Liberty University Club Sports Athletics
Dozen Liberty wrestlers carry their weight at Citrus Classic
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Top-seeded sophomore Ryan Diehl defended his individual crown and freshman Josh Llopez captured his second tournament title of the season to lift Liberty University's wrestling team to a sixth-place finish out of 13 teams at the Citrus Classic, hosted by Ursinus College (Pa.) Monday and Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Despite missing two starters and having to bump four of its five place-winners up a weight class, the Flames recorded 93 points to finish behind only Mt. Union (167.5), Augsburg (161.5), Cornell (107), John Carroll (102), and Williams (100), and ahead of Oneonta State (88) and Ursinus (59). Most of the tournament field, including the top five teams, were NCAA Division III programs. Liberty was one of three NCWA schools along with Florida Gulf Coast and Florida, which came in 12th and 13th, respectively.
"I had mixed emotions," Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro said. "We had some good individual performances and having two champions is pretty impressive. But we're not where we need to be right now. The Christmas break really hurt us as far as our conditioning goes. We had four guys wrestling above their usual weight class and you can see the difference."
The Flames only traveled with 12 wrestlers due to a couple family emergencies and a few injuries. They also got a third-place finish from graduate student Josh Pelletier, a sixth-place showing from Tim Nordan, who was forced to withdraw with an injury in his consolation semifinal, and a seventh-place performance from fellow sophomore Matt Reynolds.
Llopez, seeded fourth at 184 pounds, upset top-seeded Chris Chorzepa of Williams College in the semifinals, 13-7, before scoring a 17-7 major decision over second-seeded Brent Kirk of Mt. Union.
Chorzepa is ranked second in his weight class in NCAA Div. III after placing third in last year's national championships.
"That was pretty phenomenal for a freshman going up a weight class and upsetting an All-American," Castro said of Llopez. "He had to push himself and he wrestled great. He controlled the match."
Llopez also won the Fall Brawl tournament hosted by Ursinus after finishing runner-up in the season-opening Messiah Invitational, forfeiting to teammate Keyshaun Ward in the final. Ward missed this week's tournament due to injury.
Diehl, who claimed the 133-pound title as a freshman, had a relatively easy path to the 141-pound championship, starting with a 19-3 technical fall over Lamont Wallace of Western New England and a pin of Mount Union's Kyle Ferguson in 6 minutes, 2 seconds.
"He's not as dominant at 141, but he's still winning," Castro said, noting Diehl's semifinal match, a 6-0 victory over Aaran Gessic of Case Western Reserve, was his toughest of the tournament. "It was scoreless until the second period when he started turning the kid."
In the final, Diehl shut out Mt. Union's Bryant Roby 7-0.
Pelletier was unseeded at heavyweight and had to face third-seeded James Bethel of Oneonta State in the opening round. He overcame a controversial 3-2 overtime loss to wrestle his way back through the consolation bracket and finish third, pinning Cornell's Tyler Ortmann in 2:59 in the consolation final.
"Josh did a great job," Castro said. "He's been working really hard and he battled back and won four straight matches to take third."
Complete results are available online.
The Flames will next compete in the American Division of the Virginia Duals, Jan. 9-10 at the Hampton Coliseum.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
