 Mountaineer freshman Kyle Blevins earns a point by escaping from Dylan Temple during Appalachian State University's match against The Citadel Sunday afternoon. Photo by Holt Menzies.
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by CHRIS IRELAND
Sports Reporter
Senior heavyweight wrestler Aaron Brown walked away from the mat Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win over Appalachian State University’s Brandon Brothers.
His victory earned The Citadel a 17-15 victory over Appalachian, but it came with a price.
Brown left Varsity Gymnasium bleeding from his left eye, the bandage wrapped around his head stained with red.
A quick look at the
285-pound, crimson illustration made it clear that though Citadel had
won, their fight for victory wasn’t easy.
“They
came up here to battle today,” Appalachian wrestler Savva Kostis said.
“It was really frustrating. I know we have guys that can pull it off
for us.”
Appalachian came close.
Though
the Mountaineers split five matches apiece with the Bulldogs, two
major-decision victories for Citadel (7-5, 2-1) proved to be the
deciding factor.
“I knew
going in that we would probably split matches with these guys,”
associate head coach John Mark Bentley said. “They got the bonus points
we needed. You just can’t win a match without those.”
In the
day’s opening match, Citadel junior Tyler Sim earned a bonus point
thanks to a major decision over Appalachian sophomore Austin Annas at
125 pounds.
In a
133-pound match-up, Appalachian’s Frank Celorrio defeated Richard
Alarcon for his 12th consecutive victory, clinching an undefeated
regular season Southern Conference record.
At 149
pounds, Kostis broke open a 1-1 tie by taking down Citadel’s Pierre
Frazile with 57 seconds remaining in the final period.
The freshman held on to defeat Frazile 3-1, bringing Appalachian within striking distance at 7-6.
Like many of the day’s matches, Kostis felt as though a close victory wasn’t enough for Appalachian.
“After I
got the takedown, I felt him break,” Kostis said. “He didn’t have the
will to win anymore. I think if I would have pushed that much harder, I
could have earned a few more points.”
After
taking a 9-7 lead into intermission, Appalachian grabbed its third
victory in a row when freshman Kyle Blevins earned a 5-2 victory at 165
pounds.
The win increased Appalachian’s lead to 12-7 and was Blevins’ 21st of the season, tying Dylan Temple for first on the squad.
“It was a great accomplishment for me just to make the team,” Blevins said. “Getting my 21st is definitely an honor.”
Thanks
to a major decision at 174 pounds by J.C. Oddo, along with a victory at
197 by Odie Delaney, Citadel stormed back to pull within one of
Appalachian going in to the day’s final match between Brown and
Brothers.
A Brown takedown with 28 seconds remaining sealed Appalachian’s fate.
“It’s a really frustrating loss,” Bentley said. “We had plenty of opportunities out there and just couldn’t do it.”
Appalachian (7-15, 2-3) travels to Lynchburg, Va. to take on Liberty University Monday.
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