BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Lander wrestling team won 2-of-3 matches at King University, as the Bearcats took down the host King and Emmanuel.
The Bearcats were defeated by Averett 23-13 in the first match before taking down King 27-18 and Emmanuel 31-18.
Lander moves to 3-1 on the season along with now owning a 3-0 record in the SACC.
The Bearcats started the night with a tough loss to Averett.
Down 5-0, sophomore Elijah Gray won by major decision to get Lander within one. Averett would take the next two matches to go up 11-4 before senior Jauquin Olivas earned a win by decision to break up the Cougars point spree. Lander would not be able to make up much more ground, with the Cougars moving ahead 23-7 before sophomore Darius Parker and redshirt sophomore Cameron Coffman took back-to-back decisions to close out the bout.
The second match of the night for the Bearcats was against King. Things started promising as sophomore Austin Ross pinned his opponent to give the Blue and Gold an early 6-0 lead. Ross now has two pinfalls on the season.
Gray came away with yet another victory, this time by decision to move the Bearcat's advantage to 9-0. Gray is 3-1 on the season and has won by major decision twice.
After King pinned back-to-back Bearcats along with a pair of decisions, Lander saw their 9-0 advantage turn into an 18-9 deficit. Not one to let a challenge get in his way, redshirt sophomore Jack Bond put on a show. The Old Dominion transfer danced around his opponent, winning 25-10 to earn his first technical fall victory of the season and helped start an 18-0 swing for the Blue and Gold.
After Bond, sophomore Ryan Humel fought hard for a 7-6 decision before Parker pinned his opponent in the first period and Coffman won by major decision to clinch a 27-18 victory for the Bearcats. Coffman is now 3-0 on the season.
Against Emmanuel, Lander had to dig in once more. With only a major decision from Gray at the 133-weight class, Lander found itself down 15-4 going into the 157 bout. The Bearcats caught a lucky break, as an injury default made it a 15-10 contest.
The two squads traded decisions, with Bond earning his third win of the season on an 8-3 decision at the 174-weight class. The good fortune continued for the Bearcats, as Lander took points at the 184-weight class and 285-weight class by forfeit along with another pin by Parker to give Lander the 31-18 victory.
Lander is back in action this Saturday, as it hosts Belmont Abbey at Horne Arena.
#cLawsUp | @LanderWrestling
