Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro men's wrestling team put 10 wrestlers on the podium Sunday as the Scots hosted the Bobby Kauffman Open inside McComb Fieldhouse.
The Scots had a pair of placers in the 165-pound weight class.
Max Kirby took the top spot opening the day with a fall over Mercyhurst's Jaden Crockett in 4:23. Kirby topped John Watson of Gannon 15-0 in just 53 seconds scoring a takedown and then scoring three four point turns for the tech fall. Kirby closed out the Open with an 8-5 victory over Purdue's Adrian Pellot.
Alaa Aly turned in a third-place performance at 165. He topped Watson 17-2 for the tech fall in 4:42. He dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Pellot. He responded with a 16-2 major decision over Crockett in his final match.
Four Fighting Scots brought home second-place finishes in
Gaven Suica,
Eli Makel,
Easton Belifore and
Jackson Koppers.
At 174, Koppers was joined by
Alwalid Bourkia who finished third. Koppers opened the day with a 16-1 tech fall over Mitchell Baronner of Gannon. He followed that with another 16-1 tech fall this time against Maxx Fesinger of Mercyhurst to advance to the final. In the final, Koppers dropped a 6-1 decision to Lock Haven's Connor Wetzel.
Bourkia notched a 19-3 tech fall over Shippensburg's Anthony Horiates in his first match. Wetzel topped Bourkia 17-2 in the semifinals. In the consolation semis, Bourkia advanced on a medical forfeit and closed out his day with a 22-2 tech fall over Kent State's Christopher Sanchez to place third.
At 149, the Scots had both the second and fourth place finishers in Suica and
Cheaney Schoeff. Suica started his day with an 8-3 decision over Bloomsburg's Jay Chase. Next up was an 18-1 tech fall over Xavier Dombkowski of Mercyhurst. In the quarters, Suica scored an 11-1 major decision over Buffalo's Patrick Grimsey. He advanced to the finals with an 11-5 decision over Terry Langley of West Virginia. Suica dropped an 11-4 decision to Jason Dube of the Spire Academy.
Schoeff came out firing in his opening match scoring a pin over Alec Baxely of Bloomsburg in just 39 seconds. He dropped a 4-2 decision to Langley in the quarters dropping to the consolation bracket. Schoeff scored a 13-7 decision over teammate
Dominic Ferraro in the first consolation bout. Schoeff scored a fall over Grimsey and reached the third-place match via medical redshirt. He had a rematch with Langley which he dropped 8-5 to place fourth.
Edinboro also placed two on the podium at 184 with Belifore taking second and
Tyson Clear placing fifth. Belifore scored a 1-0 victory over Gannon's Kellen Buggey. After falling behind 3-1 after the first period, Belifore took down Purdue's Quinn Herbert with 1:01 left in the third to claim a 5-4 decision. In the finals, Belifore dropped a 15-0 tech to Joseph Curtis of Columbia.
Clear dropped his opening match 19-4 to Herbert. In his first consolation match, Clear scored a 14-6 major over Buggey. In the consolation semifinals, Clear fell 8-1to Purdue's RJ Power. He claimed a medical forfeit to place fifth.
Makel started his day with a 4-1 win over Bloomsburg's Eliedxander Jarquin-Torres. In the quarters he took down John Duran of Gannon and put him on his back for the fall in 1:32. Makel advanced to the final with another fall this time of West Virginia's Elijah Hunter in 2:40. Makel was pinned by Columbia's Vincent Mueller.
The final place-winner for the Scots was Ben Fuller at 133. He started his day with pin of Parker Pikor of Kent State. Fuller scored an 8-2 decision over Bloomsburg's Gavin Mundy to advance to the semifinals. Lock Haven's Patrick O'Keefe scored a 16-6 major over Fuller sending him to the consolation bracket. In the consolation semis, Fuller fell 7-0 to Adan Benavidez of Kent State. He bounced back to take fifth with a fall over Lucas Fye of Lock Haven.
The Scots return to dual action on Jan. 10 when they travel to Edwardsville, Ill. to take on SIUE and Little Rock.
