Buies Creek, N.C. – Ugi Khishignyam, Aaron Walker and Marshall Haas collected Southern Conference titles at 141, 157 and 197, respectively, en route to the Bulldogs' second place team finish on Saturday at the 2014 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship in Buies Creek, N.C.
Along with Ugi, Walker and Haas, Turtogtokh Luvsandorj and Matt Frisch also punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships starting on Mar. 20 in Oklahoma City, Okla. The five Bulldog wrestlers heading to nationals are the most since 2004.
"Sending five to nationals is big and it's what we have been training for," said head coach Rob Hjerling. "We have a good group going that will be highly competitive and I'm looking forward to seeing it."
Nine of the 10 Bulldogs wrestlers placed in the top four. Luvsandorj (165) took second place, while Aaron Hansen (133), Frisch (149), Kenneth Radford (174) and Jack Duane (184) nabbed third place. Joaquin Marquez captured fourth at 125.
Following the tournament, Hjerling was named the 2013-14 Southern Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in his 15-year career with the Bulldogs.
The Citadel took the runner-up spot with 78.5 points behind Chattanooga who collected 88 team points to win its fourth-straight league title. Campbell, which hosted the tournament, placed third with 54 points.
Walker earned his first SoCon title in dramatic fashion as the 157 pounder turned his 4-1 second period deficit into a 4:43 pin over Chattanooga's Alex Hudson. The win was Walker's 18th in a row dating back to Jan. 1, and his second over Hudson this season.
After receiving a bye in the first round as the No. 1 seed, Walker opened his day with a 6-2 decision over VMI's Ted Gottwald. The San Antonio, Texas, native now holds a 30-7 record heading into nationals.
Ugi cruised to his second straight 141-pound title, winning by technical fall to open the day and following it up with two decision victories to improve his season mark to 22-3. The Mongolia native closed out his career with a perfect mark against SoCon opponents.
As the No. 2 seed, Haas battled his way through the 197-pound bracket, winning by first period pin over VMI's Jake Koch before wrestling past SIUE's Josh Wood in a 6-2 decision to earn a spot in the finals against top-seeded Scottie Boykin.
The redshirt sophomore jumped all over the Moc grappler and earned his first conference title with a hard-fought 9-5 win.
Frisch punched his second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament with a thrilling three-overtime tiebreaker win over Chattanooga's Austin Sams in the third place bout. The conference was allotted three automatic qualifiers at 149.
The redshirt sophomore opened his day with a 3-1 decision over Sams before losing to Kevin Birmingham of Davidson, 11-8. Frisch followed up his loss with a 3-1 win over VMI's Shabaka Johns before capping his day with a win over the Moc wrestler. Frisch enters nationals with a record of 27-9.
Hansen started and ended his day with two convincing decisions over Gardner-Webb's Robbie Golde to earn third place. The Summerville native has now placed in each of his first two SoCon Tournaments.
Radford, who has competed at three different weight classes this season (165, 174, 184), fell just one point shy of a finals appearance in the 174-pound bracket.
The redshirt junior opened the day with a 5-2 decision over Colin Hedash of Appalachian State before narrowly falling to SIUE's Jake Residori, 6-5.
Radford bounced back and collected a 13-10 win in the consolation bracket over Thurman Johnson of VMI and followed it up with a dominant 11-6 decision over Hedash.
Duane's path to third place was also hard-fought as the 184 pounder topped Gardner-Webb's Zach Bennett by a score of 12-4 before losing to Scott Patrick of Davidson.
Duane bounced back and topped SIUE's Deshoun White, 3-2 to land a spot in the third-place bout against top-seeded Moc Grappler John Lampe.
Duane and Lampe went back and forth, but the redshirt junior managed to come out on top and take third place for the Bulldogs at 184.
"Overall it was a great tournament," finished Hjerling. "I'm not only proud of the guys who were in the finals and qualifiers, but I was pleased with the way the team battled back through the consolations and stayed competitive."
The five Citadel grapplers will take the next two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championship which commences on Mar. 20 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Team Standings
Chattanooga – 88.0
The Citadel – 78.5
Campbell – 54.0
Appalachian State – 36.0
Gardner-Webb – 32.5
SIUE – 30.5
Davidson – 29.0
VMI – 13.5
Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Rob Hjerling, The Citadel
Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Corey Mock, Chattanooga
THE CITADEL BOX SCORE
125: Joaquin Marquez – (2-2) – FOURTH PLACE
First Round: def. Byron Smith (Chattanooga) by decision, 9-6
Semifinals: lost to Tyler Walker (Campbell) by sudden victory decision, 6-4 (SV-1)
Consolations: def. Dalton Henderson (VMI) by decision, 11-7
Third Place: lost to Cortez Starkes (Gardner-Webb) by decision, 6-3
133: Aaron Hansen – (3-1) – THIRD PLACE
First Round: def. Robbie Golde (Gardner-Webb) by decision, 7-4
Semifinals: lost to Drew Walker (Campbell) by decision, 5-3
Consolations: def. Chris Johnson (Appalachian State) by decision, 7-3
Third Place: def. Robbie Golde (Gardner-Webb) by decision, 7-6
141: Ugi Khishignyam – (3-0) – FIRST PLACE
First Round: def. James McCord (Davidson) by technical fall at 6:55, 20-5
Semifinals: def. Emmitt Kelly (VMI) by decision, 7-2
Finals: def. Mike Pongracz (Chattanooga) by decision, 8-3
149: Matt Frisch – (3-1)
First Round: def. Austin Sams (Chattanooga) by decision, 3-1
Semifinals: lost to Kevin Birmingham (Davidson) by decision, 11-8
Consolations: def. Shabaka Johns (VMI) by decision, 3-1
Third Place: def. Austin Sams (Chattanooga) by tiebreaker decision, 3-2 (TB-2)
157: Aaron Walker – (2-0) – FIRST PLACE
First Round: BYE
Semifinals: def. Ted Gottwald (VMI) by decision, 6-2
Finals: def. Alex Hudson (Chattanooga) by fall at 4:43
165: Turtogtokh Luvsandorj – (2-1) – SECOND PLACE
First Round: def. Patrick Devlin (Davidson) by technical fall at 4:08, 23-8
Semifinals: def. Zack Strickland (Appalachian State) by decision, 9-3
Finals: lost to Corey Mock (Chattanooga) by decision, 8-1
174: Kenneth Radford – (3-1) – THIRD PLACE
First Round: def. Colin Hedash (Appalachian State) by decision, 5-2
Semifinals: lost to Jake Residori (SIUE) by decision, 6-5
Consolations: def. Derek Thurman (VMI) by decision, 13-10
Third Place: def. Colin Hedash (Appalachian State) by decision, 11-6
184: Jack Duane – (3-1) – THIRD PLACE
First Round: def. Zach Bennett (Gardner-Webb) by major decision, 12-4
Semifinals: lost to Scott Patrick (Davidson) by decision, 11-4
Consolations: def. Deshoun White (SIUE) by decision, 3-2
Third Place: def. John Lampe (Chattanooga) by decision, 5-4
197: Marshall Haas – (3-0 ) – FIRST PLACE
First Round: def. Jake Koch (VMI) by fall at 1:10
Semifinals: def. Josh Wood (SIUE) by decision, 6-2
Finals: def. Scottie Boykin (Chattanooga) by decision, 9-5
285: Joe Bexley – 0-2
First Round: lost to Eloheim Palma (Campbell) by decision, 6-0
Consolations: lost to Justin Kozera (Gardner-Webb) by decision, 6-2
