Michael Arias (The Citadel) DEC Chase Franz (Gardner-Webb) D 10-8
149 #3 Justin Sparrow (The Citadel) DEC #4 Derek Royster (The Citadel) D 5-2
Finals - Fifth Place
125 #6 Paul Sanford (The Citadel) WBF #7 Jeremy Adams (Virginia Military Institute) F 1:46
The Citadel-Unattached
Championship First Round
165 George Bancroft (Unattached) DEC Casey Underwood (The Citadel-Unattached) D 6-2
184 #1 Dan Scanlan (Limestone) DEC Brian Hurley (The Citadel-Unattached) M 11-3
Wrestleback Second Round
165 Casey Underwood (The Citadel-Unattached) DEC Greg Satterfield (Limestone-Unattached) M 14-1
184 Charles Robinson (The Apprentice School) DEC Brian Hurley (The Citadel-Unattached) D 9-5
Championship Third Round
174 #3 J.C. Oddo (The Citadel-Unattached) DEC David Green (Gardner-Webb) D 8-3
285 #6 Ivan Muller (The Citadel-Unattached) DEC Dondricus Anderson (Spartanburg Methodist) D 3-1
Wrestleback Third Round
165 Blake Germaine (Univ. of Cumberlands) WBF Casey Underwood (The Citadel-Unattached) F 2:41
Championship Quarter-Finals Ro
174 Randy Oates (George Mason) WBF #3 J.C. Oddo (The Citadel-Unattached) F 2:00
285 #3 Cy Wainwright (Newberry) DEC #6 Ivan Muller (The Citadel-Unattached) D 9-2
Wrestleback Sixth Round
174 Chad Davis (Gardner-Webb) DEC #3 J.C. Oddo (The Citadel-Unattached) M 13-0
285 Erik Stancil (UNC Pembroke) DEC #6 Ivan Muller (The Citadel-Unattached) D 3-
