CHARLESTON, S.C. – Sophomore Killian Cardinale and senior Larry Early's first-place showings in their brackets led the No. 25 Old Dominion wrestling team to a third-place finish to kick off it’s season at the Battle at the Citadel on Sunday afternoon.
The team tallied 109.5 points, only trailing Stanford (144 points) and American (116.5 points) in the 14-team event. 12 Monarch wrestlers placed as well, putting the team in a tie with Stanford for the most wrestlers placing on a team.
“Overall I think this was a great event and a good indicator of where are team is currently and what we need to do to get better going forward,” head coach Steve Martin said after the match. “ A lot of these teams brought their big guys down here and it was good to see how our team stacked up against the others. It gave us an opportunity to figure out what are strengths are as well as our weaknesses.”
Cardinale started his championship run with a 7-1 win by fall over American’s Joshua Vega, followed by a 6-1 win by decision over Stanford’s Jackson DiSario in the 125-pound semifinal round. He earned the first-place finish by edging out another American wrestler, Gage Curry, in a 3-2 win by decision, giving the Monarchs their first placing on the day.
Early picked up right where he left off from last season, taking down American’s Cole Painter in the first round in an 11-2 win by major decision. He then went on to win the semifinal round, 5-3 by decision before defeating unattached American’s Ethan Karsten by decision, 4-2 to claim the victory.
Four other Monarchs Sa’Derian Perry, Shane Jones, Antonio Agee and Tim Young also made it to the final round in their respective weight classes, but came up just a little bit short, each settling for second place.
“Cardinale, he's really improved a lot, had a very solid tournament, beating an NCAA Qualifier in the finals, and then Early was dominate throughout the tournament,“ Martin added. “Our second-place guys, Perry lost a controversial decision to a top-20 opponent in the weight class, Jones lost to a kid ranked in the top-12 right now. Shane's come a long way. Agee lost to a National Qualifier from a year ago and Young had a really good finals against Traxler, who wrestled in the All-American last year, losing a a close 5-4 decision. Overall I thought it was good, we got a lot of victories I think we learned a lot from it and our young guys wrestled really well. We're looking forward to our next competitions next week.”
The six freshmen that came down with the team and wrestled unattached finished with a score of 38 points, good for seventh in the event, with three wrestlers, finishing in the top-six in their weight classes.
ODU Placed Results
125 Killian Cardinale – First Place
Finals – Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion) won by decision over Gage Curry (American) (3-2)
Semifinal - Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion) won by decision over Jackson Disario (Stanford) (6-1)
Quarterfinals - Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion) won by fall over Joshua Vega (American) (7-1, 4:16)
Round of 16 – Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion) received a bye
141 Sa’Derian Perry – Second Place
Finals – #18 Real Woods (Stanford) won by decision over Sa’Derian Perry (Old Dominion) (2-1)
Semifinal – Sa’Derian Perry (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Ethan Willis (Citadel) (13-1)
Quarterfinals – Sa’Derian Perry (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Jared Papcsy (NC State) (10-2)
Round of 16 – Sa’Derian Perry (Old Dominion) won by decision over Ty Mills (Duke) (6-0)
157 Larry Early – First Place
Finals – Larry Early (Old Dominion) won by decision over Ethan Karsten (unatt-American) (4-2)
Semifinal – Larry Early (Old Dominion) won by decision over Tyler Eischens (Stanford) (5-3)
Quarterfinals – Larry Early (Old Dominion) won by major decision over over Cole Painter (American) (11-2)
165 Jacob Curling– Fifth Place
5th Place Round – Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) won by decision over Tyler Barnes (NC State) (3-2)
Cons. Semi – Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) won by decision over Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) (7-4)
Semifinals – Shane Jones (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) (13-1)
Quarterfinals – Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) won by fall over #23 Ben Anderson (Duke) (4-3, 5:42)
Round of 16 - Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Chris Fasano (Citadel) (12-2)
165 Kellen Ekern– Fourth Place
3rd Place Round – Dazjon Casto (Citadel) won by decision over Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) (6-4)
Cons. Semi – Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) won by decision over Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) (7-4)
Cons. Of 4 – Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) won by decision over Anthony Wokasch (American) (9-4)
Cons. Of 8 – Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Chris Fasano (Citadel) (15-3)
Quarterfinals - Shane Griffith (Stanford) won by major decision over Kellen Ekern (Old Dominion) (8-0)
Round of 16 – Kellen Ekern (Old Dominon) received a bye
165 Shane Jones– Second Place
Finals – #8 Shane Griffith (Stanford) won by decision over Shane Jones (Old Dominion) (3-2)
Semifinals – Shane Jones (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Jacob Curling (Old Dominion) (7-4)
Quarterfinals – Shane Jones (Old Dominion) won by fall over Cole Burke (Citadel) (8-0 2:31)
Round of 16 – Shane Jones (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Michael Lewis (American) (12-1)
184 Antonio Agee– Second Place
Finals – #24 Tanner Harvey (American) won by decision over Antonio Agee (Old Dominion) (15-8)
Semifinals – Antonio Agee (Old Dominion) won by decision over Chris Garrison (unatt – NC State) (9-2)
Quarterfinals – Antonio Agee (Old Dominion) won by fall over Robert Tywater (Citadel) (15-0 4:31)
184 Dean Drugac– Fifth Place
5th Place – Dean Drugac (Old Dominion) won by decision over Kai Blake (Unatt-Duke) (9-6)
Cons. semis– Noah Bushman (Old Dominion) won by decision over Dean Drugac (Old Dominion) (8-1)
Cons. of 4 – Dean Drugac (Old Dominion) won by decision over Robert Tywater (Citadel) (9-3)
Quarterfinals - Chris Garrison (Unatt-NC State) won by decision over Dean Drugac (Old Dominion) (5-3)
184 Noah Bushman– Fourth Place
3rd Place – Chris Garrison (Unatt-NC State) won by decision over Noah Bushman (Old Dominion) (2-1)
Cons. semis– Noah Bushman (Old Dominion) won by decision over Dean Drugac (Old Dominion) (8-1)
Semi Finals – Tanner Harvey (American) won by major decision over Noah Bushman (Old Dominion) (14-2)
Quarterfinals - Noah Bushman (Old Dominion) won by decision over Kai Blake (Unatt-Duke) (5-2)
197 River Henry– Sixth Place
5th Place – Santino Morina (Unatt-Old Dominion) won by decision over River Henry (Old Dominion) (4-3)
Cons. semis– Austin Stith (Presbyterian) won by decision over River Henry (Old Dominion) (10-4)
Semi Finals – #11 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) won by fall over River Henry (Old Dominion) (16-1 4:40)
Quarterfinals - River Henry (Old Dominion) won by decision over Martin Duane (Citadel) (4-3)
197 Tim Young – Second Place
Finals – #11 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) won by decision over Tim Young (Old Dominion) (5-4)
Semifinals– Tim Young (Old Dominion) won by decision over Abraham Correa-Medina (American) (7-1 SV)
Quarterfinals – Tim Young (Old Dominion) won by major decision over Austin Stith (Presbyterian) (10-2)
Round of 16 - Tim Young (Old Dominion) received a bye
285 Will Hilliard– Fifth Place
5th Place – Will Hilliard (Old Dominion) won by decision over Trevor Rasmussen (Stanford) (3-2)
Cons. semis– Owen Trephan (Unatt.-NC State) won by fall over Will Hilliard (Old Dominion) (5-5 6:45)
Semi Finals – Michael McAleavey (Citadel) won by decision over Will Hilliard (Old Dominion) (3-1 SV)
Quarterfinals - Will Hilliard (Old Dominion) won by decision over Jonovan Smith (Presbyterian) (8-2)
Round of 16 - Will Hilliard (Old Dominion) won by decision over Owen Trephan (Unatt.-NC State) (3-2)
125 Anthony Molton* – Fourth Place
3rd Place – Jackson DiSario (Stanford) won by major decision over Anthony Molton (Unatt.-Old Dominion) (10-0)
Cons.-Semis - Anthony Molton (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by major decision over Drake Doolittle (Unatt.-Duke) (19-5)
Semifinals – Gage Curry (American) won by decision over Anthony Molton (Unatt.-Old Dominion) (4-3)
Quarterfinals - Anthony Molton (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by decision over Jordie White (Citadel) (6-4)
Round of 16 – Anthony Molton (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by decision over Drake Doolittle (Unatt.-Duke) (10-5)
174 Alex Cramer* – Third Place
3rd Place – Alex Cramer (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by decision over Alexander Faison (Unatt.-NC State) (7-6 SV)
Cons.-Semis - Alex Cramer (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by major decision over Ben Root (American) (12-2)
Semifinals – Foster Karmon (Stanford) won by decision over Alex Cramer (Unatt.-Old Dominion) (13-10)
Quarterfinals - Alex Cramer (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by major decision over Kyle Kretzer (Citadel) (12-3)
Round of 16 – Alex Cramer (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by major decision over Ben Root (American) (12-2)
197 Santino Morina* – Fifth Place
5th Place – Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by decision over River Henry (Old Dominion) (4-3)
Cons.-Semis – Aabraham Correa-Medina (American) won by decision over Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) (6-4)
Cons. of 4 – Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) won by major decision over Martin Duane (Citadel) (10-2)
Cons. of 8 - Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) received a bye
Quarterfinals – #11 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) won by technical fall over Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) (19-4 7:00)
Round of 16 - Santino Morina (Unatt.-Old Dominion) received a bye
* - Indicates unattached
Team Scoring
| 1) | Stanford | 144 |
| 2) | American | 116.5 |
| 3) | No. 25 Old Dominion | 109.5 |
| 4) | Citadel | 51.5 |
| 5) | No. 10 NC State | 48.5 |
| 6) | Unatt-NC State | 44 |
| 7) | Unapt-Old Dominion | 38 |
| 8) | Duke | 36.5 |
| 9) | Presbyterian | 18.5 |
| 10) | Unatt-Duke | 18 |
| 11) | Unatt-American | 14 |
| 12) | Unatt-Citadel | 10 |
| 13) | Unatt-Stanford | 6 |
| 14) | Unatt-Presbyterian | - |
Up Next
The Monarchs will be back in action next Sunday, November 10 when they travel to Troy, New York to compete in the Journeymen Classic.