DAVIDSON, N.C. - SIUE wrestling completed a weekend sweep Saturday with a 34-6 triumph at Davidson.
SIUE, 5-11 overall and 3-2 in Southern Conference matches, won all nine of the matches contested. Davidson, 1-9 overall and 0-4 in the SoCon, accepted a forfeit at 174 pounds.
The Cougars opened the match with a pair of pins. SIUE 125-pounder Zac Gentzler dispatched Michael McClelland in 1 minute, 49 seconds. John Muldoon followed that with a 133-pound fall over Davidson's Zamir Ode in 6:49.
"Zac came out, stayed on his offense and got an early pin. That kind of set the tone for the dual," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "John got a pin late in his match, which is good although he was on his way to getting a technical fall anyway."
Three close matches that went down to the final buzzer pushed SIUE further ahead. Angelo Silvestro gained a third-period escape and used accumulated riding time to defeat Dustin Runzo 7-6 at 141 pounds. Tyshawn Williams bested Aidan McCoy at 149 pounds 5-2. Karsten Van Velsor used a takedown in overtime to top Tony Palumbo 3-1.
Nate Higgins extended his winning streak to seven matches with a major decision at 165 pounds, an 11-3 win over Hunter Costa.
SIUE closed out the dual with three more victories. Bryce Shewan outlasted Conor Fenn 13-11 at 184 pounds. Christian Dulaney downed Konner Pritchard at 197 pounds 10-3. Tommy Helton earned the only takedown in the third period and beat Will Cooley 3-1.
"As we have been talking about all year, we want to be offensive but at the same time we want to things technically right," said Spates. "The guys did a good job because this is a long road trip. There were double weigh-ins so it's hard to focus mentally and make sure you are doing the right things. We wrestled whistle to whistle and did a lot of things we work on in practice so it was a good match all around."
The Cougars are now idle until Feb. 11 when it closes out the SoCon season with a triangular meet at the Vadalabene Center with Campbell and VMI.
SIUE 34 Davidson 6
125: Zac Gentzler (SIUE) pinnned Michael McClelland (Davidson), 1:49
133: John Muldoon (SIUE) pinned Zamir Ode (Davidson), 6:49
141: Angelo Silvestro (SIUE) def. Dustin Runzo (Davidson), 7-6
149: Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) def. Aidan Conroy (Davidson), 5-2
157: Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) def. Tony Palumbo (Davidson), SV-1 3-1
165: Nate Higgins (SIUE) def. Hunter Costa (Davidson), 11-3
174: Noah Satterfield (Davidson) won by forfeit
184: Bryce Shewan (SIUE) over Conor Fenn (Davidson), 13-11
197: Christian Dulaney (SIUE) over Konner Pritchard (Davidson), 10-3
285: Tommy Helton (SIUE) def. Will Cooley (Davidson), 3-1
Records: SIUE 5-11, 3-2 SoCon; Davidson 1-9, 0-4
