This past weekend the Panthers took to the mats at the Lindenwood Open in St. Charles, MO. The squad consisted of 13 wrestlers, and six of them reached the podium. Sadarriss Patterson and Dalonte Holland both won their first individual open championships of the year.
Patterson made the finals after rattling off four consecutive wins. In the finals, he dominated 10-3 a very tough opponent from Central Oklahoma University to capture his first tournament title of the year. Holland won three consecutive matches on his way to the championship bout. In the finals, he faced a tough opponent from Purdue University. The match was tied late in the final period before Holland hit a single leg and was able to take his opponent down for a 3-1 victory.
"It was great to see these two sophomores compete the way they did Saturday," says ECC Head Wrestling Coach Cole Spree. "This was a very tough tournament and for them to win it was a huge accomplishment. Each has had a lot of success in the past, but this was absolutely the most complete performance I have seen from them during their time at Ellsworth."
Also placing for the Panthers were Tepra Wright (2nd), Bobby Alexander (3rd), Jermaine Pryor (5th), and Jordan Gundrum (3rd).
"Tepra, Bobby and Jordan have been consistent all year long," said Coach Spree. "Each of them lost one tough match during the tournament and knows that they could have done much better in those matches. The brightest spot of the day to me was Jermaine placing 5th. He has changed this year as an individual and has been training at a very high level. We as coaches see what he is capable of on a daily basis, but he was struggling transitioning from the practice room to competition. I think this is just the start of a very bright career for Jermaine."
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 125 - Tepra Wright's place is 2nd, scoring 19.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Won by major decision over Troy Gassaway (Southern Illinois Edwardsville) (Maj 11-1)
Champ. Round 3 - Won by major decision over Carlos Jacquez (Lindenwood, MO) (Maj 16-8)
Quarterfinal - Won by decision over Timothy Null (Central Oklahoma) (Dec 8-3)
Semifinal - Won by decision over Nick Lukanich (McKendree University) (Dec 11-6)
1st Place Match - Danny Swan (Lindenwood MO) won by decision over Tepra Wright (Dec 7-5)
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 133 - Jermaine Pryor's place is 5th, scoring 13.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 3 - Michael Lopez (Northeast Oklahoma) won by decision over Jermaine Pryor (Dec 3-0)
Cons. Round 4 - Won by major decision over Raymond Bushnell (Hannibal-LaGrange, MO) (Maj 12-3)
Cons. Round 5 - Won by fall over Brady Moser (Lindsey Wilson, KY) (Fall 3:20)
Cons. Round 6 - Won by fall over Garrad Straube (Lincoln College) (Fall 2:59)
Cons. Round 7 - Won by decision over Sam Ritchie (Missouri) (Dec 6-2)
Cons. Semi - Curtis Burnett (Northeast Oklahoma) won by injury default over Jermaine Pryor (Inj. 0:00)
5th Place Match - Won by decision over Brendan Krask (Central Oklahoma) (Dec 4-2)
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 141 - Bobby Alexander's place is 3rd, scoring 23.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Won by fall over Alec Ward (Davenport University) (Fall 2:49)
Champ. Round 3 - Won by fall over Jadin Taylor (Hannibal-LaGrange, MO) (Fall 1:50)
Quarterfinal - Won by fall over Angelo Robles (Indianapolis) (Fall 4:55)
Semifinal - Vince Turk (Iowa) won by major decision over Bobby Alexander (Maj 11-2)
Cons. Semi - Won by decision over McCoy Kent (Northern Illinois) (Dec 9-5)
3rd Place Match - Won by tech fall over Christopher Johnson (Missouri Valley) (TF 18-0)
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 174 - Sadarriss Patterson's place is 1st, scoring 22.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Won by fall over Christian Ryan (Hannibal-LaGrange, MO) (Fall 1:30)
Champ. Round 3 - Won by decision over Marco Orlandi (Northern Illinois) (Dec 5-3)
Quarterfinal - Won by major decision over Keifer Farrah (Unattached) (Maj 12-2)
Semifinal - Won by decision over Connor Linehan (Williams Baptist) (Dec 4-3)
1st Place Match - Won by decision over Mason Thompson (Central Oklahoma) (Dec 10-3)
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 174 - Jordan Gundrum's place is 3rd, scoring 22.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Won by fall over Will Lenzini (Morthland College) (Fall 2:09)
Champ. Round 3 - Won by decision over Joseph Robinson (Lindenwood-Belleville, IL) (Dec 3-0)
Quarterfinal - Won by tech fall over Matt Striegel (Missouri) (TF 20-0)
Semifinal - Mason Thompson (Central Oklahoma) won by major decision over Jordan Gundrum (Maj 13-3)
Cons. Semi - Won by fall over Joseph Robinson (Lindenwood-Belleville, IL) (Fall 4:27)
3rd Place Match - Won by major decision over Matt Striegel (Missouri) (Maj 13-3)
Black Division (Fresh & Soph) 285 - Dalonte Holland's place is 1st, scoring 21.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - (Bye)
Champ. Round 2 - Won by decision over John Kramer (Lindenwood, MO) (Dec 5-1)
Champ. Round 3 - Won by fall over Conor Karwath (Williams Baptist) (Fall 2:09)
Quarterfinal - Won by decision over Shawn Michael Beeson (Northeast Oklahoma) (Dec 2-1)
Semifinal - Won by decision over James Romero (Missouri) (Dec 7-5)
1st Place Match - Won by decision over James Ford (Purdue) (Dec 3-1)
The Panthers are now on Thanksgiving break and will resume action again on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Buena Vista Open in Storm Lake.