Battlers Top Southern Virginia 49-3 on Senior Night

February 17, 2017

PHILIPPI, W.Va. -- Four years ago, a group of freshman embarked on a new era as they helped restart the defunct Alderson Broaddus wrestling program. Friday night, they closed out their regular season careers with a decisive 49-3 team victory over the Southern Virginia Knights.

 Before the contest started, Cody Buchanan, Matt Harris, Micah Powell, Davis Solak, Cody Spinks, Keith Stednitz, and Jason West were honored as a part of the Battlers' Senior Night festivities.

 The Battlers jumped out to a 6-0 lead without effort as Brandon Coughlin earned a forfeit victory at 125. Buchanan squared off with the Knights' Jayson Cody in the 133 match of the evening, hopping out to an early advantage in the 1st round and staying ahead, finishing the match with a 23-8 technical fall in the final minutes of the 3rd round to notch five more points for the Battlers.

 "Overall, the match went how I planned it to go," Buchanan said afterwards. "I wanted to let him up and then take him down the whole match. That was the game plan, and I executed it well."

 Two more forfeit victories at 141 and 149 for Powell and Harris respectively brought the Battlers to a 23-0 lead, followed by a pin in the second round at 157 for West over Southern Virginia's Mitchell Barney, giving the Battlers the advantage 29-0 halfway through the battle.

 The Battlers kept the momentum rolling in the second half of the evening, with complete domination at 165 by Stednitz. The former USCAA and West Virginia Invitational champion scored three takedowns in the first minute of the match, before getting the pin less than halfway into the first round. Next up, Davis Solak went back and forth with Keaton Gomez at 174, going three rounds before scoring a narrow 8-4 decision in favor of the Battlers, taking the score to 38-0 AB.

 2016 National Qualifier and nationally ranked Cody Spinks came out strong at 184 for the Battlers, also tallying three takedowns in the opening minute before taking home a 18-3 technical fall in the 2nd round. In the penultimate match of the evening, Sam Solomon chalked up a first round pin at 197 to bring the Battlers to 49-0 lead.

 The Battlers were on the verge of a shutout as the 285 match began, pitting Dalton Smith against the Knights' Alexander Brunner. The two men squared off in a hard-fought stalemate, with Brunner taking the 3-2 lead after the first round. The second round went scoreless, and Brunner held the advantage most of the third round. However, Smith, with the home crowd behind him, scored an escape to notch the score at 3-3 with 15 seconds left in the match. Smith was spent of energy, though, and sacrificed a point in the waning seconds to give Brunner the lone victory of the evening for the Knights.

 The Battler seniors went undefeated on the night, closing out a strong regular season campaign in their final year. "It feels great," says Spinks of getting his final regular season win at home. "Last time performing in front of a home crowd, our friends and family, and we went out and put on a show. That's how it should be."

 The Battlers will next head to the NCAA East Regional in Erie, Pa, with big postseason hopes. "My goal is to make nationals," says Buchanan of his postseason desires. Spinks shares similar hopes. "Senior season, theirs only one thing left to do. Be an All-American, and earn that spot on the podium at nationals." Spinks, currently ranked second in the region and seventh nationally, looks to return to the championship meet for a second year in a row and avenge his loss. The NCAA East Regional meet will be take place February 24th and 25th.  

Alderson-Broaddus University 49 Southern Virginia University 3
125 Breandon Coughlin (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Unknown (For.)
133 Cody Buchanan (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Jayson Cody (Southern Virginia University) (TF 25-10 6:57)
141 Micah Powell (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Unknown (For.)
149 Matt Harris (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Unknown (For.)
157 Jason West (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Mitchell Barney (Southern Virginia University) (Fall 4:51)
165 Keith Stednitz (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Matthew Rohrdanz (Southern Virginia University) (Fall 1:31)
174 Davis Solak (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Keaton Gomez (Southern Virginia University) (Dec 9-5)
184 Cody Spinks (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Matt Speelman (Southern Virginia University) (TF 19-3 4:24)
197 Sam Solomon (Alderson-Broaddus University) over Caleb West (Southern Virginia University) (Fall 2:35)
285 Alex Brunner (Southern Virginia University) over Dalton Smith (Alderson-Broaddus University) (Dec 4-3)


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