Staff report

St. Andrews Wrestling honored seniors Eric Brown, Greg Pattis, and Joshua Price on Saturday as they wrestled in their last home match. The Knights entered the circle with determination and left the mat with a 54-3 win over East Tennessee State University and a 44-6 victory over Truett-McConnell College.

“We had our last two home matches of the season on Saturday and won both to set a school record six wins and finish 6-8 on the year,” said Joe Baranik, head wrestling coach at SAU. “It is also our best winning percentage in the short six years that SAU has had a wrestling team. It was also our Senior Day, and two of our seniors are active military.”

SAU threw down four pins in the opening match as they faced the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State. Matt Craven, Luke Gregory, Steffan Baker, and Brown each forced their opponents’ shoulders to the mat as they added 24 total points for St. Andrews. Three forfeits put up 18 more points for St. Andrews, while Pattis, Justin Hoover, and Denny Vaughan tallied the remainder of SAU’s points.

The Knights only lost three matches during the entire tri-meet event, one against East Tennessee State and two against Truett-McConnell, who SAU grappled with to end the tri-meet. Brown, Gregory, and Vaughan each pulled a victory by PIN against the Bears of Truett-McConnell, with Brown claiming his win after only 38 seconds on the mat. St. Andrews used three forfeits to increase their lead over the Bears in addition to two major decision wins. Baker and Pattis beat their opponents by 11 points, each contributing four points to St. Andrews’ overall score.

St. Andrews will send 14 wrestlers to the NCWA National Qualifier at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, on the February 25. Success at the qualifier will allow the individuals to travel to the NCWA National Championships in Daytona Beach, FL, in early March.

Final Score: SAU 54, East Tennessee 3

125- Eric Brown (SAU) defeated Ian McKinley (ETS) by PIN, 1:46

133- Matt Craven (SAU) defeated Justin Blair (ETS) by PIN, 00:34

141- Sterling Perry (SAU) won by FF

149- Kody Getkin (SAU) won by FF

157- Nicholas Shields (ETS) defeated Nick Sauceda (SAU) by DEC, 11-6

165- Luke Gregory (SAU) defeated Chris Miller (ETS) by PIN, 1:23

174- Steffan Baker (SAU) defeated James Hagan (ETS) by PIN, 1:59

184- Joshua Price (SAU) won by FF

197- Greg Pattis (SAU) defeated Byron Barnes (ETS) by TF, 16-1

235- Justin Hoover (SAU) defeated Craig Carter (ETS) by DEC, 2-0

285- Denny Vaughan (SAU) defeated Daniel Grasty (ETS) by MD, 12-4

Final Score: SAU 44, Truett-McConnell 6

125- Eric Brown (SAU) defeated Billy Abrahamsen (T-M) by PIN, 00:38

133- Gabe Miller (T-M) defeated Matt Craven (SAU) by DEC, 5-0

141- Sterling Perry (SAU) won by FF

149- Zack Brown (T-M) defeated Kody Getkin (SAU) by DEC, 6-4

157- Nick Sauceda (SAU) won by FF

165- Luke Gregory (SAU) defeated Josh Pate (T-M) by PIN, 3:50

174- Steffan Baker (SAU) defeated Josh Cook (T-M) by MD, 12-1

184- Joshua Price (SAU) won by FF

197- Greg Pattis (SAU) defeated JT Jerome (T-M) by MD, 15-4

285- Denny Vaughan (SAU) defeated Buddy Camp (T-M) by PIN, 5:13