POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. - University of Pikeville wrestling competed at the Lucha Open hosted by Life University Saturday.
Brandon Didat had a great performance in the 125 class, coming in fourth place. Didat opened with an 8-1 win over Ian Whitt of Mt. Olive University, then followed it up with an 8-5 victory over WVU-Tech's Jayden Rouse. After defeating Rouse, Didat used a strong finish in the third period to defeat Montreat's Sam Gosnell to advance to the semifinal. Didat suffered his first loss of the day to Gunner Musilunas of Keiser University. Didat's day ended with a rematch loss to Gosnell of Montreat, placing him in fourth.
In the 133 class, Ethan Croom opened with a come-from-behind 11-6 win over Ezekiel Basca of Williams Baptist. Croom outscored Basca 8-0 in the third period. In his second match, Croom was defeated 7-4 by Colin Tucker of the University of the Cumberlands before being eliminated by Jeremiah Chinyere-Okiyi of WVU-Tech. Croom finished in seventh place in the 133 weight class.
Christian Nesby also competed in the 133 class but lost both of his matches. Nesby was defeated 14-9 by Hunter Rabun of Huntingdon, then was eliminated after being shutout 3-0 by Basca of Williams Baptist.
Darrion Evans opened the 157 weight class with a 4-2 victory over Lindsey Wilson's Antwane Webster. Evans followed up the win over Webster with another win, this time over Victor Correa. Evans would be defeated via pin by Jack Landauer, before being eliminated after a tech fall loss to Kaden Purler of Lander.
Along with Evans, Hayden Canady also represented UPike in the 157. Canady went 0-2 on the day, losing via tech fall to Braylan Cosper of Winesburgh and Sean Goldsby of Shorter.
George Lemaster competed in the 165 and got off to a solid start, pinning Ryder Schlaterbrand of Landover. Lemaster would lose his next two matches, however, falling to Ajani Redwood and Cumberland University's Logan Saller, respectively.
Jude Davis went 0-2 on the day in the 174 weight class. Davis fell 9-8 to Huntingdon's Thomas Seglio, then was eliminated after being pinned by UCF's Anthony Cardenas.
Payton Lyons opened the 197 with a 7-4 loss to Lindsey Wilson's Standford Thompson, then was eliminated after a tech fall loss to Jostyn Zayas of Lindsey Wilson.
In the heavyweight 285 class, Lincoln Griffith was shutout in both of his matches. Griffith was blanked 7-0 by Spencer Fleming of Missouri Baptist, then lost 8-0 to Jalen Terry Winston to close out his day.
Coach Travis Mallo's squad will hit the mats again on December 13 in Gatlinburg, Tenn., for the Rocky Top Duals hosted by Life University.
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