WICHITA, Kan. – In what was billed as the "Battle of Kellogg", it was the (RV) Friends University Falcons coming out on top 26-20 over the Newman University Jets this evening (Feb. 13) inside the Garvey Center.
The dual came down to the final bout, and what a matchup it was as No. 11-ranked Braden Morgan was victorious by majority decision (13-1) over Newman's No. 18-ranked (NCAA D-II Open Mat) Caleb Wunsch to seal the win for Friends.
Junior Camacho got the night started on the right track for the Falcons with a 6-0 decision win in the opening match.
Wyatt Gardner later gained a 5-0 decision victory and No. 18-ranked Ezavian Ortega (157) won by fall at the 4:53 mark.
No. 21-ranked Benedict Holthaus (174) also won by fall in the seventh minute and Jason Bowers won by an impressive 15-4 majority decision.
"Our leadership and toughness were a big part of the win tonight, said Friends men's wrestling head coach Tyler Mies, who had served four years as an assistant coach at Newman prior to arriving at Friends. "Our guys' ability to bounce back after tough calls or a loss was relentless. It felt good to get a win against my Alma Mater. Coach Smith and the team battled hard tonight. I wish them the best the rest of the season!"
The Falcons will next conclude the regular season with a showdown of the KCAC's top teams Saturday (Feb. 15) at 5 pm vs. the No. 12-ranked University of Saint Mary Spires.
Full results from tonight's dual vs. Newman are below:
125 Junior Camacho (Friends University) over Dylan Sheler (Newman) (Dec 6-0)
133 Jevin Foust (Newman) over Isaac Perez (Friends University) (TF 15-0 7:00)
141 Wyatt Gardner (Friends University) over Keton Patterson (Newman) (Dec 5-0)
149 Colby Schreiner (Newman) over Brad-Lee McAlister (Friends University) (Fall 2:14)
157 Ezavian Ortega (Friends University) over Hunter Dietrich (Newman) (Fall 4:53)
165 Jace Fisher (Newman) over Jacob Knowles (Friends University) (TF 20-3 5:00)
174 Benedict holthaus (Friends University) over Skyler Geer (Newman) (Fall 6:32)
184 Jason Bowers (Friends University) over Chris Mapp (Newman) (MD 15-4)
197 Erik Tomanek (Newman) over Jonathan Eye (Friends University) (MD 15-3)
285 Braden Morgan (Friends University) over Caleb Wunsch (Newman) (MD 13-1)
