CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Thiel College wrestling team traveled to Cleveland to compete in the Case Western Reserve University Throwdown on Wednesday night. Thiel went on to split the night as they fell 33-14 to Case Western and defeated Lourdes University 25-24.
The Tomcats opened the night against the hosting Spartans and got off to a fast start as freshman
Cory Bable (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) at 125 pounds collected a pin over Anand Shah at the 4:50 mark. Case Western answered in the 133-pound match as Alec Hoover pinned Matthew O'Connor at the 4:40 mark. Case Western took the lead 10-6 as Andrew Hoover registered a 9-0 major decision over
Vincent Mion (Mount Oliver, Pa./Carrick).
Thiel regained the lead in the match as
Jason Miller (Clarksville, Pa./Jefferson Morgan) collected a 17-1 tech. fall over Ben Kring at 149 pounds, the Tomcats held a 11-10 match lead going into the 157 pound bout.
The Spartans regained a 16-11 match lead they would not relinquish as Andrew Munn pinned Thiel's
Angelo Nunnari (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) at 157 pounds followed by the Spartans extending the lead with major decisions by Connor Gordon at 165 pounds and Gavin Dersh-Fisher at 197 pounds.
At 285 pounds,
Gage Gladysz (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) stopped Case Western's run as he earned a 5-1 decision over Nate Lewis. Thiel fell by a final score of 33-14.
Thiel faced Lourdes University in their second match of the night only to get off to a slow start as Lourdes led 7-0 after two matches. Thiel answered as Mion collected an 8-5 decision over Riley Heater and Miller secured a pin at 3:51 on Flynn Hamilton that gave Thiel a 9-7 lead. Miller collected two victories on the night.
The match went back and forth as Lourdes went on to sweep the next three matches to make it 24-9 with three matches remaining.
Back-to-back pins by
Tyler Brooks (Venango, Pa./Saegertown) at 184 pounds and
Caleb Garvey (Johnsonburg, Pa./Johnsonburg) at 197 pounds put Thiel within striking distance heading into the last match of the evening.
The Tomcats remained down 24-21 before Gladysz collected a 7-3 decision (his second of the night) to tie the match at 24-24.
The match went to a tiebreaker and Thiel won 25-24 based on criteria 21.B – most falls.
With the split, Thiel sits at 3-2 on the year.
Thiel will return to Beeghly Gymnasium on Wednesday, January 17 as they face Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opponent Washington and Jefferson College. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.
