LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Coe College wrestling team split a pair of matches on the opening day of the NWCA National Duals, falling 20-19 to Rochester Institute of Technology in a preliminary round match before defeating SUNY Cortland 29-16 in the opening round of the 17-24 place bracket. The opening match featured back and forth action, with Coe taking an early advantage thanks to victories from
Cade Hornback, Alex Friddle and
Riley Wright. The Tigers fought back late in the contest, winning five-straight matches by decision or sudden victory to jump ahead before the heavyweight match. RIT then forfeited the bout at 285, allowing Coe to tie the match at 19 but the opponents advanced into the championship, earning the win via tie-breaking criteria.
Coe didn't let the early disappointment slow it down, responding in the afternoon with an impressive 29-16 victory over Cortland. The Kohawks dropped the opening match at 125 but immediately responded getting an upset victory from Friddle who knocked off fourth-ranked Jayden Cardenas 9-6 at 133. The Red Dragons then gained momentum in the dual, winning three-straight at 141, 149 and 157 to pull ahead 16-3. Coe then dominated the remaining bouts, picking up bonus points in five consecutive matches to pull off the come-from-behind victory.
Will Esmoil began the charge with a major decision at 165 and was immediately followed by
LJ Richardson, who earned a third-period pin to close the gap to three.
Tristin Westphal then secured a tech fall at 184, earning a 17-0 victory to put five more team points on the board.
Jared Voss and
Kaleb Reeves then finished the dual in epic fashion, earning a pair of first-period falls to put the icing on the cake. Voss handled his opponent in just 1:36 while Reeves claimed the victory in 16 seconds in his first action of the season.
RESULTS
RIT 20 - COE 19 (criteria)
125 Cade Hornback (Coe) over Seth Russo (RIT)
Fall 4:18 6.0 0
133 #12
Alex Friddle (Coe) over Lee Rubin (RIT
) Maj 12-0 4.0 0
141 Chris Horton (RIT) over
Bryce Parke (Coe)
Maj 11-0 0 4.0
149 #12
Riley Wright (Coe) over Mike Glynn (RIT)
Dec 5-4 3.0 0
157 James Ost (RIT) over
Gabe McGeough (Coe)
Dec 5-3 0 3.0
165 #3 Austin Lamb (RIT) over #15
Will Esmoil (Coe
) Dec 3-2 0 3.0
174 Ben Dougherty (RIT) over
Ryker Kurimski (Coe)
Dec 5-2 0 3.0
184 Colby Giroux (RIT) over #11
Tristin Westphal (Coe)
SV-1 9-7 0 3.0
197 Josh Harkless (RIT) over #10
Jared Voss (Coe
) Dec 4-2 0 3.0
285 Kaleb Reeves (Coe) over Unknown (RIT)
Forf 6.0 0
Winning criteria 1.0
Dual Meet Score 19.0 20.0
COE 29 - SUNY CORTLAND 16
125 Cody Merwin (Cort) over
Jaiden Moore (Coe)
Dec 11-9 0 3.0
133 #12
Alex Friddle (Coe) over #4 Jayden Cardenas (Cort)
Dec 9-6 3.0 0
141 #11 Cahal Donovan (Cort) over
Bryce Parke (Coe)
Maj 14-3 0 4.0
149 Angelo Centrone (Cort) over
Riley Wright (Coe)
Dec 5-3 0 3.0
157 Nick Ross (Cort) over
Kael Scranton (Coe)
Fall 1:27 0 6.0
165 #15
Will Esmoil (Coe) over Hunter Hughes (Cort)
Maj 11-3 4.0 0
174 LJ Richardson (Coe) over Brian Torres (Cort)
Fall 6:26 6.0 0
184 #11
Tristin Westphal (Coe) over Steven Gazzillo (Cort)
TF 17-0 5.0 0
197 #10
Jared Voss (Coe) over Tyler Goodemote (Cortl)
Fall 1:36 6.0 0
285 Kaleb Reeves (Coe) over Dylan Houseknecht (Cort)
Fall 0:16 6.0 0
Control mat -1.0
Dual Meet Score 29.0 16.0
Up next: The Kohawks are back in action tomorrow for the second day of the national duals, taking on #11 Olivet College in the next round of the 17-24 place bracket at 10 AM ct.
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