In an up-and-down weekend, the AU wrestling team lost a tough match to Navy Feb. 9 before splitting a pair of duals Feb. 10 by beating Boston University and falling to Army.
The Eagles kicked off a weekend of wrestling by heading to Annapolis Saturday night. Navy, an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association conference opponent, jumped off to a quick lead with a pin in the first match. However, AU’s Blake Herrin and David Terao came back to win their respective matches in the heavyweight and 125-pound divisions to tie it up.
It wasn’t enough though, as Navy won the last four matches. The Eagles went on to fall 32-9 with the hope of bouncing back the next day.
On Sunday afternoon in West Point, N.Y., AU kicked off the day with a big win over Boston University 22-14. Terao started the match with a victory for the Eagles with a 16-2 major decision over BU’s Bubba McGinley at 125 pounds, and the Eagles never let up.
Esteban Gomez-Rivera, Tao and Phillip Barreiro won by decision at 133, 149 and 165 pounds, respectively. AU’s Keithen Cast also picked up a decision at 174 pounds and Thomas Barreiro accepted a forfeit from BU at 184 pounds. The Eagles finished the match with the 22-14 win.
Riding high after their win, the Eagles couldn’t sustain their momentum against Army as they fell, 34-8. Terao again started the match off in style for the Eagles, defeating Army’s Hunter Wood by 16-1 technical fall at 125 pounds.
However, AU fell off afterward as Army won the next eight matches by decisions, major decisions, technical falls and pins. Blake Herrin was the only other Eagle to win his match, beating Army’s Christian Botero in an 18-6 major decision in the heavyweight class.
“The results today did not show our effort,” AU Head Coach Teague Moore said to AUEagles.com after splitting their two matches. “In the Boston match we outwrestled our opponents and earned many late period points. The Army match was lost on a number of close calls. David pushed himself to a different level today. He forced himself into new scoring positions that allowed for big scoring and match control. He needed a weekend like this.”
The Eagles will conclude the regular season against Bucknell Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night before the EIWA conference championships Mar. 8 and 9.
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