Mount Olive tallies two wins at Trojan Duals
MOUNT OLIVE – The University of Mount Olive men’s wrestling team secured 13 victories and posted a pair of wins over Emmanuel and Greensboro on Dec. 11 at the Trojan Duals hosted in Kornegay Arena.
With the wins, the Trojans improved to 8-2 overall and with the victory over Emmanuel moved to 3-0 this season in conference action. Mount Olive remains undefeated in the league alongside UNC Pembroke and Lander, who both have three wins.
The team scores for the dual meets were Mount Olive over Emmanuel, 29-17; Emmanuel over Greensboro, 42-12 and Mount Olive over Greensboro, 41-12.
Against Emmanuel, the Lions took an early 3-0 advantage following a win by a 5-1 decision in the 125 weight class before freshman Jeffrey Richards (133) battled to a 3-0 decision over Harvey Ridings to tie the meet at 3-3. Emmanuel responded with a major decision at 141 to take a 7-3 lead before the Trojans rattled off four straight wins.
Redshirt freshman Dallas Wilson (149) had a dominant performance to post an 18-1 technical fall over Clayton Frost to give UMO an 8-7 advantage. Redshirt junior Michael Vernagallo followed with another impressive showing after recording a 16-0 technical fall against Gage Shetley in the 157 weight class. At 165, sophomore Jake Nicolosi registered a 19-3 technical fall versus Connor Smith before redshirt freshman Seth Thomas notched a 17-1 technical fall over Grady Tisdale to extend the lead to 23-7. The Lions answered with back-to-back wins via fall at 184 and 197, but redshirt senior Nico Ramirez sealed the win at heavyweight with a fall versus Ja’Mond Goodwine, 29-17.
Against Greensboro, freshman Darius McKenzie (125) collected a victory via fall over JaJuan Givens before Richards claimed his second win of the day by fall against Ivan Benitez at 133, as UMO held a 12-0 lead. The Pride countered with a 3-2 decision in the 141 weight class before Wilson, Vernagallo and Nicolosi all recorded wins via forfeit to give the Trojans a 30-3 advantage. At 174, redshirt senior Dimitri Naimi secured a 9-6 decision versus Luke Gregory, but Greensboro followed with two victories at 184 and 197. Ramirez closed out the dual meet with another win via fall over Linwood King.
— From University of Mount Olive Athletics
