CLARION, Pa. -- The Old Dominion wrestling team opened up the 2015-16 season on Sunday at the Clarion Open in Clarion, Pa. Freshman Brandon James racked up six wins in his collegiate debut to claim third place for the Monarchs at 133.
Freshman Brandon James, who competed unattached for the Monarchs, went 6-1 on the day en route to a third place finish in his first collegiate competition. After dropping an 8-3 decision to Jacob Goodwin of Notre Dame College in the round of 16, James reeled off five straight wins in the consolation bracket including a pin, tech fall, two major decisions and a medical forfeit.
At 157, Austin Eads stormed into the semifinals with a pin, major decision and a 4-2 victory before falling to UVA’s NCAA Qualifier Andrew Atkinson in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinal, Eads defeated Army Prep’s Nigel Ruiz 9-7 and then fell to Cameron Harrell of UVA 10-7 to finish in fourth place.
Redshirt freshman Tanner Stephens went 4-2 on the day for ODU and narrowly missed the opportunity to wrestle for fifth place, while freshmen Steven Simpson and Blake Sutherland went 2-2 for the Monarchs at 125 and 165, respectively. Also at 165, Jared Swan went 2-2, and Seldon Wright went 1-2 and defeated the No. 2 seed Zach Voytek of Seton Hill in his opening bout. Kenan Carter went 2-2 as well and knocked off the No. 1 seed Pat Duggan of West Virginia in the opening round.
Also recording wins in the tournament were Jaquan Loney and Josh Markham at 133, Delawrence White at 141, Shane Jones at 149, Kaleab Fetahi at 174 and Andrew Snyder at 285.
Complete brackets with results can be found here.
The Monarchs hit the mats again Sunday, Nov. 8 in Binghamton, N.Y. for the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open.
Complete Results of ODU Placewinners
133- Brandon James dec. Ben Ross (Pitt) 5-2
133- Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame College) dec. Brandon James 8-3
133- Brandon James TF Anthony Recco (Edinboro) 18-3
133- Brandon James MD Lewis Williams (Unattached) 14-0
133- Brandon James FALL Scott Lopez (Wheeling Jesuit) 4:22
133- Brandon James Medical Forfeit Jacob Goodwin (Notre Dame College)
133- Brandon James MD Mike Kostandaras (Cleveland State) 11-1
157- Austin Eads MD Taylor Cahill (Bloomsburg) 12-0
157- Austin Eads dec. Nick Wrobel (Notre Dame College) 4-2
157- Austin Eads FALL John Vaughn (Cleveland State) 0:51
157- Andrew Atkinson (UVA) dec. Austin Eads 7-0
157- Austin Eads dec. Nigel Ruiz (Army Prep) 9-7
157- Cameron Harrell (UVA) dec. Austin Eads 10-7