Mount Olive men’s wrestling splits tri-meet
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The University of Mount Olive men’s wrestling team produced nine wins while posting a split in a tri-meet against King and Truett McConnell on Jan. 13.
With the split, the Trojans moved to 9-3 with a 3-1 mark in conference action following the loss to King. Mount Olive set a new program record with nine dual meet wins in a single season in just its fourth year as a team. UNC Pembroke and Lander are the only remaining undefeated programs in the league with three other schools having only one loss this year in the conference.
The team scores were King over Mount Olive, 22-15; Mount Olive over Truett McConnell, 30-20 and King over Truett McConnell, 41-9.
Against King, the Trojans claimed an early 3-0 advantage following a victory by a 12-5 decision by Lens Mathurin over Tyson Upchurch in the 125-weight class. The Tornado responded with back-to-back wins by major decision and fall to take the lead, 10-3. In the 149-weight class, redshirt freshman Dallas Wilson put together a dominant performance in a 10-3 decision against Demetri Teddlie to trim the deficit to 10-6. King countered with three-straight wins by decision to stretch the advantage to 19-6 before redshirt senior Dimitri Naimi delivered a 7-4 decision versus Clint Morrissette in the 184-weight class to pull UMO to within 19-9. Sophomore Jonathan Clack closed the gap to 19-15 with a pin over Jacob Ebner at 197, but King secured the victory with a 2-0 decision at heavyweight to win by a 22-15 margin.
Against Truett McConnell, the Bears established a 6-0 lead with wins in the 125 and 133 weight classes. Redshirt freshman Taylor Robinson answered with a victory via fall over Stanley Lal at 141 to tie the meet at six, but TMU countered with a technical fall to reclaim the lead, 11-6. The Trojans gained control with three-consecutive wins via fall by redshirt junior Michael Vernagallo (157), freshman Calan Staub (165), and Naimi (174) to put UMO ahead by a score of 24-11. The Bears battled back with a decision win and a pin to cut the deficit to 24-20, but redshirt senior Nico Ramirez secured the victory by forfeit in the 285-weight class for the 30-20 win.
— From University of Mount Olive Athletics
