NEWBERRY — Wolves’ wrestlers earned four wins, including a pair of falls and a major decision, in Thursday night’s Eastern College Athletic Conference dual against No. 23 UNC Pembroke, but the Braves took five decisions and a tech fall to eke out a 20-19 win and give Newberry its first conference duals loss of the season.
The Braves (6-6, 3-2 ECAC) became the first visiting team to win a regular home dual inside Eleazer Arena since No. 18 Carson-Newman took a 23-18 win on Nov. 10, 2006.
Newberry (11-9, 3-1 ECAC) came out of the gate with a bang. Trung Duong, ranked No. 7 nationally in the 125-pound weight class, earned a fall in 4:37 to give the Wolves a quick 6-0 lead. Eighth-ranked Jordan Simpson, following an impromptu haircut stemming from his hair being deemed too long to wrestle, upped the lead to 10-0 with a 10-2 major decision.
UNC Pembroke responded in earnest, earning four decisions and a tech fall over the next five bouts over the injury-depleted Wolves, to turn the early deficit into a 17-10 lead.
Notable for Newberry in the stretch was a late escape by Timmy Martinez, who gave up 2:52 of advantage time to his UNC Pembroke counterpart, with 10 seconds to spare in the third to trim the deficit at seven points and avoid a major decision.
Dennis Flores also had a gritty effort. Pressed into duty at 174 pounds, the junior from Hanahan squared off against Blaze Shade, the second-ranked wrestler nationally in the weight class. Flores performed admirably, limiting Shade to a single takedown and a 3-1 decision to keep the match within reach for Newberry.
Sixth-ranked Huston Evans wrestled up a weight class and defeated Mikey Thomas 5-3 to pull Newberry within four points at 17-13, but Makenna Cook delivered UNC Pembroke’s first dual win inside Eleazer Arena moments later with a 7-4 decision to cement the decision.
Undeterred by the outcome, Patton Gossett continued his hot streak with a fall in just 51 seconds to make the final score 20-19 in favor of the Braves.
The Wolves’ loss drops Newberry into a tie with Emmanuel for second in the ECAC standings at 3-1. Limestone completed their ECAC slate with a win over King Thursday evening and leads the conference at 5-1, with their only loss coming on Nick Weldon’s last-second takedown in Gaffney three weeks ago.
The Wolves travel to face Coker Monday before hosting Emmanuel in a critical dual next Thursday night.