Flames men’s wrestlers receive wake-up call in dual match with Lions

Liberty University's men's wrestling team got a preview of the level of competition it can expect to see in Saturday's Lindenwood Open when the Flames wrestled the Lions in a dual match on Friday in St. Charles, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis.

Lindenwood opened a 19-0 lead before Liberty finally got on the scoreboard by virtue of a forfeit win before pulling within 19-12 on a pin by 165-pound graduate Reid Stewart over Logan Johnson. But the Flames would get no closer as the Lions went on to win the last four matches, the last two by fall, in a 34-12 triumph.

"(The Lions) took us to town," Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro said. "They beat us up. We looked flat. That's a good team but we are definitely better than we've shown. We didn't wrestle well and we were outmatched tonight. They were the better team tonight."

He noted that the Flames left four of their wrestlers in Lynchburg, including graduate 197-pounder Josiah Murphy, sophomore 184-pounder Zach Kaminski, and sophomore 174-pounder Syler Weber, due to flu-like symptoms. Freshman Jakob Brown, who is off to a 10-2 start and placed at both the Messiah (Pa.) Invitational and the Cougar Open, also did not make the trip as he is undergoing surgery back in his hometown.

Castro said 197-pound freshman Carder Miller, who was coming off an individual title at Averett University's Cougar Open on Sunday, and heavyweight Wade Wheeler got winded in the third period when they landed on their backs in match-ending setbacks.

"Carder was winning his match and (Ryan Golnick) came back from behind and took it away," Castro said. "We were winning at heavyweight, too, and (the Lions' David Hernandez) wore him out. They took us to the third period and broke us."

Lindenwood is in the process of transitioning from NCAA Division II to Division I next season. It is competing in the NCWA this season along with defending NCWA National Duals and Grand National team champion Bellarmine, which is also moving to the NCAA DI ranks and will join Liberty in the Lindenwood Open field, made up mostly of NCAA DI and NAIA wrestlers.

"This was a wake-up call for us, honestly," he said. "We've got to get better if we're going to compete at this level."

Castro expects between 350-400 wrestlers from 30 teams throughout the Midwest to compete in Saturday's open tournament, where they will be challenged more than at any other meet.

"The Lindenwood Open and the Citrus Classic (from Dec. 29-30 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) are two exceptional tournaments we are in this season," he said.

Lindenwood 34, Liberty 12
125: Austin Kegley (Lin) p. Aiden Scheeringa, 2:57; 133: Caiden Pelc (Lin) t.f. Chase Arnestad, 17-1; 141: Ben Rohr (Lin) m.d. Blake Schmidt, 12-0; 149: Lara Cruz (Lin) m.d. Garrett Good, 13-2; 157: Lucas Viana (Lib), by forfeit; 165: Reid Stewart (Lib) p. Logan Johnson, 2:56; 174: Kaden Charboneau (Lin) d. Josiah Foss by injury default; 184: Luke Shaver (Lin) d. Gabe Hayes, 10-3; 197: Ryan Golnick (Lin) p. Carder Miller, 4:06; 285: David Hernandez (Lin) p. Wade Wheeler, 3:18.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer

Flames men’s wrestlers receive wake-up call in dual match with Lions

Players Mentioned

Chase Arnestad

Jakob Brown

Josiah Foss

Garrett Good

Carder Miller

Josiah Murphy

Aiden Scheeringa

Reid Stewart

Lucas Viana

Syler Weber

Wade Wheeler

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