RedStorm finishes 8th at Battle of the Bluegrass

Rio Grande Sports Information
     WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. - Five wrestlers representing the University of Rio Grande finished in the top eight of their respective weight classes during Friday's Battle of the Bluegrass, hosted by the University of the Cumberlands.
     Junior Bruce Wagers (Cincinnati, OH) led the way by taking fifth place in the 285-pound division, while junior Westyn Moyer (Urbana, OH) and junior Ashton Simison (Enon, OH) were sixth at 157 and 184 pounds, respectively.
     Junior Justin Bartee (Point Pleasant, WV) and sophomore Pate Eastin (Granger, IN) were seventh and eighth, respectively, at 174 pounds.
     As a team, Rio Grande finished eighth among the 12 participating schools.
     Wagers began his day by receiving a bye into the quarterfinals and then defeated Marian (Ind.) University's Michael Yerian by fall at 0:24.
     Wagers was then pinned by Life (Ga.) University's Nate Glass in the semifinal round at 0:50 before losing by fall at 4:36 to Ty Cobb of Lourdes (Ohio) University.
     Wagers finished the day by pinning Ralph Riche from St. Thomas (Fla.) University 61 seconds into their fifth-place match.
     Moyer started his day in grand fashion with a pin of Dalton Thorson of Waldorf (Iowa) University at 2:31 and 4-2 decision over Konlin Weaver from Life.
     But Moyer then lost a 12-3 major decision to Avant Stephenson of Life University, before foreiting to Scott Fitts from Indiana Tech in the consolation semis and losing by medical forfeit to St. Ambrose University's Diego Machado in the fifth-place bout.
     Simison started his day with a narrow 2-0 loss to Jairo Caceres of St. Thomas but, after a pair of byes, rebounded to defeat Kayden White of St. Ambrose University by fall at 1:15.
     Simison then came up on the short side of a 14-3 major decision to Indiana Tech's Michael Durham before losing by fall to Colin O'Grady from St. Ambrose at 0:30.
     Bartee's run began with a 12-5 decision over Caleb Davis of York (Neb.), but was followed with an 8-1 loss to TJ Huber from the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.).
     In the consolation bracket, Bartee defeated Marian's Evan Tilton by fall at 5:57 before being pinned Anthony Sartori of St. Ambrose at 2:25.
     That set up a get together with his teammate, Eastin, in the seventh-place match - a match which saw Bartee emerge victorious with a 4-1 decision.
     Eastin's path to the match with Bartee began with a pin of Waldrof's Nehemiah Pemberton at 3:59 before an 11-1 major decision loss to Leo Galasso of Indiana Tech.
     Eastin then won a 10-0 major decision against Davis, but was pinned Jeivan Ross of St. Thomas at 0:37 to precipitate the match with Bartee.
     Four others represented Rio Grande in the event.
     Junior Mackandle Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) and senior Mitchell Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) both collected one win at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
     Mackandle Freeman pinned Franco Cuccurelo of St. Andrews (NC) University at 6:12 of his opening match, while Mitchell Freeman - after receiving a first-round bye - pinned Shemar Barthelus of St. Thomas at 6:43.
     Freshman Davin Skinner (Olive Hill, KY) and senior Michael Peneski (Port Washington, NY) both went winless in the 165- and 285-pound brackets, respectively.
     Rio Grande tallied 54.5 points for eighth place, finishing one-half point behind Keiser (Fla.) University for seventh.
     Life University won the title with 227.5 points, while Indiana Tech was a distant second with 168 points. The University of the Cumberlands and Marian tied for third with 138.5 points.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday, Jan. 3, when it hosts Midway University for a Mid-South Conference dual at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Match time is set for 1 p.m.