PEMBROKE – Visiting St. Andrews used an 11-5 decision from Chauncey Foster to grab an early lead, but the 25th-ranked UNC Pembroke wrestling team came out on top in eight of the night's final nine matches, to post a 39-6 win over the Knights on Wednesday in the English E. Jones Center.
The triumph extended the win streak in dual meets for the Braves (9-4) out to eight – just one victory shy of the longest victory skein in school history (2002-03). The setback marked the third-straight loss for St. Andrews (6-7) who also fell to 0-8 all-time in the series with their U.S. 74 rivals.
"We gave up six points. At the end of the day that's something that we can try and build upon," said UNCP head coach Othello "O.T." Johnson. "We just need to do a better job of not going on our backs so early. We won some matches tonight, but I don't think we did things that we are capable of doing. I think there are a lot of things that we can improve on."
Foster gave the Knights a 3-0 lead on the team scoreboard with an 11-5 decision over Dontae Brown in the 125-pound bout, but the Braves moved ahead for good in the following bout when Cole Murray grabbed a win by injury default following a brutal head-to-head collision with Dashon Eure. All-American Daniel Ownbey's 19-6 major decision moments later would mark the second of six bonus-point victories on the night for the Black & Gold.
Kody Getkin held off a late comeback rally by Eric Milks in the 149-pound match to help the Knights cut into their deficit, but UNCP answered with a technical fall win by Justin Pencook (157 pounds) and an overtime decision from Reggie Allen (165) before rattling off three-straight pins from Blaze Shade (174), Brach Walker (184) and Stuart Nadeau (197) to put the final nails in the coffin. Chris Giddens finished off the night for the hosts with a tight 3-2 victory over Denzel Vaughan in the heavyweight matchup.
The Braves will return to action again on Thursday when they head to upstate South Carolina to take on Anderson (2-19) in the annual "Battle for the Belt" rivalry. Wrestling action is set to get underway at 7 p.m.
To watch the full match click PART 1 or PART 2.
#25 UNC Pembroke 39, St. Andrews 6
125: Chauncey Foster (SAU) dec. Dontae Brown (UNCP) D 11-5
133: Cole Murray (UNCP) inj. def. Dashon Eure (SAU) Def 2:46
141: No. 6 Daniel Ownbey (UNCP) maj. dec. Tyran Taylor (SAU) M 19-6
149: Kody Getkin (SAU) dec. Eric Milks (UNCP) D 6-5
157: Justin Pencook (UNCP) tech. fall James Green (SAU) TF5 22-6; 6:27
165: Reggie Allen (UNCP) dec. Jemson Villard (SAU) SV 7-5
174: Blaze Shade (UNCP) pinned Alex Knight (SAU) F 4:05
184: Brach Walker (UNCP) pinned Russell Lindsay (SAU) F 5:23
197: Stuart Nadeau (UNCP) pinned Dejuante Pabellon (SAU) F 4:43
285: Chris Giddens (UNCP) dec. Denzel Vaughan (SAU) D 3-2
Starting Weight: 125
Records: St. Andrews 6-7; UNC Pembroke 9-4
