SIUE wrestling claims three individual champions at Southern Conference Championships

CHARLESTON, S.C. – SIUE wrestling claimed three champions Saturday at the Southern Conference Championships, all of whom will compete in less than two weeks at the NCAA Division I Championships in St. Louis.

Freddie Rodriguez (125), Jake Residori (174) and Jake Tindle (197) will represent the Cougars at the Scottrade Center (March 16-18). For Rodriguez and Tindle, this will be their second national tournament appearance. For Residori, this is his first after placing in the top three at the SoCon Championships three times previously.

"We punched three tickets to the NCAAs," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "We have a couple of guys who have wild card opportunities. The guys wrestled hard throughout the tournament up and down the lineup."

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As a team, SIUE boasted its best-ever finish with 69.5 points. Campbell won the event with 89.5 followed by Appalachian State with 86.0.

"We were wrestling hard for seven minutes," said Spates. "We were behind each other as a team. There were a lot of positives on the day."

Rodriguez posted some huge offensive numbers with his second straight SoCon Championship at 125. He pinned Garder-Webb's Landon LoAlbo in the quarterfinals in 4 minutes, 13 seconds. He bested Chattanooga's Alonzo Allen in the semifinals 13-8 and Campbell's Nathan Kraisser in the finals 12-8.

"Freddy defended his title and wrestled just unbelievable the whole tournament," Spates said.

Residori, SIUE's only No. 1 seed for the tournament, won his first SoCon title with a steady march towards the championship. He bested Appalachian State's Angel Najar in the quarterfinals 6-2. He took a major decision in the semifinals over Campbell's John Weiss 9-1. He defeated Gardner-Webb's Austin Trott in the finals 4-1.

"He has placed every year. To do it as a senior, that was huge," Spates said.

Tindle also went on the offensive in his three wins, scoring double digits in each of his three matches. He defeated VMI's Taylor Thomas 11-3, Campbell's Willie Bivens 19-4 and The Citadel's Sawyer Root 11-4. Tindle looked as if he was about to be taken down by Root in the finals only to roll Root over and put him on his back for a six-point move that proved to be the difference.

"Jake Tindle has been there every year. He won it two years ago. To come back and win as a senior, he did a really good job," Spates said.

SIUE also enjoyed three other top four performances. John Fahy placed second at 149 pounds, dropping his finals match to Appalachian State's Matthew Zovistoski 6-5. John Muldoon finished third with a 9-3 win over Campbell's Jonathan Ryan at 133 pounds. Clayton Bass took fourth at 165 pounds after a loss to Chattanooga's Justin Lampe 13-3.

"John wrestled hard throughout the tournament. He came up a little short in the finals, but he competed. He was attacking and did a good job," said Spates.

"I'm excited about all of the guys who placed. Having four in the finals, that doubled the most we had in the finals," he added.

Team Scores
1. Campbell 89.5
2. Appalachian State 86.0
3. SIUE 69.5
4. Chattanooga 66.0
5. Gardner-Webb 37.5
6. The Citadel 33.5
7. VMI 9.5
8. Davidson 7.0

Southern Conference Championship Results for SIUE
McAlister Field House, Charleston, S.C.
125 - Freddie Rodriguez (21-6) placed 1st and scored 14.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) 21-6 pinned Landon LoAlbo (Gardner-Webb) 5-19 (Fall 4:13)
    Semifinal - Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) 21-6 def. Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga) 17-13 (Dec 13-8)
    1st Place Match - Freddie Rodriguez (SIUE) 21-6 def. Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) 25-7 (Dec 12-8)

133 - John Muldoon (13-9) placed 3rd and scored 7.50 team points.
    Quarterfinal - John Muldoon (SIUE) 13-9 def. Philip Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 10-18 (Dec 10-5)
    Semifinal - Chris Debien (Chattanooga) 17-10 def. John Muldoon (SIUE) 13-9 (Dec 11-6)
    Cons. Semi - John Muldoon (SIUE) 13-9 pinned Andrew Szalwinski (The Citadel) 11-24 (Fall 2:25)
    3rd Place Match - John Muldoon (SIUE) 13-9 def. Jonathan Ryan (Campbell) 13-10 (Dec 9-3)

141 - Trevor Feagans (15-18) scored 2.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Trevor Feagans (SIUE) 15-18 def. Douglas Gudenburr (The Citadel) 21-20 (MD 15-6)
    Semifinal - Joshua Heil (Campbell) 16-11 def. Trevor Feagans (SIUE) 15-18 (Dec 9-4)
    Cons. Semi - Chase Zemenak (Chattanooga) 10-4 def. Trevor Feagans (SIUE) 15-18 (MD 19-7)

149 - John Fahy (12-12) placed 2nd and scored 10.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - John Fahy (SIUE) 12-12 def. Aidan Conroy (Davidson) 6-17 (MD 15-1)
    Semifinal - John Fahy (SIUE) 12-12 def. Tyler Buckiso (The Citadel) 24-16 (SV-1 10-8)
    1st Place Match - Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State) 28-9 def. John Fahy (SIUE) 12-12 (Dec 6-5)

157 - Karsten Van Velsor (10-21) scored 0.50 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Neal Richards (Vmi) 25-9 def. Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) 10-21 (TF-1.5 6:20 (18-1))
    Cons. Round 1 - Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) 10-21 def. Tony Palumbo (Davidson) 12-9 (Dec 6-4)
    Cons. Semi - Aaron Walker (The Citadel) 28-10 def. Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) 10-21 (MD 12-2)

165 - Clayton Bass (14-17) placed 4th and scored 5.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Forrest Przybysz (Appalachian State) 23-12 def. Clayton Bass (SIUE) 14-17 (TF-1.5 7:00 (19-2))
    Cons. Round 1 - Clayton Bass (SIUE) 14-17 def. Noah Satterfield (Davidson) 4-20 (MD 9-1)
    Cons. Semi - Clayton Bass (SIUE) 14-17 def. Tyler Marinelli (Gardner-Webb) 17-7 (MD 10-2)
    3rd Place Match - Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) 15-11 def. Clayton Bass (SIUE) 14-17 (MD 13-3)

174 - Jake Residori (19-11) placed 1st and scored 13.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Jake Residori (SIUE) 19-11 def. Angel Najar (Appalachian State) 9-10 (Dec 6-2)
    Semifinal - Jake Residori (SIUE) 19-11 def. John Weiss (Campbell) 8-12 (MD 9-1)
    1st Place Match - Jake Residori (SIUE) 19-11 def. Austin Trott (Gardner-Webb) 24-6 (Dec 4-1)

184 - Jake Godinez (4-27)
    Quarterfinal - Bryce Carr (Chattanooga) 25-4 pinned Jake Godinez (SIUE) 4-27 (Fall 3:10)
    Cons. Round 1 - Christopher Beck (Vmi) 9-20 def. Jake Godinez (SIUE) 4-27 (Dec 7-0)

197 - Jake Tindle (19-10) placed 1st and scored 14.50 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Jake Tindle (SIUE) 19-10 def. Taylor Thomas (Vmi) 8-19 (MD 11-3)
    Semifinal - Jake Tindle (SIUE) 19-10 def. Willie Bivens (Campbell) 11-16 (TF-1.5 7:00 (19-4))
    1st Place Match - Jake Tindle (SIUE) 19-10 def. Sawyer Root (The Citadel) 22-16 (Dec 11-4)

285 - Jake McKiernan (23-11) scored 3.00 team points.
    Quarterfinal - Jake McKiernan (SIUE) 23-11 pinned Boyce Cornwell (Gardner-Webb) 23-12 (Fall 5:18)
    Semifinal - Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State) 27-6 def. Jake McKiernan (SIUE) 23-11 (TF-1.5 6:24 (20-4))
    Cons. Semi - Joseph Bexley (The Citadel) 13-24 def. Jake McKiernan (SIUE) 23-11 (Dec 6-4)