#15 Lander Rolls Montevallo to Clinch Third Straight West Division Title

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The 15th-ranked Lander wrestling team clinched its third straight Conference Carolinas West Division title in dominant fashion, winning nine of ten matches in a 33-3 victory over the Montevallo Falcons on Monday evening inside Central State Bank Arena.

The Bearcats have won every West Division title outright since the conference split into divisions in the 2023-24 season and are the only program in Conference Carolinas to win at least a share of a division title in all three seasons.

The victory secured Lander's third straight undefeated conference season, as the Bearcats have not lost a conference dual since February 15, 2022, extending their streak to 39 consecutive conference wins.

The dual began at 133, where seventh-ranked James Joplin jumped out to a 12-3 lead after one period and needed just 49 seconds in the second to score an escape, takedown, and four-point near fall to earn his third tech fall of the season and give Lander an early 5-0 lead.

At 141, 12th-ranked Elijah Lusk and Montevallo's Kaden Brown traded escapes to end regulation tied 1-1 before Lusk secured a takedown midway through sudden victory to earn a 4-1 overtime decision, his second overtime win of the season.

Isham Peace extended the Bearcat lead at 149 with a 7-0 decision after scoring an early takedown and adding a two-point near fall in the third period to make it 11-0.

Reid Noble followed with a 17-2 tech fall at 157, his sixth of the season and second most on the team. Second-ranked David Hunsberger held off a late push from Jakob Chisolm to earn a 14-7 decision at 165 and stretch the lead to 19-0.

At 174, Maxwell Kiel scored seven takedowns, including five in the second period, on his way to a 21-5 tech fall in 4:26 to put Lander ahead 24-0 and firmly in control.

Ninth-ranked Dylan Kohn clinched the dual with a 7-0 decision at 184 before 14th-ranked Marvelous Rutledge and 12th-ranked Isaac Sheeren added decisions at 197 and 285 to push the score to 33-0.

The Falcons avoided the shutout at 125, as seventh-ranked Cole Hunt scored a late takedown to earn a 6-3 decision over Kaden Kuenzi, accounting for Montevallo's lone points of the night.

With the division title secured, Lander now turns its focus to the Conference Carolinas Wrestling Championship on February 15, hosted by UNC Pembroke. The Bearcats will look to capture their fifth straight conference title, with Montevallo joining Lander as the West Division representatives and UNC Pembroke and Belmont Abbey representing the East Division.

Results Recap vs. Montevallo

125: Cole Hunt (MON) over Kaden Kuenzi (LAND) (Dec 6-3)
133: James Joplin (LAND) over Joseph Sowell (MON) (TF 20-3 3:49)
141: Elijah Lusk (LAND) over Kaden Brown (MON) (Dec 4-1 SV)
149: Isham Peace (LAND) over Maximos Stedeford (MON) (Dec 7-0)
157: Reid Noble (LAND) over Carson Freeman (MON) (TF 17-2 4:20)
165: David Hunsberger (LAND) over Jakob Chisolm (MON) (Dec 14-7)
174: Maxwell Kiel (LAND) over Aiden Knight (MON) (TF 21-5 4:26)
184: Dylan Kohn (LAND) over Jeffery Tubbs (MON) (Dec 7-0)
197: Marvelous Rutledge (LAND) over Cole Sykes (MON) (Dec 10-3)
285: Isaac Sheeren (LAND) over Willie Cox (MON) (Dec 5-3)

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