CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jacob Godinez and Clayton Bass each recorded pins Thursday as SIUE wrestling routed The Citadel 31-9 at McAlister Field House.
"It was a hard-fought team victory up and down the lineup," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "We wrestled well and were offensive."
SIUE, competing at the site of next month's Southern Conference Championships, got off to a flying start in the opening matches with a pair of major decisions. SIUE's Freddie Rodriguez defeated Charles Kearney 15-5 at 125 pounds. John Muldoon added a dominant victory at 133 pounds for the Cougars with a 16-3 win over Andrew Szalwinski.
"Freddie comes out and gets bonus points right away, and John Muldoon followed up with bonus points too. That was huge," noted Spates.
The Cougars improved to 4-10 overall and 4-2 in the SoCon. The Citadel dropped to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the SoCon.
John Fahy kept the Cougars cruising at 149 pounds with a 6-2 win over Tyler Buckiso.
"John had a big win over a tough kid," said Spates. "He hasn't been wrestling well so that was big for him."
Bass gave SIUE fans a clear-cut victory at 165 pounds with a fall in 4 minutes, 23 seconds over Ruston Hill II. After SIUE's Jake Residori blanked Martin Duane 18-0 for a technical fall at 174 pounds, Godinez pumped up the Cougar bench with his first SoCon triumph, a pin at the third-period buzzer over Chandler Sambets.
Jake McKiernan close out the dual with a 4-3 win over Joseph Bexley. It was McKiernan's team-leading 22nd victory of the season.
SIUE continues this road trip Saturday with an 11 a.m. CT dual at Campbell.
Complete Results
125 Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) over Charles Kearney (The Citadel) (MD 15-5)
133 John Muldoon (SIUE) over Andrew Szalwinski (The Citadel) (MD 16-3)
141 Douglas Gudenburr (The Citadel) over Trevor Feagans (SIUE) (Dec 6-4)
149 John Fahy (SIUE) over Tyler Buckiso (The Citadel) (Dec 6-2)
157 Aaron Walker (The Citadel) over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) (Dec 10-5)
165 Clayton Bass (SIUE) over Ruston Hill II (The Citadel) (Fall 4:23)
174 Jake Residori (SIUE) over Martin Duane (The Citadel) (TF 18-0 5:00)
184 Jake Godinez (SIUE) over Chandler Sambets (The Citadel) (Fall 7:00)
197 Sawyer Root (The Citadel) over Jake Tindle (SIUE) (Dec 3-2)
285 Jake McKiernan (SIUE) over Joseph Bexley (The Citadel) (Dec 4-3)
