FRANKLIN SPRINGS, GA. - The Coker College wrestling team fell just short of a comeback win in their dual with Emmanuel College on Saturday (Jan. 19), falling by a final score of 23-21.

The Cobras fought hard in a match that could have gone either way and opened up strong at 125 pounds with a win by John Watts. Watts absolutely dominated his opponent to open the dual and secured a tech fall in the final period after going up 21-6 over the Deven Perez of Emmanuel. After dropping the next four weight classes, Bret Shurina turned it on in the second period to win by way of fall and grab six points for the Cobras. Corey Christie followed Shurina's performance with an excellent one of his own by picking up a 10-2 major decision to cut the deficit to just two with only three wrestlers left. Following a loss at 184 for Seth Spell, Marco Mason Jr. showed his toughness by grinding out a 2-1 decision at 197 pounds to trim the Emmanuel lead to five heading into the 285 pound matchup. Ramon Correa closed out strong with an 8-1 decision but that would not be enough to close the gap as the Cobras fell 23-21.

The Navy and Gold will be back in action on Friday (Jan. 25) when they welcome Belmont Abbey to Hartsville for a 7:00 PM dual.

125: John Watts (Coker) over Deven Perez (Emmanuel) (TF 21-6 6:16)

133: Emery Cline (Emmanuel) over Frank Velez (Coker) (Dec 11-5)

141: Nicholas Volies (Emmanuel) over Chase Clark (Coker) (TF 15-0 6:41)

149: Dalton Flint (Emmanuel) over Alex Braden (Coker) (Fall 2:26)

157: Kevin Almond (Emmanuel) over Jaylon McCaslan (Coker) (Dec 9-2)

165: Bret Shurina (Coker) over Matthew Schmall (Emmanuel) (Fall 3:39)

174: Corey Christie (Coker) over Myles Williams (Emmanuel) (MD 10-2)

184: Kyle Graham (Emmanuel) over Seth Spell (Coker) (Fall 2:24)

197: Marco Mason Jr. (Coker) over Seth Bell (Emmanuel) (Dec 2-1)

285: Ramon Correa (Coker) over Preston Stell (Emmanuel) (Dec 8-1)