GREENWOOD - The 15th-ranked Lander Wrestling team took down two Conference Carolinas opponents and the Salem Tigers on Sunday as the Bearcats hosted the fourth-annual Carolina Clash inside Horne Arena. Lander finished the day 3-1 as they fell to the Ashland Eagles in their third match of four.
Lander now sits at 6-1 overall and still remains perfect at 5-0 in Conference Carolinas action.
Match 1: #15 Lander 52, Salem 4
The Bearcats opened the day with a convincing win over the Salem Tigers out of the Mountain East Conference.
Lander won nine of ten bouts, all of which came via pin, technical fall or forfeit. Oren Decker (Fortson, GA), Ryan Dobbs (Seneca, S.C.), and Marvelous Rutledge (Dayton, Ohio) picked up the pins for the Blue and Gold.
Match 2: #15 Lander 26, Mount Olive 15
Lander jumped out to a 14-3 lead, aided by a pin from Isham Peace (Okatie, S.C.) and major decisions from Christian Davis (Arizona City, Ariz.) and Reid Noble (Plant City, Fla.). However, the Trojans did not go away quietly as they cut the lead down to two at 14-12 with a pin of their own and an upset decision over David Hunsberger (Duncan, S.C.) at 165.
Nathan Buckovich gave Lander some breathing room with a major decision of his own, but Mount Olive responded once again with a decision at 184 to stay within striking range. However, Rutledge and Issac Sheeren (Houston, Texas) picked up back-to-back major decisions to squash any comeback hope for the Trojans.
Match 3: #15 Lander 14, Ashland 25
Despite falling behind 6-0 after 125, Davis and Peace gave Lander an 8-6 lead with a pair of majors. Peace's came over the 15th-ranked wrestler in his weight class, Brock Durbin.
However, The Eagles responded with back-to-back wins to take the lead back at 12-8.
Hunsberger bounced back with a decision to cut the deficit to one at 12-11 but that was as close as Lander got as Ashland took three of the last four matches to claim victory.
Match 4: #15 Lander 34, #18 UNC Pembroke 14
The day closed with a top-25 matchup and a rematch of last season's Conference Carolinas Championship.
The Braves struck first with a pin at 125 but Lander responded in a big way, rallying off six straight bonus point wins to flip the match on its head and seal the win. Davis started the run with a pin of his own before Peace gave Lander the lead with his second bonus point win over a ranked opponent on the day, this time a 19-4 tech fall over #10 Avery Buonocore.
Noble added five more points of his own with another tech fall,
Xander McWilliams (Wetumpka, Ala.) picked up a 14-6 major decision, Hunsberger got a second-period pin, and Buckovich rounded out the rally and sealed the match with a 20-5 tech fall of his own.
The Braves snapped the run at 184 but Rutledge picked up a 4-1 sudden victory win over #14 Nigel Williams to cap the day for the Bearcats.
"I'm proud of our team and how they fought today," said R.C. LaHaye. "It was good to see us bounce back after a loss and dominate to close the day. We will look at today and learn from it as we have two weeks to prepare for the Midwest Classic in Indy"
Lander closes competition for the 2024 calendar year on December 14th and 15th as they travel to Indianapolis for the aforementioned Midwest Classic. Lander is the defending champions at the event where they had five placers last season.
