DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Tommy Helton's overtime victory at heavyweight provided the margin of victory for SIUE wrestling in a 24-22 triumph over Binghamton at the South Beach Duals.
"Tommy did a great job," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "He has been out with an injury and stepped in today. The dual meet came down to it. He attacked the whole time. Tommy was the aggressor the whole match. Even in overtime he continued to fight. He was tired in overtime but kept wrestling the whole time. It ended up paying off for him."
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Helton's match was back and forth with neither he nor Binghamton's Sean Dee earning a point in the first period. Helton and Dee only scored escapes in the match which went to the tiebreaker round.
The Cougars also picked up key wins from Tyshawn Williams at 149 pounds and Christian Dulaney at 197 pounds.
Williams pinned Binghamton's Frank Garcia in 4:29 using his second-period takedown to put his opponent on his back for the quick win. The two wrestlers were nearly off the mat, but Williams kept his feet inbounds as the referee whistled the win.
"Tyshawn is figuring out how to put a whole match together and is doing better," said Spates. "He needs to believe in his shape a little better, but he came out a scored a lot of points in the first match. In the second match, he came out with a pin that ended up being big team points for us."
Dulaney recorded his 10th and 11th wins of the season and both by a single point. He was SIUE's only winner on the mat in a 31-8 team loss to Michigan State with a 3-2 win over Nick May. Dulaney defeated Binghamton's Alexander Melikian 4-3, which set up the crucial heavyweight match.
SIUE, 2-5, continues action at the South Beach Duals Saturday with No. 21 North Carolina at 10 a.m. CT followed by Kent State at 12 p.m.
"This is a good event overall so we're real excited to be here," said Spates.
SIUE 24 Binghamton 22
125 - Joe Nelson (Binghamton) over Zac Gentzler (SIUE), 10-4
133 - Jacob Nicholson (Binghamton) over Joe Antonelli (SIUE), TF 16-0
141 - John Muldoon (SIUE) won by forfeit
149 - Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) over Frank Garcia (Binghamton), Fall 4:29
157 - Tristan Rifanburg (Binghamton) over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE), TF 16-1
165 - Vincent Deprez (Binghamton) over Nate Higgins (SIUE), 14-2
174 - Anthony Lombardo (Binghamton) over Mason McDaniel (SIUE), 16-1
184 - Bryce Shewan (SIUE) won by forfeit
197 - Christian Dulaney (SIUE) over Alexander Melikian (Binghamton), 4-3
HWT - Tommy Helton (SIUE) over Sean Dee (Binghamton), TB-1 3-2
Michigan State 31 SIUE 8
125 - RayVon Foley (MSU) over Zach Gentzler (SIUE), 5-3
133 - Joe Antonelli (SIUE) won by forfeit
141 - Javier Gasca III (MSU) over Dakota Leach (SIUE), TF 17-2
149 - Jwan Britton (MSU) over Tyshawn Williams (SIUE), 15-12
157 - Jake Tucker (MSU) over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE), 16-1
165 - Austin Hiles (MSU) over Nate Higgins (SIUE), SV-1 8-6
174 - Gary (Logan) Ritchie (MSU) over Logan Gruszka (SIUE), 9-6
184 - Shwan Shadaia (MSU) over Bryce Shewan (SIUE), 6-2
197 - Christian Dulaney (SIUE) over Nick May (MSU), 3-2
HWT - Matt Lloyd (MSU) won by forfeit
SIUE received one penalty point
