EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Six Vikings placed at their weight class as the Cleveland State University wrestling team opened the month of December at the Cougar Clash Sunday inside SIUE's Vadalabene Center.
Redshirt senior Armando Torres placed fifth at 133 pounds, redshirt sophomore Nico O'Dor placed fifth at 157, senior John Vaughn placed fourth at 165, junior Chris Morrow placed sixth at 184, freshman Ben Smith placed sixth at 197 and junior Collin Kelly placed fourth at 285.
Vaughn placed for the second straight event as CSU competed in a field that included three nationally ranked squads.
Vaughn had built a 6-3 lead and was in the top position in his opening bout Sunday when his opponent was no longer able to continue due to injury. After dropping a match to a top-10 opponent from Arizona State in the quarterfinals, the senior rebounded nicely.
Vaughn won three straight matches over foes from Arizona State, Kent State and SIUE. In the match against the Golden Flashes, Vaughn secured a takedown with 15 seconds left to break a 2-2 tie. He then held off a late charge against an opponent from the host school to claim a 12-10 victory before dropping the third-place bout. Vaughn now owns nine wins despite missing the season-opening event.
Kelly used a third-period takedown to break a 1-1 tie in his opening match en route to a 3-2 win. After losing to a top-15 opponent in the semifinals, Kelly rallied to defeat an opponent from Arizona State. He entered the final period trailing by a point but quickly tied it before securing another third-period takedown to secure a second 3-2 victory. He lost his final match via a 5-2 decision.
O'Dor picked up a pair of wins over Big Ten opponents at 157 while Torres won two matches against Chattanooga at 133, including a major decision. Torres now has 12 wins on the season while O'Dor reached double digits with his effort Sunday.
Smith picked up a win over a Kent State opponent Sunday while his setbacks all came via decisions.
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Lathem and senior Sam Matzek both picked up pins on the day, the former against a Kent State opponent and the latter against one from Chattanooga. Redshirt freshman Chase Archangelo netted a win over a Big Ten foe at 157 pounds at the event.
Both of CSU's participants at 174 pounds faced top-10 opponents in their first bout, including redshirt sophomore Colton Carroll facing reigning national champion Zahid Valencia.
A small contingent of Vikings also competed at the Storm Open Sunday, with redshirt freshman Andrew Murphy netting a win at 157 pounds.
Cleveland State will host its home opener next Sunday, Dec. 9. The Vikings will welcome Otterbein before traveling to John Carroll later in the day.
CSU Results at Cougar Clash
125
First Round: Austin Macias (SIUE) over Cameron Lathem (CSU) - Fall 1:04
Consolation First Round: Lathem (CSU) over Tomas Guitierrez (Kent State) - Fall 2:06
Consolation Quarterfinals: Jacob Ferri (Kent State) over Lathem (CSU) - 8-4 dec.
133
First Round: Armando Torres (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: Torres (CSU) over Franco Valdez (Chattanooga) - 10-2 MD
Semifinals: Jake Huffine (Chattanooga) over Torres (CSU) - 6-4 dec.
Consolation Semifinals: Josiah Kline (Arizona State) over Torres (CSU) - Fall 3:28
Fifth-Place Match: Torres (CSU) over Valdez (Chattanooga) - 6-2 dec.
149
First Round: Sam Matzek (CSU) over Zach Shareef (Chattanooga) - Fall 5:58
First Round: Garrett Model (Wisconsin) over Grant Turnmire (CSU) - 18-1 TF 4:46
Quarterfinals: Josh Maruca (Arizona State) over Matzek (CSU) - Fall 5:53
Consolation First Round: Mason Wallace (Chattanooga) over Turnmire (CSU) - Fall 0:05
Consolation First Round: Kody Komara (Kent State) over Matzek (CSU) - 14-4 MD
157
First Round: Zander Wick (Wisconsin) over Chase Archangelo (CSU) - Fall 2:17
First Round: Nico O'Dor (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: O'Dor (CSU) over Anders Lantz (Wisconsin) - 7-3 dec.
Semifinals: Luke Weiland (Army) over O'Dor (CSU) - 8-0 MD
Consolation First Round: Archangelo (CSU) over Lantz (Wisconsin) - 2-1 dec.
Consolation Quarterfinals: Devin Bahr (Wisconsin) over Archangelo (CSU) - 23-11 MD
Consolation Semifinals: Wick (Wisconsin) over O'Dor (CSU) - Fall 2:33
Fifth-Place Match: O'Dor (CSU) over Bahr (Wisconsin) - 4-3 dec.
165
First Round: John Vaughn (CSU) over Drew Nicholson (Chattanooga) - Inj. 3:27
Quarterfinals: Josh Shields (Arizona State) over Vaughn (CSU) - 18-2 TF 5:29
Consolation First Round: Vaughn (CSU) over Jacen Petersen (Arizona State) - M. For.
Consolation Quarterfinals: Vaughn (CSU) over Isaac Bast (Kent State) - 4-3 dec.
Consolation Semifinals: Vaughn (CSU) over Nate Higgins (SIUE) - 12-10 dec.
Third-Place Match: Cael McCormick (Army) over Vaughn (CSU) - 13-3 MD
174
First Round: Colton Carroll (CSU) - bye
First Round: Dimitri Williams (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) over Carroll (CSU) - Fall 1:21
Quarterfinals: Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) over Williams (CSU) - 5-0 dec.
Consolation First Round: Carroll (CSU) - bye
Consolation First Round: Williams (CSU) - bye
Consolation Quarterfinals: Hunter Fortner (Chattanooga) over Carroll (CSU) - 6-1 dec.
Consolation Quarterfinals: Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) over Williams (CSU) - 2-0 dec.
184
First Round: Chris Morrow (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: Dominic Lampe (Chattanooga) over Morrow (CSU) - 6-2 dec.
Consolation First Round: Morrow (CSU) - bye
Consolation Quarterfinals: Morrow (CSU) -bye
Consolation Semifinals: Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) over Morrow (CSU) - 11-1 MD
Fifth-Place Match: Sergio Villalobos (SIUE) over Morrow (CSU) - Fall 1:51
197
First Round: Mason Giordano (CSU) - bye
First Round: Ben Smith (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: Alex Hopkins (Army) over Giordano (CSU) - Fall 0:03
Quarterfinals: Rodney Jones (Chattanooga) over Smith (CSU) - 8-5 dec.
Consolation First Round: Giordano (CSU) - bye
Consolation First Round: Smith (CSU) - bye
Consolation Quarterfinals: Austyn Harris (Arizona State) over Giordano (CSU) - 5-0 dec.
Consolation Quarterfinals: Smith (CSU) over Shane Mast (Kent State) - 10-8 dec.
Consolation Semifinals: Christian Dulaney (SIUE) over Smith (CSU) - 11-5 dec.
Fifth-Place Match: Jones (Chattanooga) over Smith (CSU) - 3-1 dec.
285
First Round: Collin Kelly (CSU) - bye
Quarterfinals: Kelly (CSU) over Tommy Helton (SIUE) - 3-2 dec.
Semifinals: Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) over Kelly (CSU) - 16-0 TF 5:35
Consolation Semifinals: Kelly (CSU) over Brady Daniel (Arizona State) - 3-2 dec.
Third-Place Match: Robert Heald (Army) over Kelly (CSU) - 5-2 dec.
CSU Results at Storm Open
141 Gold
Preliminary Round: Joel Cawoski (Seton Hill) over Mike Santillo - 12-0 MD
Preliminary Consolation Round: David Bavery (Notre Dame (Ohio)) over Santillo (CSU) - Fall 3:51
157 Gold
First Round: Andrew Murphy (CSU) over Nico Marsico (Gannon) - 12-9 dec.
Quarterfinals: Elijiah Cleary (Ohio State) over Murphy (CSU) - 15-0 TF
Consolation Second Round: Richard Jackson (Kent State) over Murphy (CSU) - 3-0 dec.
174 Gold
First Round: Emilio Fowler (Notre Dame (Ohio)) over Jake Henderson (CSU) - 15-11 dec.
Preliminary Consolation Round: Logan Stanley (Ohio) over Henderson (CSU) - Fall 3:48