Rio Grande's Mitchell Freeman has his hand raised after his pin of Oklahoma Wesleyan's Donte Lopez at Saturday's Bulldog Duals hosted by Concordia University in Seward, Neb.

Posted: Dec 17, 2022

Rio wrestlers get one win at Bulldog Duals

Rio Grande Sports Information
SEWARD, Neb. - The University of Rio Grande wrestling team picked up one win in four outings at Saturday's Bulldog Duals hosted by Concordia University.
The RedStorm defeated Central Christian (KS) University, 41-15, while suffering losses to No. 4-ranked Doane (Neb.) University (37-10), Oklahoma Wesleyan University (28-27) and to 18th-ranked Missouri Valley University (39-9).
"I thought today we had a strong showing top to bottom. Every man fought their tails off," said Rio Grande head coach Jason Schweer. "We saw the full spectrum today - a convincing team win, a heartbreaking, razor-thin loss, and a pair of one-sided defeats to two strong Top 20 squads. You know, when you travel halfway across the country, you want to come away with some success. We had just that - some success."
Sophomore Mitchell Freeman and freshman Justin Bartee, both of whom are Point Pleasant, W.Va. products, led Rio with three wins each on the day.
Freeman had three wins on the day at 149 pounds, posting a forfeit victory against Central Christian, a 12-4 decision over Doane's Ben Miller and earning a fall at 5:47 against Oklahoma Wesleyan's Donte Lopez.
Bartee also collected a forfeit at 165 pounds against Central Christian, while getting a 9-4 decision over Oklahoma Wesleyan's Andrew Mahoney and a 3-1 victory over Missouri Valley's Brody von Bethorst.
Four others representing the RedStorm won twice on the day.
At 157 pounds, freshman Westyn Moyer (Urbana, OH) earned an 18-2 technical fall over Central Christian's Vincent Ibarra and a fall at 2:56 against OWU's Chad Sakamoto.
Sophomore Anthony Parks (Jackson, OH) tallied a pair of falls at 184 pounds, defeating Central Christian's Jarin Gomez at 4:46 and OWU's Carter Manley at 3:45.
At 197 pounds, freshman Aiden Greene (Bidwell, OH) got a forfeit win over CCU and won by fall at 4:11 over Missouri Valley's Athonie Banuelos, while freshman Bruce Wagers (Cincinnati, OH) won by fall at 6:59 in his 285-pound match against Doane's Samuel Peterson. Wagers also won by forfeit against Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Rio's other wins on the day were forfeit victories against Central Christian by freshmen Isaac Gray (Frankfort, OH) and Braeden Denlinger (Kettering, OH) at 174 and 285 pounds, respectively.
"Being such a young team, we're going to make mistakes. Some of us are still relying on old habits and tricks that worked in high school, but we just can't get away with those positions at the college level," Schweer said. "Unfortunately, for some of us, the only way to figure that out is to do so the hard way. That said, we're also continuing to improve at a rapid rate. I'm seeing guys make adjustments to critical positions. You might not see it when looking at results, but those little adjustments we're making now will help us in the long run. It's just a time thing - time takes time."
Rio Grande returns to action when it hosts Midway (Ky.) University and Siena Heights (Mich.) University in a triangular on Jan. 2 at the Newt Oliver Arena.