HAMPTON, Va. — The Averett University men's wrestling team competed at the Virginia Duals on Friday night. The Cougars dropped their first two duals to King University and Camden County College 42-12 and 35-15 respectively, before falling to Greensboro College in the seventh place match, 24-23, to claim eighth. With his 3-0 record on the day, freshman Sam Braswell received American Division Outstanding Wrestler honors.
At the end of the first period at 125 pounds against King, Braswell held a 4-2 lead. Reed Jacks would tie the bout at four with a takedown. Then, Braswell was able to escape, score a takedown of his own and end the bout by way of a pin just 31 seconds into period two. The Cougars could not carry this momentum into the upcoming matches as the Cougars dropped the next eight consecutive bouts to fall to King, 42-12.
Braswell was able to give his team the early edge once again in the second dual of the day against Camden. The Daytona Beach, Florida native picked up a take down in the first 20 seconds of the bout to own a 2-0 lead. From this point on, Braswell would score the next 20 of 27 points in the bout to cruise to a technical fall victory at 22-7. After freshman Korpesh Gootee lost by fall to Terrell Coleman, freshman Brandon Woody won by major decision (14-6) to put the Cougars back in front in the dual, 9-6. Freshman Josh Linkous extended the Cougar advantage in the dual to 15-6 by way of a pin at the two minute mark of the bout. However, right before the win by fall, Linkous got caught in a bad position on his back. The 149 pounder stayed composed, though, and recovered quickly and in defiant fashion, scoring the pin in the next few seconds.
Camden, down 15-6 in the dual, was not fazed and was able to rattle off five straight bout victories for 26 unanswered points to build a 32-15 lead. Freshman Dia Gray, even with Averett out of reach on the scoreboard, played a tightly contested heavyweight bout. Heading into the second period, the bout was scoreless. Gray started period two down and scored an escape point and a take down to grab a 3-0 lead. Mark Gillis fought back with two escape points to cut Gray's lead to 3-2. The referee called stalling on Gray in the final seconds of the bout that tied the match at three and forced overtime. Gray would be edged by Gillis in overtime, 7-3 (TB-1), as this gave Camden three more points in the dual for their 35-15 victory.
From here, Averett moved into the seventh place match to face Greensboro, which was shortly after their dual against Camden. Braswell could not be stopped as he defeated Dylan Cook by technical fall (18-0). This was the seventh consecutive victory for Braswell and his 20
th win of the season to move his overall record to 20-5. This win combined with a decision victory (8-3) by Woody at 133 pounds and a forfeit by Greensboro at 141 pounds, gave Averett a 14-0 lead in the dual. Greensboro put together three technical falls and a decision victory in the next four bouts to snatch an 18-14 advantage. The Cougars regained the lead at 20-18 with another Greensboro forfeit, this time at 184 pounds. Carlos Ortega won by fall over freshman Seth Wilson at 197 pounds, giving the Pride the 24-20 edge. This time, Gray was on the right end of an overtime bout as he was able to score a take down in the first overtime period to beat Mykel Williams by decision, 3-1 (SV-1). Unfortunately, this only awarded Averett three points on the scoreboard, as the Cougars fell to Greensboro, 24-23.
Averett returns to competition on Thursday, Jan. 18, as they host their second ever home dual against Ferrum College. The dual is set to start at 7 p.m.
King 42, Averett 12
125 Samuel Braswell (Averett) over Reed Jacks (King) Fall 3:31; 6-0
133 Dustin Kirk (King) over Brandon Woody (Averett) Maj 14-4; 0-4
141 Bryce Killian (King) over Joshua Linkous (Averett) TF 17-0; 0-5
149 Landon Goforth (King) over William Merritt (Averett) Fall 1:29; 0-6
157 Matthew Danner (King) over Caleb Harmon (Averett) TF 17-2; 0-5
165 Bailey Slattman (King) over Jake Phelps (Averett) Fall 0:55; 0-6
174 Darius Rutland (King) over Corbin Ryder (Averett) TF 17-0; 0-5
184 Kody Eichlin (King) over Triston Kechter (Averett) TF 23-4; 0-5
197 Elijah Seay (King) over Seth Wilson (Averett) Fall 1:19; 0-6
285 Dia Gray (Averett) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 6-0
Dual Meet Score: 42-12
Camden 35, Averett 15
125 Samuel Braswell (Averett) over Alex Velez (Camden CC) TF 22-7; 0-5
133 Terrell Coleman (Camden CC) over Korpesh Gootee (Averett) Fall 2:25; 6-0
141 Brandon Woody (Averett) over Jason Groff (Camden CC) Maj 14-6; 0-4
149 Joshua Linkous (Averett) over Mark Woods (Camden CC) Fall 2:00; 0-6
157 Domenic DeMarco (Camden CC) over William Merritt (Averett) Fall 1:28; 6-0
165 Aaron Solomon (Camden CC) over Jake Phelps (Averett) Fall 0:59; 6-0
174 Matt O`Donnell (Camden CC) over Corbin Ryder (Averett) Fall 2:02; 6-0
184 Juan Ramos (Camden CC) over Triston Kechter (Averett) Dec 8-3; 3-0
197 Jason Carter (Camden CC) over Seth Wilson (Averett) TF 18-0; 5-0
285 Mark Gillis (Camden CC) over Dia Gray (Averett) TB-1 7-3; 3-0
Dual Meet Score: 35-15
Greensboro 24, Averett 23
125 Samuel Braswell (Averett) over Dylan Cook (Greensboro) TF 18-0; 0-5
133 Brandon Woody (Averett) over Tyler Haskin (Greensboro) Dec 8-3;0-3
141 Korpesh Gootee (Averett) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 0-6
149 Conan Wilson (Greensboro) over Joshua Linkous (Averett) TF 18-3; 5-0
157 Ryan Dominique (Greensboro) over William Merritt (Averett) Dec 7-2; 3-0
165 Quaevon Cannon (Greensboro) over Jake Phelps (Averett) TF 26-10; 5-0
174 Tyron Dudley (Greensboro) over Corbin Ryder (Averett) TF 23-8; 5-0
184 Triston Kechter (Averett) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 0-6
197 Carlos Ortega (Greensboro) over Seth Wilson (Averett) Fall 1:21; 6-0
285 Dia Gray (Averett) over Mykel Williams (Greensboro) SV-1 3-1; 0-3
Dual Meet Score: 24-23
