Giovanni DeGeorge upset the No. 2 and No. 8-ranked NCAA Division III wrestlers en route to a third-place showing at the Sword and Hammer Invitational in Virginia Beach. (Photos by Bobby Leek)
Herrmann, DeGeorge, Waddy carry Flames wrestlers to seventh-place showing at Sword and Hammer
1/28/2024 10:55:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
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Liberty only sent nine wrestlers to the event hosted by overall champion Apprentice School, which had 25, but three placed in the top four.
Sophomore heavyweight Josh Herrmann finished runner-up and 133-pound freshman Giovanni DeGeorge came in third place after defeating two wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the nation among the NCAA Division III ranks to highlight Liberty University's men's wrestling team's performance Saturday at the Sword and the Hammer Invitational, hosted by The Apprentice School at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach.
Herrmann pinned East Carolina's Dakota Farmer in 3 minutes, 41 seconds, and dropped a 1-0 decision to eventual champion Quinton Smith of Toledo before pinning RPI's Tom Kelly in 1:39 to clinch second place.
DeGeorge lost his first match by third-period fall to Apprentice's Caleb Olgers in 5:44 before pinning Apprentice's top-seeded Dillon Messick in 1:05 and UMBC's Henry Santi in 3:54. He then won the consolation final rematch with Olgers by an 8-5 decision to wrap up third place.
At 157, Flames senior Cole Waddy earned 10 team points by going 4-2 to finish fourth, winning his first match by 15-0 technical fall over Yale's Peter Williams. After losing by major decision to Apprentice School's Zacharay Ortega, Waddy pinned Marymount's Thomas Newman in 2:34 and ECU's Jon Byrd in 4:49 before losing to Apprentice's Logan Eastman by 17-2 tech fall in the consolation final.
As a team, Liberty only carried nine wrestlers and placed seventh out of 10 teams with 51 points. Apprentice School, which had 25 wrestlers on hand, won with 174 points, followed by Marymount University (75.5), Toledo (68.5), East Carolina (66.5), RPI (61), and Slippery Rock (58.5), and ahead of JMU (44), Yale (15), and UMBC (7.5).
Liberty will send closer to a complete squad to next Saturday's Messiah Invitational in Grantham, Pa., before completing its regular season at the Patrick Henry Tri-Match featuring West Virginia Tech on Feb. 9 in Beckley, W.Va.
Flames 157-pound sophomore Miguel Betancourt competes in Saturday's Sword and Hammer Invitational hosted by Apprentice School.
