Jan. 12, 2007
HAMPTON, VA -- ODU defeated Liberty 38-6 in the first round of the Virginia Duals before falling 24-9 to #22 ranked Kent State University in the semi's Friday evening. The Monarchs dual against Kent State was closer than the final score might indicate as three of the losses for ODU were by two or fewer points and two of those losses came in the waning moments of a bout. Ryan Williams, Chris Brown, and Nick Pullano led the team with two victories.
First Round: (6) Old Dominion def. Liberty 40-6
ODU nearly swept the Flames off the mat were it not for a forfeit at 184 lbs. The Monarchs had already wrapped up the dual and wanted to rest Jesse Strawn as he prepared for a re-match against Kent State's ranked 184-pounder, Eric Chine.
Kyle Hutter kicked the dual off with a 5-3 decision over Christian Smith before the Monarchs got a great bout out of Christian Staylor (133). He won 13-0 over Liberty's Zachary McCray. Then came the headliner for the day, with Ryan Williams matching up with Tim Harner, a re-match of last weeks title bout at the Virginia States.
"I knew it'd be another grind," said Williams. "I studied the tape and I knew what I had to do to beat him. Getting the first takedown was huge, because he's the kind of guy that likes to get up and hold the lead."
Williams won 8-4 after falling to the Liberty Flame 2-3 last weekend. ODU would go 9-1 for the first round including Derek Coffey's first pin of the year and David Mendoza's team-leading 9th.
Match Results:
Kyle Hutter (ODU) def. Christian Smith (LU) 5-3
3-0 ODU
Christian Staylor (ODU) def. Zack McCray (LU) 13-0 maj.
7-0 ODU
Ryan Williams (ODU) def. Tim Harner (LU) 8-4
10-0 ODU
Kaylen Baxter (ODU) def. Aaron Kelley (LU) 13-4 maj.
14-0 ODU
Chris Brown (ODU) def. Shaun Smith (LU) 6-1
17-0 ODU
Nick Pullano (ODU) def. Chad Porter (LU) 10-3
20-0 ODU
Derek Coffey (ODU) pinned Johnathan Campbell (LU) 5:53
26-0 ODU
Chris Daggett (LU) won by forfeit
26-6 ODU
David Mendoza (ODU) pinned Rory Bosek (LU)
32-6 ODU
Matt Pellar (ODU) won by forfeit
38-6 ODU
Second Round: (3) Kent State (#22) def. (6) Old Dominion 24-9
The Monarchs stumbled early as Hutter fell 4-11 against Chad Sportelli, a foe he beat 8-2 just two weeks ago. Staylor, in his new weight class of 133-lbs. wrestled extremely well against Danny Mitcheff. The Kent State Flash won 2-1 and put ODU in a 0-6 hole early.
Williams stepped up again, however, and got a 6-3 win over Drew Lashaway to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately Kaylen Baxter was unable to muster any kind of momentum and lost to Jason McGee in a major decision 3-12.
Red-shirt freshman and leader of the team in major decisions and winning percentage Chris Brown then stepped into the mat against Kurt Gross. Gross was an NCAA qualifier last year and has been ranked as high as 17th in his career.
The two would battle it out all the way to the third period when the score was tied at 1-1. With 30 seconds remaining, Brown had positioning on Gross, with his leg in the air locked up. The referee called an controversial stalemate that gave Gross a shot at Brown from the neutral position. The two would remain neutral, however, and go into overtime.
With no points in the sudden victory, Brown took the down position in the first tiebreaker. Seven seconds into the period he earned two reversal points to go up 3-1. The Monarch would hold on and win 3-2 in the match cutting the team lead back to four, 6-10.
Nick Pullano stepped in and battled to a 3-1 victory of Sli Bostelman cutting the lead to just one, 9-10. However, the turning point in the match came in the 174-lb. bout. Derek Coffey, coming off his first pin of the season, was unable to score against Aaron Miller, ranked as high as 18th this season. Coffey fell in a major decision 2-10.
Jesse Strawn and Eric Chine, two ranked individuals at 184, were then set to matchup for the third time this season. The two had split decisions with the latest going in favor of Strawn at the Southern Scuffle.
Strawn was down 3 in the waning minutes of the bout. With the riding time advantage and just six seconds remaining, Strawn earned another takedown to tie it up. However, in the sudden victory overtime period, Strawn would end up on the wrong side of a takedown for the loss, 4-6.
In the 197-lb. weight class it was all riding on Mendoza's shoulders. The Monarchs needed a win to still have a shot at taking the dual. It came down to the riding time advantage point, in favor of Kent State's Ardian Ramadani, for the victory and the team win.
"I think they outwrestled us," said Head Coach Steve Martin. "We could have beat them today, you know, a lot of our matches came down to the final seconds. But today they just outwrestled us."
Match Results:
Chad Sportelli (KSU) def. Kyle Hutter (ODU) 4-11
3-0 KSU
Danny Mitcheff (KSU) def. Christian Staylor (ODU) 1-2
6-0 KSU
Ryan Williams (ODU) def. Drew Lashaway (KSU) 6-3
6-3 KSU
Jason McGee (KSU) def. Kaylen Baxter (ODU) 3-12 maj.
10-3 KSU
Chris Brown (ODU) def. Kurt Gross (KSU) 3-2 tb
10-6 KSU
Nick Pullano (ODU) def. Sli Bostelman (KSU) 3-1
10-9 KSU
Aaron Miller (KSU) def. Derek Coffey (ODU) 2-10 maj.
14-9 KSU
Eric Chine (KSU) def. Jesse Strawn (ODU) 4-6 sv
17-9 KSU
Ardian Ramadani (KSU) def. David Mendoza (ODU) 4-5
20-9 KSU
Jermail Porter (KSU) def. Matt Pellar (ODU) 1-12 maj.
24-9 KSU
ODU is slated to face the University of Virginia at 10:00 am Saturday. The Monarchs lost to the Cavaliers by just one point last season and have wrestled well against many Hoo's in tournament action already this season.
"We're looking forward to UVA," said Martin. "They're not gonna lay down for us. We're gonna have to put them down and make them lay down to us."
The match will begin at 10:00 am. The winner will face the winner of the (7) Drexel/North Dakota State matchup at 4:00 pm.