EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Karsten Van Velsor picked up his second straight pin Saturday, but the SIUE wrestling team dropped a Southern Conference matchup at the Vadalabene Center to Chattanooga 29-10.
Chattanooga improved to 4-7 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon while SIUE dropped to 1-9 overall and 1-2 in the SoCon. Alumni weekend continues Sunday with a noon SoCon dual against Davidson at the Vadalabene Center.
"We knew there would be a lot of close matches," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "We just didn't find ways to win the tough wins. We were in our shots but didn't finish."
Van Velsor recorded a first-period fall over Chattanooga's Dalton Clark at 157 pounds. That pin in 2 minutes, 21 seconds broke a string of four straight losses by the Cougars and got SIUE back into the match.
"Karsten is doing a good job," said Spates. "He had a big pin to get us back into the dual meet scoring-wise. He's starting to grow into the weight class. It's nice to see him get some wins because he works hard in the room."
Jake Residori added a major decision at 174 pounds. He bested Sean Mappes 9-1.
"He comes away with a major over a really good kid," said Spates. "That's a major stepping stone for him."
The Cougars lost two overtime matches and three more matches by major decision. Spates said the Cougars need to turn it around for the Davidson match.
"The way we are wrestling we have to win those close matches," he said.
Chattanooga 29 SIUE 10
125 Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga) over Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) (MD 18-9)
133 Chris Debien (Chattanooga) over John Muldoon (SIUE) (Dec 16-11)
141 Chase Zemenak (Chattanooga) over Trevor Feagans (SIUE) (Dec 5-1)
149 Dylanger Potter (Chattanooga) over John Fahy (SIUE) (SV-1 7-3)
157 Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) over Dalton Clark (Chattanooga) (Fall 2:21)
165 Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) over Clayton Bass (SIUE) (Dec 11-4)
174 Jake Residori (SIUE) over Sean Mappes (Chattanooga) (MD 9-1)
184 Bryce Carr (Chattanooga) over Jake Godinez (SIUE) (Fall 3:19)
197 Ira Dent (Chattanooga) over Jake Tindle (SIUE) (SV-1 11-5)
285 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) over Jake McKiernan (SIUE) (MD 8-0)
