Jason Bryant’s College Wrestling Wrap Sheet is a look at five topics from the world of college wrestling with highlights, things you know and things you don’t. Here’s the five for December 16, 2021.
Sweet Georgia … Blue?
A funny thing happened when I was working on the title for this section – I actually found a tie to the school I was trying to work in, but it was completely accidental. Sweet Georgia Brown, as many might know, was popularized in this generation as the de-facto theme song for the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, I was going to reference Sweet Georgia Blue, in reference to NAIA Reinhardt University’s colors – because No. 8 Reinhardt, located in Georgia, pulled off a big 23-12 win over second-ranked Life in the NAIA on Thursday. When I went to look up who actually wrote Sweet Georgia Brown, I came across a Youtube video of the song being performed (more like audio with a still image) and it was by Django Reinhardt, who performed the song in 1937. Both schools, by the way, are in Georgia, so while not a punny headline, I was going for a reach and it ended up being a lay up, with apologies to the Washington Generals.
Life knew they were in for a battle when returning NAIA champion Brandon Orum of Life survived a 6-4 sudden victory match with All-American Koby Milner at 125 pounds. Reinhardt capitalized at 133 pounds as Ivan Arguello scored a fall over Gabriel McGlamery in the first period. Life had two ranked wrestlers at the weight, but neither competed. A pair of ranked wrestlers at 149 met at 157 where Reinhardt’s Cole Luallen edged two-time runner-up Denver Stonecheck 6-3. Reinhardt exploited the absence of All-American Austin Eichert at 174 as All-American Cole Tenety majored Life’s Mason McDaniel. While the match wasn’t completely out of reach, Reinhardt’s Kyle Homet, ranked 16th, upset eighth-ranked Michael Gibson 4-2 at 184 pounds to pretty much put the match away. Reinhardt All-American Zane Lanham beat No. 17 Jacob Henderson 8-3 at 197 to finish things off for Jeff Bedard’s Eagles.
Succeeding after Norfolk
There was a lot of NAIA action involving ranked wrestlers at the Valley Clash hosted by Missouri Valley on Thursday. Cumberland University (that’s the one in Tennessee) won three duals and two of its arrivals from that poorly run Division I school in Norfolk combined to go 6-1. The ninth-ranked Phoenix (their nickname) beat No. 15 Baker 25-14, William Penn 31-6 and St. Ambrose 38-6. All-American and top-ranked Cole Smith went 2-0 at 165 pounds while River Henry went 3-1 at 197 pounds. They both started their career wrestling for Steve Martin. More from the Cumberland guys later in the Wrap Sheet.
Valley Clash Clashes
The full results from the Valley Clash event are available at collegewrestlingscoreboard.com, but here’s a look at SOME (not all) of the notable performances involving ranked wrestlers on Thursday night in Marshall, Missouri, which we learned years ago on TheMat.com forum, is a nice community. Old forum heads totally get that joke.
No. 18 Keyshawn Laws of Cumberland upended No. 9 Dominick Arelllano of Baker 7-2 at 133 pounds. At 141 pounds, No. 19 Tomobola Sindihebura of Campbellsville knocked off No. 9 Austin Kolvek of Baker 10-8. Sindihebura was pinned a round later by 16th-ranked Joseph Rice of Missouri Valley. It was a solid rebound for Rice, who was beaten by No. 19 Hunter Wagner of Ottawa a match prior, although it was up a weight at 149 pounds where Wagner was ranked. Unranked Eli Clemmons of Cumberland went 4-0 on the day. Highlighting Clemmons’ effort was a fall over No. 14 Asiel Flores of Baker. It wasn’t all upset losses by Baker as Dallas Koelzer gave the Wildcats a solid victory with an 8-7 win over sixth-ranked Anthony Maia of Cumberland at 157 pounds. Koelzer was 2-0 on the day, with that being the biggest win and it came up a weight from his normal weight of 149 pounds. Cole Smith wasn’t the only Smith to have his fun as Campbellsville’s 12th-ranked Gavin Smith went 4-0 on the day with a tech fall over No. 14 Matheson Meade of William Penn. All-American and third-ranked Isaac Luellen of Baker was 3-0 on the day. Also at 174, No. 15 Makail Stanley of William Penn was solid, going 3-0 and earning a fall over Ottawa’s Kendall Biddle.
Titan pin parade sinks Maroons
While tournament rankings still suck when it comes to using them to hype up dual meets, but Thursday, I’ll take it as No. 13 UW-Oskhosh used five falls to roll past the Maroons of the University of Chicago 37-12. We didn’t get to see top-ranked Ben Sarasin of Chicago on the mats tonight and the Titans took advantage of it. Leading 19-12 with three bouts left, Patrick Curran, Beau Yineman and Jordan Lemcke went fall-fall-fall to make the score look uglier than the match actually was.
No kicker needed as Vikings win
If you’re a glutton for punishment – meaning if you’re a Minnesota Vikings fan, you’ll understand this reference. Having married one, Sundays are fun around the house. When it comes to wrestling, there’s a number of Vikings, but the only one victorious on Thursday night was Augustana – the one in Illinois. While they did benefit from four forfeits against fledgling Fontbonne, Augustana’s 52-3 win was the team’s first of the year. They’ll head to Nashville this weekend for the Division III-heavy Gator Boots Duals.
