GREENWOOD – The Lander wrestling team competed in the first-ever Carolina Classic on Saturday, going 2-2 in the process.
The Bearcats competed against Glenville State, Kentucky Wesleyan, No. 2 St. Cloud State and No. 4 West Liberty.
"I'm very proud of the effort of our young team," said head coach R.C. LaHaye. "Still to this day we only have one guy on our roster who is older than a sophomore eligibility wise. To see them go out and compete with some of the best talents in Division II is great to see."
The Bearcats started the day with a 29-14 victory over Glenville State.
Lander began things off with a bang, as Isham Peace and Elijah Lusk picked up back-to-back tech falls while Ezekial Marquez earned a win in overtime to give Lander an early 13-0 lead.
The Pioneers would earn a close 3-2 win at the 149-weight class before Lander would collect 13 more points. Bryson Ethington won via a forfeit while Gage Bernall took a 17-8 major decision and Jack Bond earned an 8-4 win by decision.
Glenville State would pick up wins at the 184 and 285 weight class while Darius Parker would earn the first of four victories on the day with an 8-4 win by decision. Parker took down Jordan Williams, who was ranked no. 9 in the country at 197 in the recent NWCA poll.
After losing to Lander, Glenville State would win their next three matches to finish 3-1. One of those matches involved a 32-12 victory over no. 18 UNC Pembroke.
The Bearcats followed up that performance with a 52-4 over Kentucky Wesleyan.
Lander began the match up 12-0 after Peace earned a pin just 46 seconds into the match while Lusk earned a victory from a forfeit. The Panthers go on the board shortly after with a win by major decision to make it a 12-4 match, but Lander would win the remaining match by a combined score of 40-0.
Randy Myers earned a win by forfeit at 149, Ethington earned his second win of the day with a 16-0 tech fall while Bernall added a pin to his impressive day. Bond continued to help the Bearcats add bonus points with a pin of his own before Ethan Lopez earned a win by forfeit and Parker came away with an 18-1 tech fall. Cameron Coffman finished the match with a pin in the first period.
Next up for Lander was a meeting with no. 4 West Liberty.
The Bearcats have met West Liberty before, with Coffman facing off with Francesco Borsellino in the NCAA Div. II National Championship last year.
The Bearcats and Hilltoppers would trade points to begin the match. West Liberty took 125 with a major decision while the Bearcats responded with a 6-1 win by Lusk to make it a 4-3 contest.
West Liberty would respond with wins in the next three weight classes to go up 14-3 before Bernall earned an 11-7 victory for his third win of the day.
Lander wouldn't earn points until Parker won by forfeit at 197 while West Liberty would take a win by pin to close out the contest.
The Bearcats finished the day against the Carolina Clash with no.2 Saint Cloud State.
After Peace took a 10-0 major decision to put Lander on the board for his third win of the day, the Huskies would take every match until conceding a forfeit to Parker at the 197-weight class. Coffman would close the match out with a 7-1 win by decision to make it 31-13 in favor of St. Cloud State.
The Bearcats hit the road for the Midwest, as they take part in the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis,Ind., from Dec. 18-19.
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