DEFIANCE, Ohio - On Wednesday, February 16th your Mount St. Joseph Lions traveled to Defiance College to compete in the HCAC Duals. The Lions first faced off against the Spartans of Manchester followed by the hosting team, the Yellow Jackets of Defiance College. The Lions were dominant in their first match dropping only two matches taking down the Spartans by a score of 38-9. In the Lions second match they fell down 22-0 early but battled back with victories in five straight matches to secure the win by a score of 25-22.
THE MOUNT - 38 MANCHESTER - 9
After a defeat in the first match followed by one forfeit from the Lions and two forfeits from Manchester the score read 12-9.
Judah Thomas (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) got things rolling for the Lions after a great start to his season this past weekend. Thomas was dominant defeating his opponent 15-0 in the second period. Top ranked
Cornell Beachem (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods) was next on the mat and continued to do what he does best, win. Beachem worked quickly pinning his opponent in the first period as the Lions extended their lead to 23-9. Following Beachem was #6
Antonio McCloud (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) in the 184lb weight class. McCloud battled and defeated his opponent by a score of 5-4 to keep the Lions rolling. Nathaniel "Cookie" Armstrong (Dayton, Ohio/Alter) was next for The Mount adding another dominant win. Armstrong pinned his opponent in the second period making the Lion lead 32-9.
Gary Powell (Mt. Orab, Ohio/Western Brown) wrapped up the Lions first dual with a quick victory. Powell pinned his opponent in just over a minute giving the Lions the 38-9 victory.
THE MOUNT - 25 DEFIANCE - 22
The Lions got off to a slow start in their second dual dropping their first four matches including a forfeit. Heading into the 165 llb match the Lions trailed 22-0. But, Freshman
Judah Thomas would flip the momentum with a dominant and quick match. Thomas pinned his opponent just 36 seconds into the match trimming the Lions deficit to 22-6. #1
Cornell Beachem was next and did more of the same pinning his opponent in the first period. The Lions deficit was cut again, trailing 22-12. #6
Antonio McCloud followed Beachem with another impressive performance. McCloud took care of business quickly pinning his opponent in the first period trimming the Lions deficit to just 4. Next for The Mount was Nathaniel "Cookie" Armstrong in the 197lb weight class. Armstrong kept the momentum on the Lions side with a 22-8 major decision victory setting up a winner take all match in the heavyweight class.
Cameron Sauerwein (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) was the last Lion to take the mat with the dual score tied at 22. Sauerwein did not back down under pressure defeating his opponent by a narrow score of 2-1 to give the Lions the victory and the sweep over the HCAC.
The Lions wrestled one extra match versus Defiance which was not counted towards the dual score. The Mount's
Gary Powell stepped onto the mat and dominated. Powell pinned his opponent in the second period giving him his 8 victory of the season all via the pin.
UP NEXT:
Your Mount St. Joseph Lions travel to Adrian, Mich. on Saturday and Sunday February 26th & 27th to compete at the NCAA Regionals at Adrian College. Please continue to tune into msjlions.com for coverage of your MSJ wrestling team and all MSJ Athletics.
