Wrestling Competes at Patriot Open

COLUMBIA, Ky. – The Lindsey Wilson wrestling team opened their season at the Patriot Open where four Blue Raiders managed podium finishes.

Niko Bussell finished in fourth place, the best by a Blue Raider, in the heavyweight class as teammate Carlos Figueroa took sixth place.

Bussell opened the competition with a 13-4 major decision over Austin Lane (Marian University) before downing Cameron Mayes-Butler (Indiana Tech) on a 5-3 decision. He then advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 decision win over Earnest Johnson (Keiser University).

Austin Harris (Life) pushed Bussell to the consolation bracket when he won by tech fall 21-2. Bussell and Figueroa met in their next match as Figueroa would forfeit the match. Daulton Mayer (Thomas More) handed Bussell his second loss of the day to end his run in fourth place.

Figueroa opened his day with a pin at 6:09 over Caleb Hardeman (Southeastern). He then fell to the consolation bracket with a loss before he then picked up two technical fall wins. The first came against Will Van Hoose (Lourdes University) 15-0 and the second against Joseph Chacon (Indiana Tech) 17-0. Figueroa advanced two more rounds via forfeits before his day ended with two forfeits of his own.

Niko Perovic finished in fifth place in the 184-pound weight class. He opened his run with a 13-3 major decision over Justice Cash (Marian University) and then pinned Noah Barclay (Midway University) at 6:06. He picked up his second pin of the day in just 47 over Zachary Silver (Bluefield ) in the quarterfinals.

Kyle Homet (Life) won by a 10-6 decision over Perovic in the semifinals. He would forfeit his final two matches of the day to fall to fifth place.

Adrian Ayala finished with a 4-2 record after kicking off his day with a win 12-2 major decision over Jonthan Zafra (Montreat College). He then fell to Aundre Beatty (Marian University) on a 5-2 decision. Ayala recorded his second and third major decision of the day with a 13-5 win over Braden Wharton (Montreat College) and a 18-4 win over Ethan Gustilo (Southeastern). He recorded his final win of the day on a 5-3 decision over Stephen Roberson (Marian University) (Dec 5-3) and bowed out of the event with a 3-1 decision loss to Asa Garcia (Marian University).

Easton Griffin (Montreat College) won by decision over Matthew Hendricks 8-4 but Hendricks bounced back with three straight wins before forfeiting his final bout. He picked up wins over Derick Coleman (Lourdes University) (Dec 10-9), Izac Martinez (Southeastern) (Dec 14-9), and Justin Grant (Brewton-Parker).

Marckis Branford finished in sixth place at the event in the 141-pound weight class after wrestling unattached. He opened his day with a decision over Jordan Mitchell (Life) on a 1-0 score. In the quarterfinals, he won during the first sudden victory period over Asa Garcia (Marian University) 10-6. His day came to a close as he forfeited his remaining matches.

Lindsey Wilson returns to the mat on Nov. 13 when they compete at the Grand View Open in Pleasant Hills, Iowa.