LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On Thursday, January 6th your Mount St. Joseph University wrestling team competed against some of the best teams in the country at the NWCA National Duals. The Lions were seeded as #16 team facing the #1 Coe College first dropping the dual 27-16. After losing their first match the Lions were placed in the consolation bracket with a chance to place 5th. In the Lions next match they would faceoff against #9 Averett. But, the Lions would again fall short by a small margin dropping this dual 28-19. The Lions would wrestle one final exhibition match that was not included in the NWCA National Duals. The Mount would faceoff against the University of Dubuque in a highly contested dual falling via a tiebreaker 22-22.
Mount St. Joseph - 16 Coe College - 27
In the Lions first match
Jorden Zigo (Dayton, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) would receive a forfeit to put the Lions up 6-0 early.
Jake Cotsonas (Cincinnati, Ohio/Loveland) followed up the forfeit with a victory by decision. Cotsonas defeated his opponent 8-2 extending the Lions lead to 9-0. But, The Mount would drop the next 4 matches bringing up #1 174lb wrestler
Cornell Beachem (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) with the Lions trailing 18-9. Beachem would get the Lions back on track with an overtime victory 4-2 trimming the deficit to 18-12. Next up for the Lions was
Antonio McCloud (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder). McCloud ranked as the #6 184lb wrestler in the country was set to face Ryan Schott who currently is ranked #7 nationally. McCloud proved to be dominant defeating Schott by a major decision 15-7 trimming the Lions deficit again to 18-16. But, the Lions would drop the final two matches of the dual giving Coe College the victory.
Mount St. Joseph - 19 Averett - 28
To begin the Lions second dual
Jorden Zigo defeated his opponent 9-2 giving The Mount a 3-0 advantage. But, the Lions would drop their next 6 matches.
Antonio McCloud was the next wrestler to claim victory. McCloud was dominant in his second victory of the day defeating his opponent via pin in the second period. Following McCloud was
Cameron Sauerwein (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) at 197lbs. Sauerwein fought his way to a 6-2 victory to help the Lions trim the Averett lead. Finally, Freshman
Gary Powell (Mt. Orab, Ohio/Western Brown) wrestling his second collegiate match was able to pin his opponent early in the second period. But, that was not enough for the Lions as they fell to Averett 28-19.
Mount St. Joseph - 22 Dubuque - 22 (Tie Breaker: nonMaxPtMatchPts: 37.0 vs. 38.0)
The Lions would begin the dual dropping the first two matches creating an early 7-0 deficit. The Lions would respond with two key victories to get them back on track. 141lb
Desmond Diggs (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) would defeat his opponent 8-5 and 149lb
Vernell Hawkins (Hannibal, Mo./Labette Community College) would earn his first victory of the season defeating his opponent 5-4. But, the Lions would again drop the next two matches as the score now read 19-6. The Mount would again respond nicely winning the next two matches. This time it was 174lb
Patrick Sterrett (Indianapolis, Ind./Univ. of Indianapolis) and 184lb
Antonio McCloud. Sterrett pinned his opponent in the second period while McCloud earned his 3rd victory of the trip and 2nd major decision victory defeating his opponent 15-6. With two matches remaining The Mount only trails 16-19. The Lions would drop their next match via decision to increase Dubuque's lead to 22-16. Heading into the final match the Lions needed a victory by pin to tie. Lions heavyweight
Gary Powell headed to the mat and delivered just what the Lions needed. Powell was able to pin his opponent in the first period to tie the dual at 22. But, the Lions would fall via a tiebreaker to round out their time in Louisville.
Jorden Zigo was solid for the Lions receiving a forfeit against Coe College and earning a decision victory against Averett.
Antonio McCloud was the Lions rock winning all three of his matches, two by major decision and one by pin. Finally, Freshman
Gary Powell was terrific for the Lions winning both of his matches via pin to kickstart his season.
UP NEXT: Your Mount St. Joseph Lions travel to Alliance, Ohio to compete against the University of Mount Union on Sunday, January 16th. Please continue to tune into msjlions.com for coverage of your MSJ wrestling team and all MSJ Athletics.
