(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – The Thomas More University wrestling team competed in a dual meet Monday evening in the Connor Convocation Center, dropping a 30-22 decision to their future conference foe Tiffin University.
It was senior night for the Saints as
Zander Coakley (Lakewood, Wash./Lakes),
David Gilbert (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison Comprehensive),
Matthew Lewis (Cincinnati, Ohio/West Clermont),
Casey Ragle (Norwood, Ohio/Norwood), and
Wilder Wichman (Johnson Creek, Wis./Johnson Creek) were all honored before the dual began.
- The Saints dropped their first three matches of the night as Shay Horton (Verona, Ky./Ryle) lost by major decision and Ragle lost by fall. The 141-pound weight class was forfeited by Thomas More, as the team score sat at 16-0 in favor of Tiffin.
- Ryan Moore (Crittenden, Ky./Walton-Verona) made his return to the mat after an injury on Monday. He picked up right where he left off, making quick work of the Dragon's Bryson Cole, pinning him in 36 seconds. Moore is now 13-2 this season with eight falls.
- Wichman scored nine points in a hectic first period at 157 against Nathan Mansor. Wilder had four takedowns, and had a point awarded to him, due to stalling. He would have one more takedown in the match and earn an 11-3 major decision to cut the lead to 16-10 in the meet.
- Sophomore Jahmon Spiller (Saginaw, Ind./Brownsburg) fell behind 5-0 early in the third period at 165, but tried to fight back. He got an escape before taking down Samuel Lofaso III to cut it to two, but it wasn't enough. An escape point for Lofaso made the final score 6-3 and put Tiffin back up nine at 19-10.
- A technical fall at 174 put the Dragons in the driver's seat at 24-10, but a quick pin in one minute by David Gilbert at 184 gave the Saints some hope. Gilbert moves to 5-5 this season and now has three falls.
- A pin at 197 for Tiffin wrapped up the win, with the score at 30-16.
- The night was capped off with another heavily anticipated match at 285, as Saints junior Daulton Mayer (Mentor, Ky./Walton-Verona) took on the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) heavyweight champion in Clayton Ours. Once again, Mayer was up to the task, pinning Ours in 54 seconds to bring the final score to 30-22.
- Mayer is now 19-3 this season with 13 falls, and six of those falls have come in under a minute.
- 125 – Brandon Mendoza (Tiffin) over Shay Horton (Thomas More) (MD 9-1)
- 133 – Lance Crawford (Tiffin) over Casey Ragle (Thomas More) (Fall 6:34)
- 141 – Zackary Donathan (Tiffin) over Unknown (Forfeit)
- 149 – Ryan Moore (Thomas More) over Bryson Cole (Tiffin) (Fall 0:36)
- 157 – Wilder Wichman (Thomas More) over Nathan Mansor (Tiffin) (MD 11-3)
- 165 – Samuel Lofaso III (Tiffin) over Jahmon Spiller (Thomas More) (Dec 6-3)
- 174 – Connor Twigg (Tiffin) over Zavier Campsey (Thomas More) (TF 16-0 5:21)
- 184 – David Gilbert (Thomas More) over Iran Love (Tiffin) (Fall 1:00)
- 197 – Jacob Noon (Tiffin) over Zachary Watson (Thomas More) (Fall 0:30)
- 285 – Daulton Mayer (Thomas More) over Clayton Ours (Tiffin) (Fall 0:54)
Saints wrestling will be in a Mid-South Conference tri-meet Friday evening at No. 15 Cumberland University (Tenn.), along with No. 13 Lindsey Wilson College. They take on the Blue Raiders first at 6:30 p.m. ET before the nightcap against the Phoenix at 7:30 p.m. ET.
