Alex Braden Shines as Cobras Conclude Coker Duals

HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker College wrestling team wrapped up competition at the Coker Duals on Saturday (Jan. 12) afternoon.  Coker picked up a win in the first match of the day over Truett McConnell College 36-18, before falling to Ohio Valley University 30-24, Bluefield College 29-27, and Mercyhurst University 46-6.

In the victory over Truett McConnell, the Cobras came out firing and secured 21 points out of the first four weight classes following pins by John Watts (125 pounds), Chris Poland (133 pounds), and Alex Braden (149 pounds). At 141 pounds, Chase Clark grinded out a 6-4 decision to put Cobras up 21-0. Following a forfeit at 157, Brett Shurina (165 pounds) and Taylor Catoe (174 pounds) would continue the pin party and put the Navy and Gold up 33-6. Dalton Haywood (285 pounds) would cap off a dominating team performance with yet another pin to give the Cobras a 36-18 victory.

The next matchup with Ohio Valley University started out on a good note, with Coker jumping out to an early 18-3 lead before the Fighting Scots rallied to to beat the Cobras 30-24 in a hard-fought match. Shortly after, the Cobras took on Bluefield College in yet another battle that would go down to the wire. Frank Velez (125 pounds) looked impressive in his bout, taking the victory by way of a fall just 1:30 into the first period. Poland secured six team point after a forfeit at 133 before an 11-6 decision by Clark and a first period fall by Braden to put the Cobras in front 21-0. Shurina seemed likely to pick up at least three more points before being forced to withdraw due to injury. After 24 consecutive points from Bluefield, Marco Mason Jr. (197)  picked up six team points due to a forfeit to put the Cobras up by three with just the heavyweight match remaining. Haywood was putting on a dominating performance and led 10-9 before a reversal and pin with just six seconds remaining put Bluefield out in front at the end.

The final contest of the day was against Mercyhurst University and once again the Cobras jumped out to an early lead following 13-6 decision from Watts. Braden also picked up a decision at 149 but the Cobras would drop the match 46-6.

The squad will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 19) when they travel to Emmanuel for a conference dual with the Lions at 2:00 PM.

Coker - 36, Truett McConnell - 18

125 - John Watts (Coker College ) over Brandon Navixay (Truett McConnell College) Fall 2:34

133 - Christopher Poland (Coker College ) over Leonel Silvestre (Truett McConnell College) Fall 2:30

141 - Chase Clark (Coker College ) over James Roberts (Truett McConnell College) Dec 6-4

149 - Alex Braden (Coker College ) over Jacob Power (Truett McConnell College) Fall 1:00

157 - Ian James (Truett McConnell College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 - Bret Shurina (Coker College ) over Roody Edouard (Truett McConnell College) Fall 1:58

174 - Taylor Catoe (Coker College ) over Steven Austin Ray (Truett McConnell College) Fall 3:28

184 - Dalton Hardeman (Truett McConnell College) over Grayson Spell (Coker College ) Fall 0:21

197 - Derek Harmsen (Truett McConnell College) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 - Dalton Haywood (Coker College ) over Cameron Hamby (Truett McConnell College) Dec 7-0

Ohio Valley University - 30, Coker - 24

125 - Anthony Tripke (Ohio Valley University ) over Frank Velez (Coker College ) Dec 8-3

133 - Christopher Poland (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

141 - Chase Clark (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

149 - Alex Braden (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

157 - Sam Phillips (Ohio Valley University ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 - Bret Shurina (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

174 - TJ Lambiotte (Ohio Valley University ) over Taylor Catoe (Coker College ) Fall 3:06

184 - Hunter Moore (Ohio Valley University ) over Grayson Spell (Coker College ) Fall 2:00

197 - Tyler Koreski (Ohio Valley University ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 - Cameron Coffman (Ohio Valley University ) over Dalton Haywood (Coker College ) Dec 6-2

Bluefield College - 29, Coker - 27

125 - Frank Velez (Coker College ) over William Anders (Bluefield College ) Fall 0:00

133 - Christopher Poland (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

141 - Chase Clark (Coker College ) over Isaac Wright (Bluefield College ) Dec 11-6

149 - Alex Braden (Coker College ) over Gerron Poston (Bluefield College ) Fall 2:55

157 - Gustavo Gomez (Bluefield College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 - Noah Reynolds (Bluefield College ) over Bret Shurina (Coker College ) Inj 3:34

174 - Luke Young (Bluefield College ) over Taylor Catoe (Coker College ) Fall 4:10

184 - Jacob Booth (Bluefield College ) over Grayson Spell (Coker College ) Fall 2:06

197 - Marco Mason (Coker College ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

285 - Matthew Bourne (Bluefield College ) over Dalton Haywood (Coker College ) Fall 6:54

Bluefield College team score was adjusted by -1.0 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Mercyhurst University - 46, Coker - 6

125 - John Watts (Coker College ) over Jacob Ruggeri (Mercyhurst University ) Dec 13-6

133 - Alexis Soriano (Mercyhurst University ) over Frank Velez (Coker College ) Fall 1:39

141 - Aidan Burke (Mercyhurst University ) over Chase Clark (Coker College ) TF 17-0

149 - Alex Braden (Coker College ) over Mike Clark (Mercyhurst University ) Dec 5-2

157 - Jason Breeden (Mercyhurst University ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

165 - Kevin Kinyua (Mercyhurst University ) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

174 - Logan Grass (Mercyhurst University ) over Taylor Catoe (Coker College ) Fall 2:14

184 - Gavin Wilkerson (Mercyhurst University ) over Grayson Spell (Coker College ) Fall 3:11

197 - Trever Begin (Mercyhurst University ) over Marco Mason (Coker College ) TF 17-0

285 - Jacob Robb (Mercyhurst University ) over Dalton Haywood (Coker College ) Fall 2:42