Bulldog Wrestling Hosts Appalachian State Friday to Open SoCon Slate
Charleston, S.C. - The Citadel Wrestling team returns to action this Friday, Jan. 20, as the Bulldogs host Appalachian State in a dual meet at the McAlister Field House starting at 7:00 p.m. The dual meet is the first Southern Conference contest of the season for The Citadel, while Appalachian State enters the bout at 2-0 in the league.
About The Bulldogs
The Bulldogs return to the McAlister Field House with a 4-6 overall record after going 2-3 at the Virginia Duals and placing eighth out of 14 teams. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj, Kelby Smith and Odie Delaney all went a perfect 5-0 over the weekend to pace the squad. The Bulldogs opened the second day of action with a 22-15 win over North Carolina before dropping a 19-18 heart-breaker on tiebreaker criteria to North Dakota State and losing in the seventh-place bout to the University of Buffalo 24-15.
About Appalachian State
Appalachian enters the McAlister Field House with an 8-3 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the SoCon. Last weekend, the Mountaineers finished 2-1 in three dual matches at the 2012 Hilton Arlington Lone Star Duals. Appalachian began the day with a 41-4 win over Brown, and edged out Harvard, 22-21. No. 12 Oklahoma defeated Appalachian, 41-0, in ASU's final dual. The Mountaineers are led by a pair of nationally-ranked grapplers, No. 12 Austin Trotman (25-4) and No. 17 Kyle Blevins (27-5). Trotman is 25-4 on the season and captured titles at the Hokie Open and Keystone Classic, while Blevins is 27-5 and also captured a title at the Keystone Classic. Both wrestlers notched their 100th career victories earlier this season.
All-Time vs. the Mountaineers
The Citadel trails in the all-time series against Appalachian State, 39-6-2. However, the Bulldogs have gone 4-3-1 in the last eight duals with the Mountaineers, including last season's 26-7 victory.
Last Meeting
Last year, after dropping the opening match, The Citadel wrestling team won eight of the next nine matches to defeat Appalachian State, 26-7 at the Varsity Gym in Boone, N.C.
January 9, 2011 - The Citadel 26, Appalachian State 7
141: Mike Kessler (ASU) dec. Jordan Dix (CIT), 11-5
149: Derek Royster (CIT) major dec. Russell Benner (ASU), 16-3
157: Pierre Frazile (CIT) dec. Travis Puckett (ASU), 7-3
165: #9 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (CIT) dec. #25 Kyle Blevins (ASU), 6-5
174: #32 J.C. Oddo (CIT) dec. Carter Downs (ASU), 5-2
184: #28 Austin Trotman (ASU) major dec. Josh Tuck (CIT), 16-5
197: Kelby Smith (CIT) major dec. Paul Glove (ASU), 13-4
HWT: Luke Johnson (CIT) dec. Marc Tyson (ASU), 9-2
125: Richard Alarcon (CIT) dec. Tony Gravely (ASU), 3-0
133: Tyler Sim (CIT) dec. Chris Johnson (ASU), 10-4
Delaney Named SoCon Wrestler of the Week
Odie Delaney has been selected as the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for all competitions from January 11-17. Wrestling as a heavyweight, Delaney was dominant over the weekend at the Virginia Duals, notching a perfect 5-0 record with pins in three of his matches.
Delaney started the event with a 5-3 upset against No. 16 Brendan Barlow of Kent State. He followed that with a narrow 5-4 decision against Bucknell's Tyler Lyster as the Bulldogs picked up a 21-16 victory. On Saturday, Delaney recorded falls in all three of his matches, dispatching North Carolina's Frank Abbondanza in 1:21 to start the day. The redshirt junior then pinned North Dakota State's Evan Knutson in 1:59 and Buffalo's Jedd Mason in 42 seconds to wrap up the competition.
Delaney's exploits pushed him into all of the major national rankings this week, including a high of No. 17 by D1 College Wrestling.
Nationally Ranked Bulldogs
Turtogtokh Luvsandorj has remained in the national rankings over the last several weeks at No. 14 by W.I.N, No. 18 by Wrestling Report, No. 18 by D1 College Wrestling and No. 18 by InterMat. After his 5-0 performance last weekend, Odie Delaney entered several rankings, including No. 17 by D1 College Wrestling, No. 18 by Wrestling Report, No. 19 by Intermat and No. 20 by W.I.N.
What to Watch
- None of the nationally-ranked wrestlers will square off against each other as all four wrestlers are in different weight classes.
- Kelby Smith and Appalachian's Paul Weiss meet for the second time this month after crossing paths at the Southern Scuffle on Jan.1. Smith scored a 5-2 decision victory over Weiss to eliminate him from the tournament.
Friday's Probable Starters (with InterMat rankings)
The Citadel (4-6) Appalachian State (8-3)
125: Richard Alarcon (11-15) Tony Gravely (13-9) / Weston Haney (4-4)
133: Kyle Casaletto (16-8) Brett Boston (14-14) / Chris Johnson (9-10)
141: Jordan Dix (11-17) Mike Kessler (25-10)
149: Seth Vernon (1-4) Savva Kostis (22-11) / Russ Benner (7-5)
157: Pierre Frazile (13-14) Chip Powell (14-13) / John Blakely (11-10)
165: Mike Harper (1-15) / William Connell (0-5) No. 17 Kyle Blevins (27-5)
174: No. 18 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (20-7) Carter Downs (10-12) / Jake Johnson (6-9)
184: Josh Tuck (6-5) / Luke Johnson (2-4) No. 12 Austin Trotman (25-4) / Jesse Johnson (6-9)
197: Kelby Smith (23-6) Paul Weiss (12-11)
HWT: No. 19 Odie Delaney (14-2) Joe Cummings (9-9)
A recap and results will follow the dual meet. For more information on Bulldog Wrestling, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
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