Lebanon, Tenn.-- Cumberland splits the regular season championship with a win over Thomas More and a heartbreaking drop to Lindsey Wilson. It came down to the last second of the final match, but Lindsey Wilson was ultimately able to claim the regular season champion title.
No. 15 Cumberland posted a dominant win over No. 18 Thomas More to cruise into the regular season championship match.
The Thomas More Saints were the first to be put on the board after Shay Horton posted a 8-3 decision win over Ellis Haney, but it was all CU momentum from that moment on.
After back-to-back Thomas More forfeits, Ramiro Mosquera got Cumberland’s crowd excited with a technical fall over Thomas More’s Dru Baker in the 149 weight class to bring the score to CU 17, TMU 3.
Eli Clemmons stepped up with a 9-6 decision win to add three points to Cumberland’s advantage. Cole Smith responded with a 10-2 major decision win over Jahmon Spiller to keep the Phoenix streak going.
Anthony Pyron picked up a 12-4 major decision of his own in the 174 weight class to give CU four more points. Austin Antcliffe followed it up with a 17-1 technical fall and Kadin Stuzman sealed the victory for the Phoenix by pinning Zach Wilson to bring Cumberland lead to 29-3.
One more forfeit on Thomas More’s end concluded Cumberland’s 45-3 victory as they moved on to face Lindsey Wilson in the regular season championship match.
The Mid-South Conference Regular Season Championship came down to the final match of the day. The Phoenix got off to a hot start out of the gates against No. 13 Lindsey Wilson but fell 20-18 against the Blue Raiders.
Lindsey Wilson’s No. 11 Conner Diamond put Lindsey Wilson on the board first with a 3-1 decision over No. 22 Chris Busutil. Sammy Shires quickly helped the Phoenix retaliate after pinning Elijah Bundro at 2:10 at the 133 class to give the Phoenix a 6-3 lead.
Jared Dinh pushed Cumberland’s lead to 9-3 with a 10-6 decision over No. 22 Marckis Branford. Elijah Griffin dropped his match against #15 Trent Johnson in a 15-2 major decision to bring Lindsey Wilson within two.
Clemmons helped regain the momentum by picking up a 3-2 decision over Will George and Cole Smith added six points on a fall at 2:37 over Dylan Washburn to put the Phoenix up 18-7.
The Blue Raiders started gaining momentum when No. 2 Joe Koontz defeated Ryan Long in a 12-5 decision. Austin Antcliffe dropped his match to No. 15 Corey Cannon in a 6-3 decision and JT Oldknow fell in a 12-2 major decision against No. 12 Nicholas Perovic to cut Cumberland’s lead down to 18-17.
The regular season conference championship came down to the match between No. 17 River Henry and No. 13 Carlos Figueroa. The match went all the way down to the wire but Figueroa picked up a 3-2 decision in the second tiebreaker period.
Cumberland wrestling will be back in action tomorrow as they host the Annual Cumberland Open.
