Jan. 2, 2012
Contact: Tim Ertle
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Cleveland State sophomore Nick Flannery started 2012 on a strong note, placing seventh at 133 pounds on Monday (Jan. 2), the final day of the Southern Scuffle hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The two-day event featured participants from 22 teams, eight of which are ranked in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches poll.
Flannery went 2-1 on Monday to finish the tournament 5-2.
On Sunday, he dropped his first match on a 10-6 count to Navy's Aaron Kalil, but rattled off three straight victories to advance to Monday. Flannery earned his eighth pin of the season in 4:10 against The Citadel's Aaron Hansen to earn his first victory. He followed with a 12-7 decision over Missouri's Eric Wilson and then beat Nikkolas Pena of Cornell 11-8 to advance to the round of 12.
Flannery defeated Tanner Bidelspach of Campbell via 9-2 decision in his first match on Monday before falling to Kalil for the second time, getting pinned in 2:15. Kalil, a senior, entered the event ranked 18th in the country at 133 pounds by InterMatWrestle.com.
The CSU sophomore then edged out Virginia's Joe Martinez 11-10 in the seventh/eighth place match to conclude the tournament.
"We're really proud of Nick Flannery for doing so well at such a tough tournament," head coach Ben Stehura said. "Some of the best teams in the country were here, and he competed really well. He's working really hard and its nice to see his efforts pay off."
Flannery was one of five Vikings to earn victories at one of the premier wrestling tournaments in the country.
Ben Willeford, Mike Mencini, Koort Leyrer and Garry Yarborogh all picked up wins on Sunday.
Willeford was 2-2 at 125 pounds and willed his way to a pair of narrow victories, winning on 3-1 and 7-6 decisions.
Mencini (149) won his first match on an 8-4 decision over Davante Andujar from Gardner-Webb before dropping his next two matches.
Leyrer went 2-2 at 165 pounds. His first win came on a forfeit, but the redshirt sophomore also picked up a 3-0 victory over Neal Williams of Ohio University.
Yarborogh was 1-2 at 285 pounds. He fell to Virginia's Patrick Gillen in his first match of the day, but rebounded with a 10-5 win against Chattanooga's Kevin Malone. He was pinned in his third match to bow out of the tournament.
The Vikings will continue their southern swing with a dual against Chattanooga at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday (Jan. 8). The following day, CSU will take on Appalachian State at 3:45 p.m. and Campbell at 8:00 p.m. in Campbell, N.C.
