LEXINGTON, Va. — The Averett University men's wrestling team competed in the Washington & Lee University Duals on Monday, defeating Muskingum University, 31-15, and Trine University, 28-18, while falling to Ohio Northern University in the middle match, 32-16.

Averett 31, Muskingum 15

Muskingum (0-5) took an early 3-0 lead in the dual with a 9-5 decision at 125 pounds. Averett (5-5) would respond in defiant fashion as freshman Easton Halliday and sophomore Brandon Woody both pinned their opponents at 133 and 141 pounds respectively. Halliday and Woody made quick work of their bout as they both secured the pin within the first period, giving the Cougars a 12-3 advantage.

Another decision at 149 pounds, cut the Cougar lead to 12-6. Averett would pull away over the course of the next four bouts as the Cougars won by forfeit at 157 and 184 pounds, by major decision at 165 pounds and by decision at 174 pounds. Sophomore Josh Linkous accepted the forfeit at 157 pounds while freshman Demontay Wimbush won by forfeit at 184. Freshman Jared Lough used a takedown and a 4-point near fall in the first period of his match at 165 pounds to run away for a 10-1 victory. Fellow freshman Logan Howell grinded out a 7-4 decision at 174 pounds to push Averett's lead in the dual to 31-6.

The Fighting Muskies won by decision and fall in the final two bouts, but it was not enough as Averett won 31-15.

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
#125 – Jordan Burkholder (MU) over Sam Braswell (AU) (Dec 9-5)
#133 – Easton Halliday (AU) over Cooper Hemming (MU) (Fall 1:50)
#141 – Brandon Woody (AU) over Sammy Southers (MU) (Fall 2:27)
#149 – Toby Warrington (MU) over Caleb Harmon (AU) (Dec 5-2)
#157 – Josh Linkous (AU) over Unknown (MU) (Forfeit)
#165 – Jared Lough (AU) over Tanner Walker (MU) (MD 10-1)
#174 – Logan Howell (AU) over Carter Layton (MU) (Dec 7-4)
#184 – Demontay Wimbush (AU) over Unknown (MU) (Forfeit)
#197 – Garrett Mitchel (MU) over Chris Mohr (AU) (Dec 4-2)
#285 – Antonio Zapata (MU) over John Reid (AU) (Fall 0:42)       
 
Ohio Northern 32, Averett 16
 
A technical fall at 125 pounds, gave Ohio Northern (5-2) the early 5-0 lead in the dual. Once again, the Cougars would respond in a big way at the following two weights as Averett won by technical fall at 133 and 141 pounds. Sophomore Korpesh Gootee claimed the technical fall (18-3, 6:28) win at 133 pounds, collecting five takedowns, a reversal and six points by near fall. Woody also recorded five takedowns, at 141 pounds, to go along with an escape, two penalty points, a 4-point near fall and a point for riding time. This gave the Chesterfield, Virginia, native the technical fall (18-2, 6:28) victory and his team the 10-5 edge.

The Polar Bears tied the dual at 10 with a technical fall win of their own at 149 pounds. The Cougars would jump ahead,16-10, with decisions at 157 and 165 pounds. Linkous's match at 157 pounds went down to the wire as the bout required overtime with the score tied at seven. The Christiansburg, Virginia, native scored a takedown with 32 seconds left in the first overtime period to secure the sudden death victory (SV-1 9-7. The 165 pound-match was just as tight as the match that finished just before it as Lough won 2-0. The Stafford, Virginia, native scored an escape and built up over a minute of riding time to preserve the victory.

Unfortunately, Ohio Northern would win the last four bouts with three falls and a major decision for the dual win at 32-16.

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
#125 – Seth Transue (ONU) over Sam Braswell (AU) (TF 18-2 3:03)
#133 – Korpesh Gootee (AU) over Cameron Poulton (ONU) (TF 18-3 6:28)
#141 – Brandon Woody (AU) over Brandon Bartlome (ONU) (TF 18-2 6:28)
#149 – Jeff Andrews (ONU) over Caleb Harmon (AU) (TF 19-0 4:04)
#157 – Josh Linkous (AU) over Schuyler Caprella (ONU) (SV-1 9-7)
#165 – Jared Lough (AU) over Jordan Hardrick (ONU) (Dec 2-0)
#174 – Connor Kwiat (ONU) over Logan Howell (AU) (Fall 2:35)
#184 – Clayton Davidson (ONU) over Demontay Wimbush (AU) (MD 9-0)
#197 – Cash Thompson (ONU) over Chris Mohr (AU) (Fall 2:16)
#285 – Austin Keeley (ONU) over Thad Wilkerson (AU) (Fall 2:10)   
 
Averett 28, Trine 18

Averett would end their day at the Washington and Lee Duals with a 28-18 victory over Trine (4-3). The Cougars won the first six bouts of the match by way of four major decisions and two pins. Sophomore Sam Braswell (125 pounds), Woody (141 pounds), sophomore Caleb Harmon (149 pounds) and Linkous (157 pounds) each registered major decisions. Gootee (133 pounds) and Lough (165 pounds) were the ones to pin their opponents as Gootee did so 1:29 into the match while Lough needed just 10 seconds to secure his victory.

The Thunder won the last four bouts by decision, major decision, technical fall and injury default to give themselves 18 team points. This comeback by Trine came up short as the Cougars had already put together 28 points through the course of the first six bouts.

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
#125 – Sam Braswell (AU) over Clinton Wells (TU) (MD 16-6)
#133 – Korpesh Gootee (AU) over Dominic Pecoraro (TU) (Fall 1:29)
#141 – Brandon Woody (AU) over Caleb Maddox (TU) (MD 17-4)
#149 –Caleb Harmon (AU) over Brandon Minear (TU) (MD 15-4)
#157 – Josh Linkous (AU) over Nevan Freestone (TU) (MD 15-3)
#165 – Jared Lough (AU) over Owen Conklin (TU) (Fall 0:10)
#174 – Nick Miller (TU) over Logan Howell (AU) (MD 14-2)
#184 – Luke Carver (TU) over Demontay Wimbush (AU) (TF 19-2 4:13)
#197 – Austin Farrell (TU) over John Bishop (AU) (Dec 7-4)
#285 – Ethan Simmons (TU) over Thad Wilkerson (AU) (Inj Def. 0:35)
 
Averett returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 5, as the Cougars travel to Buena Vista, Virginia, for the Jim Crytzer Invitational. Wrestling is set to start at 9 a.m.