Men’s wrestlers post solid 19th-place showing out of 44 teams at Lindenwood Open

Saturday, November 18

St. Charles, MO

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Lindenwood Open

Flames freshman Aiden Scheeringa met his match against Oklahoma State's Jayce Caviness in the championship semifinals losing by 20-5 technical fall, but went on to finish fourth at 125 pounds at the Lindenwood Open near St. Louis on Saturday. (Photo by Bobby Leek)

Men’s wrestlers post solid 19th-place showing out of 44 teams at Lindenwood Open

11/19/2023 8:33:00 AM | Men's Wrestling

Liberty bounced back from a lopsided dual meet loss to the host Lions paced by heavyweight Wade Wheeler's first-place finish and 133-pound Jahleel Armstrong's second-place showing.

Sophomore heavyweight Wade Wheeler finished first and freshman Jahleel Armstrong claimed second place at 133 pounds in the Black Division (for freshmen and sophomores) of Saturday's Lindenwood Open. Those were two highlights for the Flames who, with 19 wrestlers available, finished 19th overall out of 44 colleges and universities, many from the NCAA and NAIA ranks.

"It was our toughest tournament so far this season and coming off a disappointing dual meet (Friday) night (against Lindenwood) the team rebounded well in a competitive field," Liberty Head Coach Jesse Castro said. "I was proud of our effort. We are progressing, getting better, but will need to keep improving in order to compete with the two strong NCAA DI transition programs, Lindenwood and Bellarmine. I am excited about the Blithe )Memorial) Duals coming up."

That tournament is set for Dec. 1 at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Castro's son-in-law, former Flames Assistant Coach Chris Williamson, is the head coach. It is named for Williamson's son, Castro's grandson, who died soon after birth in 2021.

Wheeler, who was pinned by the Lions in his dual-meet-ending heavyweight bout on Friday night, earned 21 team points for his individual title on Saturday. He started the open tournament with a 5-3 decision over Ouachita Baptist's RJ Hild before pinning his final three opponents — Cloud County (Kansas) Community College's Darian Gillins in 1 minute, 7 seconds, Labette (Kansas) Community College's Adrian Elsen in 51 seconds, and Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College's Noah Iobe in 1:21.

Armstrong picked up 18.5 team points with his runner-up showing, winning his first three matches by technical fall over Marian (Indiana) University's Romeo White, 17-2, Triton (Ill.) Community College's Jack Connell, 16-1, and Carl Albert (Okla.) State College's Ryder Clark, 17-2. After scoring a 7-6 decision over Indian Hills' Arojae Hart in the semifinals, he ended his night by being pinned by Oklahoma State's Zach Blankenship in 2:54.

Freshman Aiden Scheeringa earned 18 team points for his fourth-place finish in the Black Division at 125 pounds after he won his first two matches by fall over the University of the Cumberlands' (Ky.) Colin Tucker in 3:52 and Cumberland (Tenn.) College's Kaleb Ruhl in 1:15. He scored a technical fall of Rochester (Minn.) Community & Technical College's Rufus Bartee, 16-0, before having the tables turned in a 20-5 tech fall defeat at the hands of Oklahoma State's Jayce Caviness. Scheeringa pinned his teammate, sophomore Walker Chambers, in 34 seconds before suffering a 23-3 tech fall setback against Indian Hills' Justin Bradford in the consolation final.

Chambers added 10.5 points for his sixth-place finish highlighted by a 30-second pin of Missouri Valley's Brayden Dubes.

Zach Lovell, also a 125-pound freshman for the Flames, picked up 6.0 team points by going 3-2, ending his night in the consolation quarterfinals where he was pinned by Northwestern's Massey Odiotti.

At 197, freshman Carder Miller scored 14.5 team points by finishing fifth, earning two pins along the way over Marian's Joshua McKelvin in 4:28 and Cumberland' (Tenn.) Kadin Stutzman in 3:49.

Flames graduate Reid Stewart scored 9.0 team points with his sixth-place finish at 157 pounds, where he finished 3-3 after winning his first three matches by fall over Seth Lambers of Cumberlands (Ky.) in 5:23 and decisions over Cumberland's (Tenn.) Thomas Magness and Missouri Valley's Landen Lopez.

Also at 157, Liberty senior Connor McCann scored 7.0 points by pinning Labette's Chad Herbert in 4:04 and Flames sophomore Miguel Betancourt in 1:02, also winning a 14-6 major decision over Quincy's Gabriel Orosco. Flames senior Cole Waddy added 4.5 team points by winning his opening match over Isaac Richardson of Marion and his third match over William Woods (Mo.) University's Jack Killian by 18-3 and 15-0 tech falls.

Liberty junior Gabriel Hayes earned 8.0 points after going 4-2 at 184, winning his first match by fall in 2:20 over Quincy's Anthony King and his third by 15-0 tech fall over Missouri Baptist's Aidan Currivean.

At 133, sophomore Chase Arnestad earned 4.5 team points after winning his first two matches by 10-0 major decision over Indian Hills' Steven Luedtke and 17-2 tech fall over Wayland (Texas) Baptist College's Justin Johnson. Flames freshman Giovanni DeGeorge tacked on two points after winning his consolation match by 19-1 tech fall over Wayland Baptist's Joseph Galvan.

Flames sophomore Josiah Foss scored 4.5 team points at 165 with his 15-0 tech fall over Marion's Jimmy Lacey and pin of Missouri Valley's Ethan Phillips in 4:25.

Sophomore Blake Schmidt picked up 3.0 team points at 141 with his 15-0 tech fall of Carl Albert State's Kason Mitchell and 2-0 decision over Wayland Baptist's Vincent Sandoval. Meanwhile, senior Garrett Good earned 3.0 points at 149 with his pin of Carl Albert State's Mason Gordon in 2:12.

Complete results are available online.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer