Cedar Falls, IA - The Cumberland University wrestling team opened its NWCA national tournament with a loss Saturday to #4 ranked Embry Riddle 38-12. In the match, red shirt freshman James Casadaban at 149 and freshman BJ Stewart were the only victories. Casadaban picked up a fall in 1:24, and Stewart received a forfeit.
Embry-Riddle (ERA) 38 vs. Cumberland Univ. (CU) 12
125 Scott Mahon (ERA) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
133 Franky Villaescusa (ERA) WBD Joshua Chappa (CU) D 8-2
141 Tyler Chang (ERA) WBF Mikey Davis (CU) F 6:27
149 James Casadaban (CU) WBF Dennis Abramov (ERA) F 1:24
157 Trace Billet (ERA) WBF Corey Bleaken (CU) DEF
165 Eli Arismendez (ERA) WBF Eric Metzler (CU) F 1:45
174 Hayden Harrison (ERA) WBD Cory Freeland (CU) M 23-9
184 Calvin DeVault (ERA) WBD Jordan Powers (CU) D 6-2
197 Travous DeGroat (ERA) WBD Kyle Studer (CU) M 13-5
285 BJ Stewart (CU) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
In their second match, the Bulldogs tasted victory with a 33-15 victory over #10 ranked Northwestern College. Red shirt freshman David Wiese at 157, freshman Eric Metzler at 165, Junior Jordan Powers at 184, and freshman BJ Stewart led the way in the 33-15 win.
Cumberland Univ. (CU) 33 vs. Northwestern Coll. (NWC) 15
125 Desean Willis (CU) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
133 Joshua Chappa (CU) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
141 Mikey Davis (CU) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
149 Levi Price (NWC) WBD Patrick Banks (CU) D 7-5
157 David Wiese (CU) WBD DeAlonzio Jackson (NWC) D 11-6
165 Eric Metzler (CU) WBD David Carter (NWC) D 8-4
174 Tom Eaton (NWC) WBF Cory Freeland (CU) F 2:53
184 Jordan Powers (CU) WBD Cole Spree (NWC) D 2-1
197 Enock Francois (NWC) WBF Kyle Studer (CU) F 6:06
285 BJ Stewart (CU) WBF Martin Beeler (NWC) F 1:17
In their final match, the Bulldogs fell in a very close 21-15 dual against #8 ranked Southern Oregon. Powers, Wiese and Stewart led the way for the Bulldogs. Powers picked up an 8-2 win over Ricky Farrell, ranked 8th in the NAIA national poll.
Cumberland Univ. (CU) 15 vs. Southern Oregon (SOU) 21
125 Desean Willis (CU) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
133 Trevor Lofstedt (SOU) WBD Joshua Chappa (CU) M 11-3
141 Barry Johnson (SOU) WBD Mikey Davis (CU) D 6-5
149 Tomas Rosa (SOU) WBD James Casadaban (CU) D 4-3
157 David Wiese (CU) WBD Seth Roy (SOU) D 4-0
165 Jimmy Ulrey (SOU) WBD Stephen Medina (CU) M 14-6
174 Jason Appleton (SOU) WBD Stephen Medina (CU) M 16-4
184 Jordan Powers (CU) WBD Richard Farrell (SOU) D 8-2
197 Chase Locke (SOU) WBD Kyle Studer (CU) D 10-3
285 BJ Stewart (CU) WBD Skyler Massey (SOU) D 8-5
Head coach Jarad Swint said, “We started off a little flat this weekend in our first match. In the second match, we wrestled better but not our best. We are making good decisions at times. In the third match, I thought we wrestled well, we just needed a few more breaks here or there, and we would have placed in the top eight. We lost 21-15 and had two one-point matches that didn’t go our way at 141 and 149. Had we won one of those two matches we would have tied and ended up moving on in the tournament because of the tiebreaker criteria. The nice thing about the weekend is that we actually got better in each match. People stepped up when they needed to step up. The effort was there, it’s just the little mistakes we need to take care of to prepare ourselves better. We had a great weekend with the exception of possibly losing our captain and returning All-American Sophomore Corey Bleaken for the season.”
The Bulldogs are at home this weekend for the second annual Cumberland University Open. The tournament starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Last year’s tournament included The University of Tennessee Chattanooga, UNC-Greensborough, Newberry College, King College, and Campbellsville University. It is expected to be a much bigger tournament this year.
