No. 25 Wrestling Charges Past Central Florida At Virginia Duals

HAMPTON, Va. – The 25th-ranked UNC Pembroke wrestling team utilized a pair of forfeits and five pins to coast past Central Florida in the opening match of the prestigious Virginia Duals on Friday morning inside the Hampton Coliseum.

The triumph marked the third-straight dual meet victory for UNCP (4-4) who also improved to 3-2 all-time against the Knights (1-3). The win also advanced the Braves through to Saturday's semifinal matchup against Ferrum who held off Liberty, 19-18, in its Friday morning contest.

UNCP traded forfeit wins in the first two matches of the day, but the Braves took the lead for good moments later when fourth-ranked Daniel Ownbey tallied a 17-2 technical fall over UCF's Junior Francois. Ownbey's win was the first of three-straight individual wins for the Black & Gold who took a 23-6 lead at the midway point of the matchup.

Central Florida closed to within 11 points on the team scoreboard with consecutive decisions at 165 and 174 pounds, but the Braves closed the bout with three-straight pins to provide the final score.

Saturday's semifinal matchup with Ferrum (2-1) at the Virginia Duals is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

No. 25 UNC Pembroke 41, Central Florida 12
125: Christopher Fox (UCF) forfeit No Entry (UNCP) For
133: Cole Murray (UNCP) forfeit No Entry (UNCP) For
141: No. 4 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) tech. fall Junior Francois (UCF) TF 17-2; 4:30
149: Eric Milks (UNCP) pinned Andrew Doobay (UCF) F 2:27
157: Justin Pencook (UNCP) forfeit No Entry (UCF) For
165: Santiago Martinez (UCF) dec. Reggie Allen (UNCP) D 5-0
174: Sean Mann (UCF) dec. Ridge White (UNCP) OT 11-9
184: Blaze Shade (UNCP) pinned Thomas Knight (UCF) F 1:47
197: Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) pinned Davin Morris (UCF) F 5:46
285: Chris Giddens (UNCP) pinned Joshua Woods (UCF) F 6:06
Starting Weight: 125
Records: UNC Pembroke 4-4; Central Florida 1-3