LAKELAND, Fla.—After two wins over NCAA opponents in Alabama last week, wrestling will take on three tough NAIA programs in the third annual Fire Duals on Saturday.
On Fire:
In their last two matches, Southeastern dominated Huntingdon College and Greensboro College with victories of at least ten points in both duals.
The Fire, who are tied for the eighth rank in the country, were led by
Matthew Cates at the 165-pound weight class on the road trip. Cates went 2-0 on the day including a 9-1 decision over Deon Maxwell of Huntingdon en route to a 31-9 win. The freshman from Palm Bay, Florida improved to 13-4 on the season with the pair of victories.
Cumberland:
Southeastern will wrestle fellow Mid-South Conference member (RV) Cumberland University to begin the Fire Duals. Cumberland, who holds a 2-3 overall record, went 1-2 in their most recent showing with losses to No. 3 Indiana Tech and No. 15 Baker University before topping the University of Jamestown at the NWCA National Duals.
Despite the lack of team success, Shota Sisco, the No. 14 ranked wrestler at 157, continued his impressive freshman campaign with three decisions at the duals. The Pickerington, Ohio native posted an 8-6 decision over Indiana Tech's Jon Watkins and registered a 3-1 decision against Baker's Joseph Tallie. He then collected a 6-4 decision versus Jamestown's Justin Folsom.
Life:
At the conclusion of their match against Cumberland, the Fire will wrestle another Mid-South Conference foe in the Life University Eagles.
No. 7 Life University is coming off an impressive performance at the NWCA National Duals. Nosomy Pozo led the Running Eagles to a third-place place finish at the duals last week as Life took down Concordia, No. 4 University of the Cumberlands, and No. 2 Missouri Valley. Pozo, the third-best wrestler in the nation at 149, finished with a 4-0 record, with wins over the No. 5 and No. 9 wrestlers at 157 and the No. 15 wrestler at 165.
Indiana Tech:
Southeastern will finish off their duals with No. 3 Indiana Tech. The Warriors currently sit at 8-5; however, all five of their losses have been to teams that were ranked or receiving votes at the time of defeat and three of the losses were at the hands of a top-five opponent.
Though the Warriors turned in a sixth-place finish in the NWCA National Duals, the team picked up a comeback win against No. 11 Campbellsville. Indiana Tech will look for production from Mitch Roadruck, Tyler Moser, and Dylan Cain, who all scored massive points late in the 26-11 triumph.
History:
In last year's Fire Duals, Southeastern fell to Life and Cumberland, who were ranked No. 16 and No. 17, respectively, but notched a victory over Ouachita Baptist by a score of 30-21. The Fire are 2-3 in the Fire Duals all-time, with the other win coming against St. Andrew's University in the 2015-2016 inaugural year.
Coverage:
The Fire will take on Cumberland in the Fire Pit at 10 a.m. before battling with Life at 11:30 a.m. and wrestling Indiana Tech at 1 p.m.
Be sure to check out the live video through the link below.
Live Video
