Results
Greensboro, N.C. The George Mason wrestling team took part in the Southern Scuffle the past two days in Greensboro, N.C. with Mason finishing in 21st place out of 35 total teams. Byers had a great meet, once again, winning all but the championship matchup and came in second place in the 197 pound weight class. Zachory Huxford, Brandon Bucher, and Jaaziah Bethea (who was wrestling unattached) all put together winning records in the tournaments but did not place.
In the 125 weight class Zachory Huxford started off with two wins. He defeated Matt Peters (unattached) in a 5-0 decision and went on to beat Bloomsburg's Sean Boylan in a 2-1 match. In his next match he lost to Jason Lara (Oregon State) 12-1, sending him to the consolation bracket. He won his first two matches in this bracket posting a 4-3 decision over Ricahrd Alarcon Jr. (The Citadel) and a fall over Ty Mitch. He was eliminated by Garrett Frey (Princeton) in a 6-0 decision.
Denny Herndon competed in the 141 weight class winning one and losing two matches. His win came against Glenn Terrano (Utah Valley) where he recorded a 12-3 victory. After this match he lost to Kellen Russell (Michigan) 5-0 and then was eliminated in a 3-2 loss to Michael Crowley (North Carolina).
Both Shohei Takagi and Brandon Bucher started off with losses in the 149 pound weight class. Bucher lost to Josh Wilson (Utah Valley) in a 6-2 decision and Takagi lost to Ryan Dunphy (Cornel) 14-12. Bucher then strung together wins against AJ Guardado (Duke) and Josh Roosa (Bloomsburg) with a 7-3 decision against Guardado and a medical forfeit against Roosa. After this he beat Navy's Zach Basich in a 4-3 decision but ended up losing to Daniel Young (Army) 7-4. Takagi was eliminated from the tournament in a 3-0 decision against Marcel Clopton (Kent State).
Jaaziah Bethea was wrestling unattached to Mason in the 157 pound weight class and won his first two matches. He recorded a fall against Matt Tusick (unattached) in just 24 seconds and an 11-5 decision over Drew Howard (Kent State). Bethea was sent to the consolation bracket with an 8-6 loss to Bryce Saddoris (Navy) and was eliminated by eventual third place winner, James Vollrath (unattached), when he lost to him 12-2.
Jimmy Kaden, Seth Robertson, and Aaron Keeton all competed in the 165 weight class. Kaden started with a 3-1 win over Carter Adams (U.S. Air Force Academy) but was sent to the consolation bracket with a fall against Dan Yates (Michigan). Keeton put together wins against Christopher Smith (Bloomsburg, 9-5) and Travis Sheehy (UNC-G, 8-7) before being sent to the consolation bracket with a 10-5 loss against Jake Kemmerer (Penn State). Robertson recorded a loss in his first match against Ryan Tompkins (Army, fall). In the consolation bracket Kaden and Robertson were paired up with Kaden taking an 11-2 decision over Robertson. Kaden went on to lose against Jonathan Brascetta (Oregon State) in a 5-4 decision. Keeton was also eliminated by Brascetta in a 5-2 loss.
Greg Scott received two losses in the 174 weight class. He lost to Brandon Johnson (Kent State) 15-0 and was eliminated when he was forced to take a medical forfeit against Robbie Wannenburg (unattached).
In the 184 weight class Bagna Tovuujav lost to Keith Witt (Kent State) in a 10-9 defeat to open the tournament. In the consolation side Tovuujav won a 9-6 decision over Hunter Collins (Michigan) before being eliminated by Ty Vinson (Oregon State) after a forfeit.
With his perfect record on the line, Cayle Byers opened the tournament with a 12-7 defeat over Dylan Temple (unattached) in the 197 weight class. He then strung together wins of 13-5 against Neil Delaney (U.S. Air Force) and 13-4 over Chad Hanke (Oregon State). He made it to the championship round in a 9-4 victory over Dustin Kilgore (Kent State), who is currently ranked number one in the country. In the championship round, Byers lost to #2 nationally ranked, Cam Simaz of Cornell in a 5-4 decision placing him in second and ending his unbeaten record.
The wrestling team will return to action next Wednesday, January 5th when they will face UNC Greensboro. The match is set to begin at 7:00 P.M.
