LAKELAND, Fla.—With a 3-4 record in January, you might think there's more cause for concern than excitement.
Taking a closer look at the schedule, results, and individual results will help you understand why the ceiling for the 10
th-ranked Fire wrestling team is higher than ever.
The Fire have wrestled three Top 5 teams over their last four matches, which included an impressive 33-6 win over then-No. 5 Oklahoma City, and a 16-15 loss to Life on criteria. Life just a week earlier, finished second at the NWCA National Team Duals.
From an individual standpoint, the Fire have had some big wins over the past couple weeks with
Isaac Crowell,
Jaquan English,
Andreus Bond, and
Alton Meeks each beating a Top 5 wrestler.
Meeks has found his stride, wrestling folkstyle for the first time in over a decade. Last Saturday, he was a 4-0 winner against fifth-ranked Andre Bissaithe a week after beating previous No. 5 Ashton Mutuwa, 9-4. In the latest ranking, Meeks is the highest-ranked heavyweight in program history, checking in at eighth.
"I had a lot of rust to knock off and had to get used to the handfighting," said Meeks. "You get tired wrestling Greco, but it's a different kind of tired than folkstyle. Greco is a good base for everything since you can handfight and ware people down."
On the team side of things, despite wrestling its most difficult dual schedule in program history, Southeastern set a program record for dual meet wins with its 13
th of the year last Saturday. In 20 duals this year, the Fire have faced 12 Top 20 teams, and four of those have been in the Top 5.
Cumberland is 8-5 in dual matches this season and is 1-4 in Mid-South Conference matches. The Fire won last year's battle in Tennessee by the score of 28-10.
The Phoenix boast fifth-ranked sophomore Nathan Walton at 174, who placed seventh at NAIA Nationals last year. The Fire will counter with freshman
Coleman Bryant, who is ranked 13
th and has a team-high 19 wins this season.
The match begins at 10 a.m. in The Fire Pit.
