Air Force Wraps Up Opening Day at Southern Scuffle

Dec. 29, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Led by freshman Cole VonOhlen, the Air Force wrestling team concluded the first day of competition at the annual Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro. After Tuesday's action, the Falcons sit in 18th place in the team competition with 21 points. Meanwhile, Minnesota leads in the team standings with 50 points.

VonOhlen compiled a perfect record on the first day of competition at the Southern Scuffle to earn a spot in the quarterfinals at 141 pounds. The Jackson, Minn., native opened the tournament by pinning George Mason's Donald Takagi in a time of 1:24. Following a 7-1 decision over Indiana's Paul Viterisi, VonOhlen concluded the day with a thrilling match against Craig Wilson from Old Dominion. With the score tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation, VonOhlen captured the win in sudden victory, pinning Wilson in a time of 7:44.

Also advancing to the second day of competition were Tyler Spangler (Fr., Midlothian, Va.) and Neil Delaney (Jr., Grand Rapids, Mich.), wrestling at 133 and 197 pounds, respectively.

Spangler compiled a 3-1 record on Tuesday. He had a strong start, pinning Lock Haven's Nikkien Fauntleroy in a time of 38 seconds to open the day, but dropped a close 6-4 decision to Cal State Bakersfield's Justin Durham in the next round. In his first match in the consolation bracket, Spangler scored a victory over a service academy rival, posting a 3-2 decision over Jared Anongos of Navy. He then added a 9-5 decision against Erik Martinez from Cal State Bakersfield to advance to Wednesday's competition.

Delaney also scored a win in his first bout of the day, posting a 6-3 decision over Bloomsburg's Brian Shaw. While he came up short in a 2-0 loss to Sonny Yohn of Minnesota, Delaney kept his tournament alive with a crucial 3-2 victory over Lock Haven's Henry Turner and advances in the consolation bracket.

Meanwhile, two other Falcons finished the tournament with a 2-2 record. Tyler Untrauer (So., Midwest City, Okla.), wrestling at 133 pounds, started the day with a 7-2 decision over Penn's Zachary Ellis. After falling to second-ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota, Untrauer scored a 6-0 victory against host UNC Greensboro's Alec Fraser. His day then ended with a 6-1 loss to Casey Boyle, also from the host Spartans.

Senior Tyler French (Malta, Mont.) lost a close 3-1 decision to Duke's Voris Tejada in the opening round at 174 pounds, but responded with back-to-back victories. French scored a 15-4 major decision over Ohio State's TC Pendleton before pinning Gardner-Webb's Vincent Salyer in a time of 2:48. However, in his last match of the day, French lost a major decision to Minnesota's Cody Yohn.

Also posting victories on Tuesday were Alec Williams (So., Fultondale, Ala.), Gabe Martinez (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), Zac Berridge (Fr., Tampa, Fla.) and James Ciccone (Sr., Mentor, Ohio).

Competition at the Southern Scuffle concludes tomorrow. The action will begin at 9:00 a.m. (ET) with the quarterfinals and fourth round of wrestle-backs.

Day One Results in PDF Format

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