Over the past few days, members of the Spartan Agoge program racked up wins as they hit the mat in both Ohio for the Cleveland State Open and in New York for matches against Army Prep.
CLEVELAND STATE OPEN
Spartan featured four placers at the CSU Open, including Brett Ungar and Vince Cornella taking top four honors once again.
Ungar notched third at 125 pounds after a 3-1 performance. He blanked his first two opponents, majoring Purdue’s Nate Cummings, 9-0, before besting Sean Spidle of Central Michigan, 2-0. Pittsburgh's Colton Camacho came out on top in a 5-2 bout in the semis, but Ungar responded with a 8-4 victory over nationally-ranked Logan Heil of Cleveland State to earn bronze.
After winning his last open tournament, Cornella made the podium in Ohio, this time as a fourth place finisher. He began with a 7-1 decision and followed with a 17-2 technical fall over Casey Wiles of Kent State before a 9-8 setback in the semifinals versus Will Grater of Central Michigan.
At 174 pounds, Spartan featured two placers - Christian Hansen and Evan Canoyer. Hansen won three of his four matches, over wrestlers from Buffalo, Central Michigan and Michigan before forfeiting his next contest. Meanwhile, Canoyer captured two victories, against Drayton Harris and Bryson Alsteen of Buffalo. The two Spartan representatives were then set to clash for seventh place, but didn’t face each other.
At 149 pounds, Nate Wade picked up a trio of decisions. He defeated opponents from Clarion, Pittsburgh, and Kent State by a combined score of 22-8. Brody Oleksak dropped two 3-2 contests, but also got his hand raised in a 7-2 victory against Sean Billups of Kent State at 165 pounds. Meanwhile, Liam Schibi wrestled a pair of matches for Spartan at 141 pounds.
VS. ARMY PREP
Spartan traveled to West Point, New York on Thursday night to compete against Army Prep. Vince Cornella got his hand raised both times he took the mat, with a major and a pin at 141. Ethan Fernandez also went two-for-two, grabbing a pair of decisions at 133 pounds. Meanwhile, Nate Wade split a pair of bouts, beating Ryan Alvarado, 14-7, at 149, while Liam Schibi faced two Army Prep grapplers at 141.
133:
Ethan Fernandez (Spartan) dec Ray Lopez (Army Prep), 7-1
Ethan Fernandez (Spartan) dec Nain Vazquez (Army Prep), 3-0
141:
Vince Cornella (Spartan) major Ryan Franco (Army Prep), 10-2
Shane Percelay (Army Prep) win by fall Liam Schibi (Spartan)
Vince Cornella (Spartan) win by fall Shane Percelay (Army Prep)
Ryan Franco (Army Prep) win by fall Liam Schibi (Spartan)
149:
Trae McDaniel (Army Prep) dec Nate Wade (Spartan), 12-6
Nate Wade (Spartan) dec Ryan Alvarado (Army Prep), 14-7
Photo courtesy of Scottie Boykin