CINCINNATI, Ohio - Your Mount St. Joseph wrestling team welcomed the Scots of Alma College and the Wildcats of Penn College to the Harrington Center this Thursday. The Lions controlled both duals and dominated on the mat defeating Alma 38-14 and Penn 36-13.
MSJ vs Alma
Freshman Tariq Hornbuckle (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista) got things started for the Lions. He dominated his opponent and came out with a 22-6 technical fall victory. Next was fellow freshman Jabari Thomas (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) who controlled his opponent early and was able to pin his opponent with 1 minute remaining in the first period. With the Lions lead now 11-0 sophomore Kaden Darbro (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) ended his match with a victory of 11-4. Alma did finally get on the board but sophomore Charles Lipps got the Lions rolling again, pinning his opponent with only 5 seconds left in the second period. With the score now showing 20-8 in favor of MSJ, freshman Austin Belcher (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) was able to get a pin with 1 minute remaining in the 3rd period. Belcher's pin was then followed up by two more. The first one coming from sophomore Cornell Beachem Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) in the 184lb weight class, pinning his opponent in the first period. Then fellow sophomore Antonio McCloud (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) was able to pin his opponent in the 197lb weight class, in the first period. After dropping the last match the Lions ran away with the dual with the final score showing MSJ 38 and Alma 14.
MSJ vs Penn
Again the freshman Hornbuckle got things started for the Lions. Hornbuckle flexed his strength with a dominant 16-1 technical fall victory. Next was again Jabari Thomas. This time Thomas didn't allow a point to his opponent as he controlled the whole match giving him a 12-0 major decision victory. After MSJ dropped back-to-back matches the score was knotted up at 9-9. But the sophomore Lipps would spoil the tie and give MSJ a 15-9 lead with a 55 second pin. Following him was freshman Amar Thomas (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield). Thomas battled for his victory as he escaped with 7-3 win. Next up was the sophomore Beachem Jr. who this time wrestled at the 174lb weight class and still dominated with a pin in the second period. McCloud would get the Lions back on track after dropping a match with a pin in the 2nd period. Finally, sophomore Cameron Sauerwein (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) in his only match of the day, absolutely dominated his opponent by pinning him in the first period. The dual would come to a close with a score of MSJ 36 and Penn 13.
The Lions hope to ride their momentum going into this weekend where they will travel to Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, December 21st to compete at the Gator Boots Dual. Continue to check out MSJSports.com for more updates on the rest of the Lions 2019-20 season!
