LAKELAND, Fla. – It was an early season battle of ranked opponents on Friday night, as No. 3 Southeastern University decisively won the final four bouts, securing victory over No. 12 Reinhardt University, 26-10, at The Fire Pit.
Tied at 10-10, No. 2-ranked Graham Calhoun of SEU showed his muscle over No. 25 Wyatt Higgins in an 8-2 decision at the 174-pound weight class and the home squad never trailed from there.
At 184, Jeffrey Geller continued the second part of the four-match run as he had his way with the Eagles' Christian Brock, 18-1, for a tech fall. No. 8 Gentry Smith worked over Reinhardt's 197-pounder, No. 13 John Lovett, to a 12-7 decision, for a 21-10 team score and sealed the home victory.
In the final bout at 285, the Fire's No. 2-ranked Gage Braun provided the final excitement in The Fire Pit with the second tech fall in three weight classes with a 17-2 score over the Eagles' Caleb Pruitt.
Reinhardt started the night strong with the first bout victory by bonus points as No. 8 Lee Camp at 125 prevailed over SEU's Brodie Christmas via a 15-5 major decision and 4-0 team lead.
SEU bounced back in the next two weight classes. No. 18 Aaron Lucio had the first matchup of ranked grapplers against No. 20 Angel Banda and took away the 9-2 decision for the home team to cut the deficit to a single point, 4-3.
At 141, No. 3-rated Kael Brisker stayed hot with a solid major decision, 16-6, over Garrett Pace for the Fire's first lead, 7-4.
For the first time of the dual, Reinhardt claimed a ranked match win. No. 10 Devin Griffen put together an 11-4 decision over No. 11 Chris Kelly at 149 for a 7-7 deadlock.
The night's upset came at 157. SEU's unranked Ryan Bennett toppled No. 2 Trevor Burdick by a 10-6 decision win and gave his team a 10-7 edge.
The Eagles won their second of the five ranked battles at 165. No. 5 Matt Jenkins won a defensive battle with SEU's No. 10 Anthony Federico in a 4-1 decision for a 10-10 tie heading into the final four matchups.
SEU travels back to Georgia next Saturday when they head to the Life University Open in Marietta, Ga.
