Wrestling Monarchs Slay the Dragons, 25-11 on Monday Night

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion wrestling team (7-9, 4-2 MAC) won seven out of 10 bouts, including five straight to open the match, and cruised to a 25-11 victory over Drexel (6-9, 2-5 EIWA) on Monday night at Chartway Arena.
 
"We're trying to get everyone to compete up to their level," head coach Steve Martin said after the victory. "I think our wrestlers that won competed up to their level tonight."
 
The Monarchs took an 18-0 lead into the halftime intermission after winning the first five bouts of the dual, two of which resulted in bonus points for the team. No. 14 Killian Cardinale kicked off the ODU victory with a 7-3 win by decision over Antonio Mininno. Cardinale earned five of his seven points in the second period alone, earning an escape point and two takedowns in the two-minute frame. The redshirt sophomore then rode Mininno the entire third period to gain the riding time advantage and the victory, his fifth in a row.
 
At 133 pounds, freshman Shannon Hanna II and Chase Shields were deadlocked at one point apiece for the majority of the final frame. It looked like the bout was heading towards overtime, but with three ticks on the clock left, Hanna took down Shields to walk away with a 3-1 victory, giving the Monarchs a 6-0 advantage.
 
No. 18 Sa'Derian Perry earned his first technical fall victory of the year with an impressive 16-0 win over Julian Flores in just three minutes and 39 seconds of action. Perry earned a takedown 54 seconds into the battle, and proceeded to ride Flores the entire first period, earning a four-point near-fall on three separate occasions in the frame. The 14-0 advantage going into the second frame period meant that all Perry needed to do was earn a takedown to win the match, and he did 36 seconds into the period to add five more points to the ODU lead.
 
Kenan Carter earned an 11-2 win by major decision to give the Monarchs their second-straight win that resulted in bonus points. Carter earned seven points in the third frame of his bout against Drexel's Vincent Foggia to reach the major-decision plateau. He kicked off the period with a quick escape point, followed by two takedowns. He earned two more points on a stalling call against Foggia and the riding time advantage.
 
In the 157-pound bout, No. 10 Larry Early capped off the first half with a tight 3-2 win by decision over Parker Kropman. It was Early's 12th win in a 13-match span. The All-American earned a takedown in the first period, but Kropman earned two escape points that led to the two combatants entering the third frame tied at two. Early started the period on the bottom and earned an escape point with one minute and 46 seconds remaining on the clock, giving him a 3-2 advantage. The two wrestlers were locked into that score until the final horn, but with less than 10 seconds remaining in the bout, Drexel challenged that Kropman earned a takedown of the Monarch wrestler, which would have given the 157-pound Dragon a 4-3 lead and a restart at the time of the would-be takedown. The call on the mat stood, as did Early's 3-2 win, giving ODU its 18-0 halftime advantage. 
 
After the intermission, the Dragons put some points on the scoreboard in the 165-pound bout, where No. 18 Ebed Jarrell earned an 8-0 major decision victory over Shane Jones. Alex Cramer also suffered a major decision loss at the hands of No. 31 Michael O'Malley, 10-2. The two Drexel victories cut the ODU lead to 10 points with three bouts to go.
 
Senior Antonio Agee stopped the Monarchs' momentary slide with bonus points of his own, earning a 10-0 major decision win over Owen Brooks in the 184-pound bout to clinch the match victory for ODU. Agee earned three takedowns, two stalling points, an escape point and a point for five minutes and 15 seconds worth of riding time in his dominating performance. 
 
After a Bryan McLaughlin 10-6 victory over Timothy Young at 197 pounds, freshman Jacob Bullock earned the first victory in front of the ODU faithful at Chartway Arena of his career, taking down Sean O'Malley in a 3-1 decision. Much like his classmate Hanna's win earlier in the contest, Bullock earned a late takedown to propel him to victory, taking down O'Malley with just four seconds left in the final frame.   
 
"We have to rebound very quickly after this win," Martin explained. "We wrestle again in four days on Friday night against Navy and on Sunday against George Mason, so it's going to be a quick turnaround."
 
Up Next
The Monarchs head north this upcoming weekend to take on another Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponent in Navy on Friday, February 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Annapolis, Maryland. ODU will then travel to Fairfax, Virginia to take on Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe George Mason two days later on Sunday, February 16.
 
Box Score
Old Dominion 25 – Drexel 11
 
125: #14 Killian Cardinale (ODU) dec. over Antonio Mininno (Drexel) 7-3
133: Shannon Hanna II (ODU) dec. over Chase Shields (Drexel) 3-1
141: #18 Sa'Derian Perry (ODU) TF over Julian Flores (Drexel) 16-0 (3:39)
149: Kenan Carter (ODU) MD over Vincent Foggia (Drexel) 11-2
157: #10 Larry Early (ODU) dec. over Parker Kropman (Drexel) 3-2
165: #18 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel) MD over Shane Jones (ODU) 8-0
174: #31 Michael O'Malley (Drexel) MD over Alex Cramer (ODU) 10-2
184: Antonio Agee (ODU) Md over Owen Brooks (Drexel) 10-0
197: Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) dec, over Timothy Young (ODU)10-6
285: Jacob Bullock (ODU) dec. over Sean O'Malley (Drexel) 3-1