Air Force Academy
Friday Night Fights
Ellison Earns Weekly Honor in 175-pound Division
1/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Boxing
Jan. 20, 2002
The only thing that matters when you step into a boxing ring to do battle is to defeat your opponent. Sometimes this means putting friendship aside to win the fight.
That was the case Friday night, Jan. 18, when Rodney Ellison and Mike Raabe squared off in a 175-pound bout. Raabe and Ellison were ranked first and second, respectively in their division. In the end, Ellison won the decision over his roommate and friend to grab the top spot and earn Boxer of the Week honors.
"These two friends left it all in the ring as they squared off for six minutes leaving the friendship in the corner," said head coach Eddie Weichers, Jr. "The respect is still there but sometimes you compete harder when bragging rights are on the line."
"Some of my toughest struggles were with my college roommate who happened to be a varsity wrestler," Weichers continued. "Our post practice brawls started in the room and ended up in the dorm hallway to the delight of others."
"If these two end up in the Wing open finals, I'm sure the crowd in Clune Arena will be treated to the same heated battle that went on in the ring on Friday," said Weichers.
In out bouts Friday, Randy Gibbs won a decision over Brian Trumble to take the top spot in the heavyweight division. In the 132-pound division, Dathan Salgado defeated John Burban to move to the #2 spot.
Joey plank defeated Robert Barnes in the 156-pound bracket to move to the number five spot on the challenge ladder. Dustin Long defeated Sean Mitchell at 175-pounds to also move to number five.
The Wing Open tourney starts February 6 with preliminary bouts. This tournament is single elimination.
Matt Ross dec. Kelley Mcgann
Ryan Dorsey -Spitz dec. Anibal Aguirre
Augustin Kamden dec. Jirdan Gorraiz
Randy Gibbs dec. Brian Trumble
Rodney Ellison dec. Mike Raabe
Frank Wilson dec. Bill Eckley
Ulysses Linares dec. Jake Hostetler
Joey Plank dec. Robert Barnes
Chris Hart dec. Matt Cicero
Mustafa Danquah dec. Mike Vogel
Dustin Long dec. Sean Mitchell
Dathan Salgado dec. John Durban
John Lieber dec. Tom Armstrong
John Paek dec. Austin Pruneda
