LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fire were within a point of a shut out Wednesday morning. Southeastern University grapplers recorded five falls, dropped only a one-point decision and dominated No. 18 Central Methodist, 46-3, in the opening of the Fire Duals wrestling event.
The quintet of SEU wrestlers Brodie Christmas, Drew Jones, Mario De La Torre, Trace Braun and Gage Braun pinned their Central Methodist opponents to highlight the strong effort. In fact, the Fire won each of its nine bouts via bonus points with major decisions by Aaron Lucio, Ryan Bennett, Graham Calhoun and Gentry Smith for the 46-point team score.
Starting the match for SEU (3-0), Christmas wasted no time in securing his team's first six points. After he took a 12-3 lead in the opening moments, the 125-pounder took down Brian Hill for a third time and recorded the fall in 1:39.
At 133, Lucio quickly went out to a 6-1 lead in the first period and extended it to 9-2 with another takedown of Arojac Hart in the second period. Lucio took Hart to the mat two more times in the third and took away a 17-5 major decision.
Jones kept the ball rolling in the 141-bout against Gavin Shoush. The Fire wrestler held a 3-1 lead following the first takedown and turned his second takedown into a fall at 2:40 of the first period to extend the lead to 16-0.
In the 149 match, De La Torre held a 5-0 advantage over Alex Walker after five minutes of action. Walker recorded a takedown in the third period, but De La Torre reversed him and finished the match via fall at 6:31.
Bennett started the 157 match with a flurry of two takedowns and a four-point near fall for a 10-2 lead over Drake Jenkins. Still leading 11-2 heading to the third, Bennett added a final 3-point takedown for the 14-3 major decision final.
In the quickest matchup of the morning, Trace Braun went in for the takedown, let Jace Brownlow up and took him down right away again for the fall in only 1:10 of the 165-meeting.
At 174, Calhoun made it the lucky 7-wins in a row as he turned a 3-0 lead on Roman Garcia to 7-0 in the second and then a 10-0 final with a third takedown for the major decision.
In what was arguably the most exciting bout of the match, Central Methodist edged out its only win. Sincere Hall-Osborne and SEU's Jeffrey Geller had a back-and-forth 184-pound meeting. Hall-Osborne went out to a 6-2 first-period lead and saw Geller battle back to within two, 9-7, in the middle of the second. With a 13-8 score going to the final two minutes, Geller took down his foe and tied the match at 14-14 on a 3-point near fall. Hall-Osborne literally escaped with the decision, earning one point for eluding the grasp of Geller for the 15-14 final.
Smith made sure the Eagles did not get any momentum in the final two matchups. At 197, the Fire wrestler turned a 3-1 lead into a 10-2 advantage after a takedown and 4-point second-period near fall. The SEU upper-weight had a final 3-point takedown and took away the 15-3 major decision.
In the heavyweight finale, Greg Braun helped SEU finish the same way it started the morning. Tied at 1-1 heading to the second, Braun escaped, took down Austin Foye and turned it into a 4-point near fall for a 9-1 score. Braun ran his lead to 15-2 before he registered the fall in 6:55.
SEU 46, No. 13 Central Methodist 3
125: Brodie Christmas (SOEA) over Brian Hill (CMU) (Fall 1:39) – SEU 6-0
133: Aaron Lucio (SOEA) over Arojae Hart (CMU) (MD 17-5) – SEU 10-0
141: Drew Jones (SOEA) over Gavin Shoush (CMU) (Fall 2:40) – SEU 16-0
149: Mario De La Torre (SOEA) over Alex Walker (CMU) (Fall 6:31) – SEU 22-0
157: Ryan Bennett (SOEA) over Drake Jenkins (CMU) (MD 14-3) – SEU 26-0
165: Trace Braun (SOEA) over Jace Brownlow (CMU) (Fall 1:10) – SEU 32-0
174: Graham Calhoun (SOEA) over Roman Garcia (CMU) (MD 10-0) – SEU 36-0
184: Sincere Hall-Osbourne (CMU) over Jeffrey Geller (SOEA) (Dec 15-14) – SEU 36-3
197: Gentry Smith (SOEA) over Jacob Ruff (CMU) (MD 15-3) – SEU 40-3
285: Gage Braun (SOEA) over Austin Foye (CMU) (Fall 6:55) – SEU 46-3
Other Exhibition Matches:
133 – Blaine Jones (SEU) over Couper Deckard (CMU) by Dec 13-9
141 – Jackson Crawford (SEU) over Weston Ward (CMU) by MD 12-1
149 – Joseph Kindred (SEU) over Jared Wright (CMU) by Fall 0:37
149 – Chris Kelly (SEU) over Nevertesonne Lahens (CMU) by Dec 4-1
157 – Michael Shannon (SEU) over Peyton Asbury (CMU) by Dec 7-1
157 – Konner Schluckebier (SEU) over Lane Patterson (CMU) by Tech Fall 19-4 4:51
157 – Kai Shultz (SEU) over Mark Whalen (CMU) by Tech Fall 15-0 1:58
197 – Ralph Sanchez (SEU) over Jake Henson (CMU) by Dec 7-3
