WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The Southern Virginia University wrestling team wrapped up their first day of competition at the Budd Whitehall duals going 1-2 on the day.
"We wrestled much better overall," said head coach Logan Davis. "You can see how our team is progressing, and we are competing whistle to whistle."
After the first day of competition, the Knights improved from their performance last year. The Knights came away with a victory over Wesleyan 27-21 but fell to TCNJ, who is ranked No. 11, 46-3 and Cortland 39-13. Last year, Southern Virginia placed 16th out of 16 teams, but have high hopes for the second day of competition looking to place as high as a ninth-place in the tournament.
In the 285-pound division, Nico Ramirez went 3-0 on the day and improved his overall record to 15-2 on the year. In the first match of the day, Ramirez defeated Sean Dall of Cortland by tech fall in 1:02. Ramirez then went on to take a victory over Wesleyan by tech fall again in 2:45. In the final match of the day, Ramirez managed to go undefeated with a win over Thomas Marretta of TCNJ by decision 2-0.
In the 133-pound division, Aaron Freidhof had an impressive outing going 2-1 on the day. The first match of the day saw Friedhof triumph over Benjarmin Lloyd of Cortland by major decision 13-0. Freidhof then went on to defeat Wesleyan in his second match of the day by decision 7-1. In his final match of the day, Freidhof fell to TCNJ by major decision 15-2.
Two other Knights were able to come away with victories after their first day of competition. Cole Oldham earned a win against Pablo Sanchez of Wesleyan by tech fall in 4:48. Morgan Peterson defeated his second opponent of the day, Charlie Buckley of Cortland, by decision 6-2.
Southern Virginia will continue competition at the Budd Whitehall Duals tomorrow, Jan. 11, competing in the 9-12th place bracket with Castleton being in the bracket ranked No. 22. The first dual is set for 10 a.m.
