Wrestling Finishes 10th At Prestigious Midwest Classic

INDIANAPOLIS – Two-time all-American Daniel Ownbey got the short end of another epic battle with his biggest rival in the championship match, but the 11th-ranked UNC Pembroke wrestling team still managed a 10th place finish at the 35th Midwest Classic on Sunday afternoon inside Nicoson Hall on the campus of the University of Indianapolis.

The runner-up finish marked the 13th place-winning performance of the Ownbey's career. Chris Giddens used late-match heroics to capture fifth place at 285 pounds, while Blaze Shade (174 pounds) and Brach Walker (184) both came away with sixth place marks in their respective tournaments. The Braves tallied 59-1/2 team points to finish 10th at the event – their fourth-straight top 10 finish at the Midwest Classic.

Ownbey fell to 3-6 all-time against Newberry's B.J. Young in another epic battle between the region's top two wrestlers at 141 pounds. Young forged a 10-0 lead at the end of the first period, but Ownbey climbed back in a hurry and cut his deficit to just two points, 19-17, early in the third period. Young, however, would post an escape, a takedown and 3-point near fall in the final 90 seconds en route to a 26-17 major decision.

Shade controlled each of the first two periods with Lindenwood's John McCardle and took nearly 2-1/2 minutes of riding time into the third period. Shade opted for the down position to begin the third period, and padded his lead out to 5-1 just three seconds into the final stanza, but McCardle turned the tide a short time later, using a takedown and a 3-point near fall to surge ahead, 6-5, before pinning Shade seconds later (5:52).

Fifth-ranked Kyle Piatt registered two takedowns in the opening period, and then strung together an escape, takedown and 3-point near fall early in the second period to take control of his battle with Walker in the fifth place contest at 184 pounds. Walked used a second-period escape, as well as a takedown early in the third period to climb to within six points, 10-4, but Piatt scored the bout's final four points to come away with a 14-4 major decision.

Giddens grabbed a takedown 33 seconds into his fifth place heavyweight matchup with Upper Iowa's Logan Hopp, and led 3-1 after an escape seconds into the second stanza. Hopp tallied a takedown midway through the second period to tie things up, and the two traded escapes over the bout's next 30 seconds to stay at a 4-4 standstill. Giddens would come away with the late-match dramatics, however, by registering a takedown with 13 seconds left en route to the 6-5 decision.

The Black & Gold will be back in action again on January 4, when it returns home to host the inaugural Braves Open inside the English E. Jones Center. Wrestling action is set to get underway at 9 a.m.

35TH MIDWEST CLASSIC (UNCP Results Only)

125
Chris Paulus (Upper Iowa) dec. Dontae Brown (UNCP) D 5-0
Immanuel Henderson (Brewton-Parker) dec. Dontae Brown (UNCP) D 3-1

133
Stephen Pastor (Tiffin) maj. dec. Cole Murray (UNCP) M 15-2
Colby Yates (Limestone) dec. Cole Murray (UNCP) D 9-2

141
No. 5 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) pinned Drew Harbinson (Baker) F 3:43
No. 5 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) pinned Joe Hoy (East Stroudsburg) F 3:42
No. 5 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) maj. dec. Wayne Black (Mt. St. Joe) M 15-4
* No. 5 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) dec. Wismit Moinius (Lindsey Wilson) D 3-1
* No. 4 B.J. Young (Newberry) maj. dec. No. 5 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) M 26-17

149
No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) dec. Connor Middleton (Baker) D 10-5
Brent Fickel (Ashland) dec. No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) D 6-3
No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) maj. dec. Dalton Nicely (Findlay) M 16-5
Sam Viengmany (Tiffin) dec. No. 8 Justin Pencook (UNCP) D 10-7

157
Josh Ballard (McKendree) pinned Reggie Allen (UNCP) F 4:16
Reggie Allen (UNCP) maj. dec. Isaac King (Cumberlands) M 8-0
Tyler Green (Ohio Valley) dec. Reggie Allen (UNCP) D 8-5

165
Faris Teia (UNCP) dec. Matthew Farmer (Limestone) D 4-1
Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) dec. Faris Teia (UNCP) D 3-2
Josh Thomson (Central Missouri) dec. Faris Teia (UNCP) D 4-2

174
No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) maj. dec. Shane Hendrickson (Trine) M 12-3
No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) dec. Tyler Tesny (Lake Erie) D 6-3
No. 2 Elliott Copeland (Western State) dec. No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) D 2-0
No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) maj. dec. Erick Gomez (Lindsey Wilson) M 9-1
* No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) dec. Tanner Saraceno (Limestone) D 8-2
* Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) dec. No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) D 8-1
* John McCardle (Lindenwood) pinned No. 5 Blaze Shade (UNCP) F 5:52

184
Brach Walker (UNCP) dec. Luke DeLuise (East Stroudsburg) D 7-6
No. 3 Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) dec. Brach Walker (UNCP) D 7-3
Brach Walker (UNCP) dec. Eddie Bernal (Cumberlands) D 3-1
* Brach Walker (UNCP) pinned Jared Holliday (Newberry) F 3:44
* Trey Hicks (Life) dec. Brach Walker (UNCP) D 3-2
* No. 5 Kyle Piatt (Western State) maj. dec. Brach Walker (UNCP) M 14-4

197
Sam Mangum (Western State) maj. dec. Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) M 9-1
Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) maj. dec. Kobina Henriques (Ohio Valley) M 10-0
Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) dec. Robert Parland (Coker) D 5-3
Taylor Scott (Indianapolis) pinned Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) F 4:51

285
Austin Akins (Coker) dec. No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) TB1 4-2
No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Jacob Roza (Life) D 7-4
No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Garrett Fosdyck (King) D 5-1
No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Evan Wooding (Indianapolis) D 5-2
* No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Austin Akins (Coker) RT 4-3, 2 OT
* No. 7 Donnell Walker (Maryville) dec. No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) D 5-4
* No. 8 Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Logan Hopp (Upper Iowa) D 6-5