HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College wrestling team fell to the Belmont Abbey Crusaders 22-18 Wednesday (Dec. 7) evening in the Art Meets Art dual.
Both the Cobras and Crusaders won five matches each, but two pins from Belmont Abbey proved to be the difference in the dual. After dropping the first two matches, the Cobras received a gutsy performance from Rashad Cunningham with an 11-5 decision over John Glunt.
Jamal Lackey fed off the momentum at 174 pounds with a first period fall over Tyler Maclaine by way of a cradle. Next, the Cobras dropped the 184 pound bout by fall.
Trailing 16-9, freshman Marco Mason grinded out a crucial 1-0 decision over Brian Girard. Mason earned a one point escape in the second period and rode tough on top during the third period for the victory.
The Cobras fell by decision in the 285 pound weight class, but responded with tight decisions in the 125 and 133 pound weight classes. Frank Velez earned a 5-4 decision at 125 pounds and John Smith toughed out a hard fought 6-2 decision at 133 pounds to tighten the score to 19-18 in favor of Belmont Abbey.
The Crusaders took the final bout of the night at 141 pounds for the 22-18 victory. Coker will be back in action on Dec. 17 when they travel to Indianapolis to compete in the prestigious Midwest Classic.
Belmont Abbey: 22 | Coker: 18
149: Santonio Thompson (Belmont Abbey) over Bret Shurina (Coker College) (MD 18-10)
157: Greg Hilliard (Belmont Abbey) over Jordon Tague (Coker College) (Fall 2:52)
165: Rashad Cunningham (Coker College) over John Glunt (Belmont Abbey) (Dec 11-5)
174: Jamal Lackey (Coker College) over Tyler Maclaine (Belmont Abbey) (Fall 0:55)
184: Luke Glunt (Belmont Abbey) over Jordon Garlow (Coker College) (Fall 1:28)
197: Marco Mason Jr. (Coker College) over Brian Girard (Belmont Abbey) (Dec 1-0)
285: Chass Delgado (Belmont Abbey) over Robert Parland (Coker College) (Dec 5-3)
125: Frank Velez (Coker College) over Michael Bedard (Belmont Abbey) (Dec 5-4)
133: John Smith Jr. (Coker College) over Nick Lukanich (Belmont Abbey) (Dec 6-2)
141: Jonathan Charpenter (Belmont Abbey) over Matthew Kieta (Coker College) (Dec 9-5)