LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fire finished the 2024 part of the schedule in style. Southeastern University made it a clean sweep of three ranked opponents with nine-match wins and prevailed over No. 23 Cornerstone University, 39-6.
Starting the dual, Cornerstone's Trevor Marsman took down Brodie Christmas in the early part of the first period before he secured the pin in 1:43 for the early visitor lead, 6-0. From then on out, it was all Fire, as they did not come up on the short end in any of the other nine bouts.. Graham Calhoun (174) highlighted the SEU (5-0) effort with a fall, while the team received tech fall victories from Chris Kelly (149), Brayden Emerme (184), and Noah Winder (285).
Andrew Voiles went out to a 6-1 first-period lead over 133-pound Devan Johnson. Voiles added a third takedown in the third period and had a final riding-time point for an 11-2 major decision to get the SEU winning run going.
At 141, Drew Jones had a similar match to Voiles. Jones took an identical 6-1 advantage over Ian Boden, gave up a second-frame takedown, but had his third in the final two minutes on his way to an 11-5 decision.
In the 149-weight class, Kelly started a run of five-straight extra-point wins. Kelly wasted no time in taking control with four takedowns and a 4-point near fall in the first period for a 16-4 lead over Luke Jaworski. Kelly wrapped up his tech fall of 22-6 in 4:26 with another pair of second-period takedowns.
Anthony Federico took on the Golden Eagles' Thade Radosa and the two 157-pounders were scoreless after one frame. Federico recorded the bouts first and only takedown in the second, before he added two more in the third along with a riding-time point for a 12-4 major decision and SEU 16-6 team lead.
In his first action of the day, Izac Martinez took to the 165-class mat against Cooper Mansfield. The Fire wrestler made the most of his action with three takedowns in the first three minutes and two more in the second for a commanding lead of his 17-8 major decision.
At 174, Calhoun provided the biggest home applause in the first period of his match with Joseph Lashuay. After already having one takedown, Calhoun took down Lashuay down for a second time and didn't let him up again, securing the fall in only 2:24.
Brayden Emerine, who also saw his first mat time of the day, did not disappoint either. Emerinee pounced on Brady Heckathorn not one, twice, or three times, but six times along with a match-ending 4-point near fall for a 23-5 tech fall in only 1:37 off the clock.
In the 197-weight class, Trillyon Fils-Aime kept the SEU momentum in early starts going into his meeting with Cornerstone's Jackson Turner. Fils-Aime went out to a 6-2 first-period edge and did not give up a point in the final two periods of his 8-2 decision.
Showing the team's depth, heavyweight Noah Winder kept pace with his 285-pound teammate from earlier in the day against Stephos Georgiou. With a slim 3-0 lead after one, Winder extended the difference with a pair of takedowns in the second to a 10-1 lead, before he wrapped up the day by outscoring his foe, 9-4, in the final frame for the 19-4 tech fall in 7:00.
SEU will enjoy the Christmas break before it traveling to the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Friday and Saturday, January 10-11.
SEU 39, No. 23 Cornerstone 6
125: Trevor Marsman (Cor) over Brodie Christmas (SOEA) (Fall 1:43) – Cor 6-0
133: Andrew Voiles (SOEA) over Devan Johnson (Cor) (MD 11-2) – Cor 6-4
141: Drew Jones (SOEA) over Ian Boden (Cor) (Dec 11-5) – SEU 7-6
149: Chris Kelly (SOEA) over Luke Jaworski (Cor) (TF 22-6 4:26) – SEU 12-6
157: Anthony Federico (SOEA) over Thade Radosa (Cor) (MD 12-4) – SEU 16-6
165: Izac Martinez (SOEA) over Cooper Mansfield (Cor) (MD 17-8) – SEU 20-6
174: Graham Calhoun (SOEA) over Joseph Lashuay (Cor) (Fall 2:24) – SEU 26-6
184: Brayden Emerine (SOEA) over Brady Heckathorn (Cor) (TF 23-5 1:37) – SEU 31-6
197: Trillyon Fils-Aime (SOEA) over Jackson Turner (Cor) (Dec 8-2) – SEU 34-6
285: Noah Winder (SOEA) over Stephos Georgiou (Cor) (TF 19-4 7:00) – SEU 39-6
Exhibition Match
133: Aaron Lucio (SOEA) over Thomas Zielinski (Cor) (TF 21-5 4:21)
149: Joseph Kindred (SOEA) over Daniel Busch (Cor) (TF 22-5 4:52)
157: Lane Reardon (SOEA) over Tacho Gonzales (Cor) (Fall 1:48)
