Cleveland, OH. - The No. 10 UIndy wrestling team saw a handful of podium finishes across the open, freshman and sophomore brackets of competition at the Bob Del Rosa Open, hosted by Case Western Reserve University.
In total five Greyhounds finished top-3 in their weight class with three others sprinkling in at the fourth and fifth in their weight class while competing against opponents across the collegiate ranks from Division I to Division III.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the open brackets the first Greyhound to earn a podium finish was Chayce Yant in the 141 pound weight class, finishing second. Yant was dominant in the opening round, winning by tech fall in the first period. The semifinal saw a strong second period secure the 10-3 decision for Yant.
"Chayce had another great tournament. He is so dangerous on top. He can really score in bunches from that position," said head coach Jason Warthan.
The final saw Yant take on Brian Melamud of Division I school Mercyhurst, the former Division II national qualifier won by tech fall in the third period.
The next podium finish came from Gavin Davis in the 157 pound weight class, Davis opened winning by fall just over four and a half minutes into the opening round. The semifinal saw the redshirt freshman leading 3-0 entering the third period, but Bucknell senior Oliver Graham ultimately won with a takedown with five seconds left to sneak out with a 4-3 decision.
Davis rallied in the third-place bout, with a decisive 18-3 victory in the second period over Mercyhurst junior Chris Cibrone who made the NWCA National Championships last season for Mercyhurst.
"It was nice to have Gavin Davis back in action," said Warthan. "He lost on a last second restart in the semifinals, but did a great job bouncing back and getting third."
The Greyhounds duo in the 197 pound weight class were the highlights of the open with the duo meeting in the final after dominating the opening rounds.
"Our 197s both made the finals and decided to take the co-championship," Warthan said.
Armen Koltookian made quick work of his opponents in each of the opening rounds, winning by fall in each round. He won in the second period of the opening round before ending his second bout in the first period.
Ethan Farnell didn't waste much time either as he raced to the final first by defeating Paxton Hunt from the No. 23 ranked Division I program, West Virginia, by a 5-2 decision. He immediately followed up that performance with an unbelievably quick 55 second fall in the semifinal against Oliver Skoczen of John Carroll.
Warthan sung the praises of the duo saying, "Ethan had a nice first round win over West Virginia. Armen picked up a couple falls on his way to the finals. Armen might be the most improved wrestler on the squad."
Phineas Merrill, Jadon Gyan and Elijah Hinshaw all finished top five in their respective weight classes with each showing strong rallies in the latter rounds.
"Eli Hinshaw saw his first action of the year and looked great after his first round loss. He had four pins and a major decision," said Warthan. "Jadon [Gyan] was impressive today at 133. He went 3-1 and was really aggressive … he looked to score a lot of points out there."
John Petersen headlined the underclassmen bracket at the open as the top finisher amongst Greyhounds, finishing third in the 285 pound weight class.
"John Petersen did a great job in the freshmen/sophomore division," said Warthan. "I like seeing what adjustments he makes each week … he continues to get better."
Petersen opened and closed his day winning by fall, doing so in the first round of the opening round and in the third round of the third place match.
UP NEXT
The No. 10 Greyhounds will make their long-awaited home debut as they return to Nicoson Hall for a ranked dual against No. 8 McKendree on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
