GATLINBURG, Tenn. - Midway Wrestling competed at The Rocky Top Smoky Mountain Duals Saturday and put on quite the show. The Eagles went 3-1 on the day with their only loss coming against the No. 1 team in the nation, Life University.
No. 1 Life (Ga.) 36, Midway 6
Kyler Adams (149 pounds) and
Jabril Williams (165) where the only two Eagles to secure victories against top-ranked Life. Though the score was one-sided, Midway was much more competitive than the final score would suggest. Life came into the day with 12 wrestlers on the NAIA top-25 National Rankings list.
Among those was fourth-ranked 174-pounder Steven Villalobos, who was in a back-and-forth battle against Midway's
Michael Colligan. Anyony Caruso also came close to victory with a thrilling overtime match early in the dual, losing 9-8 to Jordan Mitchell at 141.
Midway 29, (RV) Brewton Parker (Ga.) 23
The Eagles were able to turn things around quickly with their dual against BPC. Kapela Joesph (125) started things off with a 19-3 Tech Fall.
Nolan Jones (141) Chris Sperin (149),
Chris Begley (157) and
Sebastian Hutchinson (174) would add to Midway's lead with wins of their own.
It would come down to the final match to decide the victor of the dual. With the score margin razor-thin,
Aaron Garcia was able to get the fall over John Arellano to secure the dual for Midway.
Midway 33, Keiser (Fla.) 15
The momentum kept rolling into the matchup with Keiser.
Questapha Lewis (133), Chris Sperin (149),
Kaleb Clark (157),
Michael Colligan (174),
Kasen Johnson (184) and
Aaron Garcia would come away with wins, the latter three securing a pin.
With Keiser's forfeit at 141 pounds, Midway would clinch the victory.
Midway 25, Andrew (Ga.) 21
Facing off against a team coached by Midway alum Billy Gordy, the Eagles fell behind 9-0 after the first two matches. But
Alex Velazquez (141),
Kyler Adams (149), and
Chris Begley (157) would follow up with three strait victories giving Midway the 17-9 advantage.
Andrew would take three of the next four with
Stephen Browning (184) to be the lone Eagle to win in that batch, bringing the score to 22-21 coming into the last match. But Garcia, once again, proved to be the difference at heavyweight, securing a 5-0 win over Abe Preston.
"I was proud of the way we performed today," Midway coach
Kenny Mason said. "I have had multiple coaches here at the tournament commend our efforts against Life. Some of those match like (
Questapha Lewis at 133 an
Ernst Lavaud Jr. at 184) had the No. 1-ranked kids in the nation and they had to battle to beat us. Overall it was a great day,"
The Eagles head into winter break with a record of 5-2, their best mark at this stage in Mason's tenure as head coach.
They return to action for their first Mid-South Conference dual against Rio Grande (Ohio) on Jan. 4.
