Ranked foes take down Rio grapplers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     COLUMBIA, Ky. - The 2022 NAIA Challenge Duals were just that for the University of Rio Grande wrestling team - a challenge.
     The RedStorm square off against three of the top 15 teams in the country and suffered losses in all three showdowns at Lindsey Wilson College's Biggers Sports Center.
     In the opening round, Rio Grande - which remains among the schools receiving votes in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll - fell to the event host and 14th-ranked Blue Raiders, 31-10.
     Sophomore Mitchell Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV), freshman Westyn Moyer (Urbana, OH) and freshman Justin Bartee (Point Pleasant, WV) posted consecutive victories at 149, 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
     Bartee knocked off William Hendricks, the No. 25-ranked wrestler in the country, in convincing fashion by posting a 15-4 major decision.
     "We wrestled incredibly tough against a very solid Lindsey squad," said Rio Grande head coach Jason Schweer. "Kudos to the guys that won their individual matches, especially Justin. To go out and beat a nationally-ranked wrestler in his own gym can be pretty tall task. The way he dominated and controlled the match start to finish, that was fun to watch. There were three other matches which we narrowly lost that came down to the wire. We just made some rookie mistakes and Lindsey's veteran squad took advantage."
     The second dual of the day saw the Redstorm shutout by No. 15 Reinhardt University (Ga.), 47-0. Rio grapplers lined up against several top 25 individuals, three of which were in the top eight at their respective weight classes.
     "Obviously, no one likes getting blanked," Schweer said. "A tip of the cap goes to coach Bedard. His teams are always very well-coached and extremely disciplined. Our best guys happened to lineup with their best guys and they were the better today. That's why you come to events like this, though - to find out where we're at against some of the best kids across the country. There are certainly some adjustments we need to make from a technical aspect, but the real lesson from that dual is that we need to come ready to compete, every single time out. I think we felt pretty good about our Lindsey performance and didn't take time to reset and focus on the task at hand. That cost us."
     The third and final dual of the day saw Rio drop a 39-9 decision to No. 4 Indiana Tech.
     Similar to the meeting with Reinhardt, the Warriors entered the day with 11 nationally-ranked wrestlers.
     Bartee posted his second win on the day in an overtime thriller, while, in his season debut, freshman Isaac Gray (Frankfort, OH) earned his first collegiate victory in convincing fashion, winning by fall in the 174-pound match.
     "I was very proud of the effort against Tech. They've been one of the better programs in the country over the last decade. That's the type of program we're building towards," said Schweer. "We wrestled extremely tough against some very solid individuals. For a guy like Mitchell to drag No. 13 all the way to overtime and for Westyn to drop a tight 4-0 decision to No.4, it's extremely motivating to know we're closing that gap. I mean, the guy that Westyn lost to was the No. 1 seed at the national tournament last year and, you know, Justin wrestled really well bouncing back after his first loss on the year. We were in control from start to finish, just had to use the overtime period to seal the deal."
     "I was really happy for Isaac getting his first pin today," continued Schweer. "We'd been nursing an injury the past few weeks and finally got the chance to see what he can do out there. The guy's got a lot of natural ability and I'm excited to see what he'll do with it."
     Rio Grande is scheduled to hit the road again this weekend, traveling to Seward, Neb. to take part in Saturday's Bulldog Duals hosted by Concordia University.
     Match time is set for 11 a.m. EDT.