WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. -- The first-ever Midway University wrestling team took the mats for the first time in program history on Saturday when they competed in the Patriot Open hosted by the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
No team scores were kept in the event, but head coach, Jake Brumbelow got to see his squad go against outside competition for the first time this season. To view the complete list of results click here.
As a team, the Eagles traveled 24 of their 31 grapplers to compete in the Patriot Open. Midway had one wrestler place in the event, while another was just one round away from placing.
Leading the Eagles as their lone placer was Austin Pumphrey. The freshman from Fort Ashby, West Virginia posted a 4-2 record on his way to a fourth place finish at 141 pounds.
After receiving a first round bye, Pumphrey began his day with a 16-1 tech fall over Kaden Darbro of Mount Saint Joseph (Ohio). He followed that up with a pin over Loye Burkhead of Spartanburg Methodist College to advance to the quarterfinals.
After advancing to the semifinals via injury, Pumphrey suffered his first loss of the day, an 8-6 decision to William Davidson of Truett-McConnell (Ga.). He then won a major decision over Nathan McClanahan of Mount Saint Joseph before falling to Luka Twardosky of Southeastern (Fla.) in the third place match.
Finishing one round out of placing was Sterling Griffin at 174 pounds. The sophomore from St. Lucie, Florida collected a 4-2 record at the Patriot Open.
Griffin began his day posting back-to-back victories via pins to advance to the quarterfinals. His first win came in the opening round when he pinned Anthony Fullard of Allen University. He followed that up by pinning Jordan Rader.
Griffin's run in the championship round came to an end when he fell to Andrew Sams of Bellarmine University. He did, however, bounce back with a pair of decision victories. His first was a 7-1 decision over Jake Weimer of Indiana Tech and then he followed that up with a 12-9 decision over Carlos Diaz of Southeastern. Unfortunately, Griffin fell in a tough match to Caleb Spears in the semifinals of the consolation bracket.
The Eagles did have a pair of solid performances from junior, Richard Almodovar (Bradenton, Fla.) and freshman, Elijah Miller (Nashville, Tenn.). Almodovar posted a pair of victories at 184, while Miller picked up two wins at 165.
Midway also had seven other grapplers collect one win each including: James Taylor (Nicholasville, Ky.), Michael Parker (Forest Park, Ga.) and Billy Gordy (Perry, Ga.) at 125, Alaeldin Gibril (Maryville, Tenn.) at 149; Tommy Cash (Bloomington, Ind.) at 157, Colton McMahan (Knoxville, Tenn.) at 174; and Kevin Ixpanel (Euless, Texas) at 285.
Thirteen other wrestlers also made their debut for Midway on Saturday including: Brett Shea (Oldham, Ky.), Dymond Smith (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Robert Dominguez (Phoenix, Ariz.), Michael John Harris (Birmingham, Ala.), Jackson Araneta (Alabaster, Ala.), Anigius McIntyre (Frankfort, Ky.), Michael Eldridge (Versailles, Ky.), Isaiah McDougal (Madison, Ala.), Andrew Koonce (Evansville, Ind.), Tyler Little (Georgetown, Ky.), Carl Whitehead (Perry, Ga.), Ray Karl Irving (Lexington, Ky.), and Gavin Hunt (Pikeville, Ky.).
The Eagles will look to build off their experience at the Patriot Open as they are back in action on Sunday, November 11, when they travel to Bristol, Tennessee to compete in the King Open hosted by King University (Tenn.).
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