Buena Vista, VA - The Southern Virginia University men's wrestling hosted Greensboro College for senior night at Knight Arena. The team recognized several longtime members of the program, including Tyson Hoopes, Ikia Garcia, Sawyer Ferry, Francisco Ramirez, Porter Trapp, and Jacob Smith. While there were several inspiring efforts, the Knights dropped the match to the Pride, 31-21.
After a couple of minutes of back and forth action, Matthew Papa (125) outmuscled his opponent on the mat, getting him into a vulnerable position. It didn't take long for Papa to find a pin and bring the Knights their first victory of the evening.
Greensboro fought back to win 133 and 141 by fall before surrendering the next two classes to the Knights by forfeit. Noah James (165) found himself in a marathon battle, putting himself in an early deficit before fighting back to trim the lead. Despite an inspiring finish, James couldn't overcome his opponent as Greensboro won by decision.
Looking to spark his team, Tyson Hoopes (174) engaged in an eventful match from the get-go. In the beginning of the second period, Hoopes snagged an escape point and had more opportunities to go on the attack. Once again, he was able to grab momentum in the latter stages of the match, but ultimately wasn't able to close to deficit after falling behind early and suffered a loss by tech fall.
Ikia Garcia (184) also became locked in a lengthy battle. He patiently waited for his opportunity to strike, putting together several shot attempts towards the end of the second period to build a lead. Garcia remained on the attack to start the third and worked tirelessly to keep his opponent on the defensive. In the end, he delivered a thrilling win by decision.
Britton Sorenson (197) was active in the beginning of his match and brought a wealth of energy to the match. Unfortunately he wasn't able to come out on top and Porter Trapp (285) suffered the same fate.
As the Knights enter the home stretch of the regular season, they'll host one more dual against Roanoke on Thursday, February 6th with a start time slated for 7:00 PM. For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_wrestling on Instagram.
