The Blue team tallied two technical falls and five decisions to beat the black team 25-13 in the Black-Blue Ranking Matches Thursday Oct. 29 at Abe Lemons Arena.
The OCU men’s wrestling team begins the season ranked second in the NAIA, the highest ranking ever in school history.
“We are a really well balanced team,” OCU coach Archie Randall said. “The thing that impressed me the most is that the kids wrestle and battle each other pretty hard. I expected the older kids to really dominate more but our recruiting class is such a good class that they are battling in there, which is great for the future and great for the older kids. The college men’s season is so long, so brutal that you always have to put a freshman in or a sophomore in because there are so many injuries.”
Senior Alvie Killingsworth beat freshman Thomas Miller in a technical fall in 4:00 at 125 pounds to give Blue an early 5-0 lead. Killingsworth had three four-point near falls and three takedowns.
Freshman Matt Landgraff on the Black team won in a technical fall over senior Michael Stamp in 3:55 at 133 pounds to notch the score at 5-5. Landgraff scored a four-point near fall, three two-point near falls, a takedown and an escape.
Team Blue won back-to-back 5-2 decisions to go up 11-5. Sophomore Parker Bohannon edged junior James Landoll, at 141 pounds, while junior Eric Ambriz nipped sophomore Brok Williams at 149 pounds.
Senior Zach Skates ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds in NAIA forced a technical fall of junior Lino Gomez 17-0 in 4:04 to extend Blue’s lead to 16-5. Skates managed three four-point near falls, two takedowns and an escape.
Junior Ricky McCarty, defending national champion, won a technical fall over freshmanTanner Borror 16-1 in 3:52 at 165 pounds to bring Team Black within six points at 16-10. Top ranked McCarty scored three four-point near falls and two takedowns.
Sophomore Aaron Guery won a close 6-4 decision over senior Jamie Shawver at 174 pounds to extend Blue’s lead to 19-10.
Top ranked junior Derek Sivertsen at 184 pounds won a 6-0 decision over freshman Evan Hudson to make the score 22-10 in favor of Team Blue.
Senior Cody Sivertsen edged junior Miguel Tovar 4-3 to add to the Team Blue total. Freshman Bryson McGowan beat freshman Korey Walker on a 9-2 decision to give the last match to Team Black.
“They are a very, very talented team,” said Randall. “And very young so I’m pretty excited about it.”
The Stars hosted the Oklahoma City Open at 9 a.m. Sunday Nov. 1 at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU hosts a dual against Missouri Baptist on Wednesday Nov. 4.
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