The American University 1-1 wrestling team defeated the 0-1 Clarion Golden Eagles in the Eagles’ second home meet of the season on Nov. 9.
After a harmonic national anthem performance by American’s student-run acapella group “On a Sensual Note,” Eagles fans’ day of excitement continued with wins in the first two duels of the meet by redshirt freshman Coen Bainey and senior Shamil Kalmatov.
Bainey’s duel in the 125-pound weight class was his second collegiate duel. His bout was evenly matched through the first period, but Bainey began the second period with a very quick 1-point escape followed by a twisting takedown for 3 points. He held his lead in scoring to close the match with a 4-3 win by decision.
Kalmatov’s move down in weight classes this week placed him in the 133-pound duel against Golden Eagles redshirt junior wrestler Mason Prinkley. The duel got off to a flying start, with Kalmatov achieving an aggressively quick 3-point takedown of his opponent. Prinkley evened the score by the end of the first period, but Kalmatov did not let off the gas, achieving escapes and getting another takedown to gain control of his opponent to secure a 9-6 win by decision.
After a quick media timeout, American’s momentum was broken up by two consecutive defeats by decision. Head coach Jason Borelli said, “Even though we lost the next two at 141 and 149, they were very competitive close matches.”
Sophomore Cael McIntyre wrestled in his first bout of the season against Clarion wrestler Gianni Silvestri. McIntyre led in scoring throughout the first two periods, but Silvestri’s offensive strategy allowed him to push the tempo in the final period to continuously push McIntyre off the mat and prevent escapes to turn the tide against McIntyre.
In the 149-pound weight class duel, redshirt freshman Gage Owen fell quickly from a takedown. While Owen achieved a 1-point escape in the first period, he was held subdued in the second. Owen achieved another escape from the down position to start the final period, but was ultimately unable to break through his opponent’s defense to gain any more points.
With team scoring tied after the consecutive losses, redshirt senior Jack Nies sought to end the Golden Eagles’ momentum in the 157-pound weight class.
The first period was scoreless, and the second period saw a 3-point takedown for Clarion redshirt junior Alejandro Herrara-Rondon. Herrara-Rondon was in the down position with the lead to open the third period, but Nies did not allow his opponent to easily escape or reverse his hold. This persistence allowed Nies to eat away at Herrara-Rondon’s accumulation of riding time.
When Herrara-Rondon eventually managed an escape for 1 point, Nies did not let up, immediately achieving his first takedown of the duel. While in control of his opponent, Nies raised his arms up to prove Herrara-Rondon was not working to improve his down-position, leading the officials to call a point to AU for Clarion’s stalling. This point to Nies effectively tied up the duel at 4-4, leading to the first overtime period of the season.
In overtime, fan excitement was rewarded after a quick stalemate and reset to a neutral position allowed Nies to take quick advantage, charging after his opponent for the winning 3-point takedown right in front of American’s bench. Clawed the Eagle followed up the win with an impressive performance of “The Worm.”
“Jack’s [duel] was so big because that really stopped their momentum. They won two close matches at 141 and 149, so Jack ran out and winning that match [was] critical and helped Kaden walk out with more confidence,” Borelli said.
Redshirt freshman Kaden Milheim's confidence going into the 165-weight class duel was undeniable as he dominated the bout, not allowing his opponent to score in the first two periods while achieving two 3-point takedowns. In the third period, Milheim gained a 2-point reversal to gain control of his opponent’s shoulders long enough to achieve a 4-point near fall. Milheim won the duel with a 13-1 major decision — giving American 4 more team points as opposed to the normal 3 given to wins by decision.
Clarion struck back in the 174-weight class duel, as the shoulder-braced Eagle redshirt sophomore Caleb Campos quickly fell behind his opponent redshirt senior John Worthing in the first period of the bout, getting taken down and then having two near falls against him to add the scoring to a win for Worthing by tech fall.
American held a tenuous lead at 13-12 going into American senior Lucas White’s duel in the 184-weight class. A takedown was scored by both White and his opponent respectively in the first two periods, but Clarion’s redshirt freshman Adrian Gacek gained control of the final period with a 2 point reversal to secure a 3-6 win by decision, giving Clarion their first lead of the meet.
Redshirt sophomore Liam Volk-Klos dominated in his duel, shutting out his opponent from any scoring and achieving several takedowns, an escape and a 3-point near fall in the second period to end the duel with a Volk-Klos win by tech fall to help widen the Eagles’ scoring gap.
In the final duel of the meet, graduate student Will Jarrell came to the mat for the Eagles against Clarion wrestler Austin Chapman. Despite an evenly matched first period and only 1 point escape scored by Chapman in the second, Jarrell was unable to gain enough points after he was taken down in the third period, leading to a Chapman win by decision to bring team scoring to a close 19-18 Eagles win.
Borrelli said he still wants the team to work on technique.
“We’re really looking for improving those areas, finishing our attacks and then catalyzing and scoring,” he said.
American returns for their next home duel on Dec. 6 against Buffalo.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Emma Brown, Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Nicole Kariuki.
