The AU wrestling team is slowly gaining its footing as the season begins to take shape. The Eagles traveled to the Citadel this weekend for a seven-team round-robin tournament that included North Carolina State, Stanford, Duke, Old Dominion and others. Five podium finishes highlighted AU's second place overall finish.
Redshirt juniors Kizhan Clarke (149) and Tanner Harvey (184) and redshirt sophomore Niko Camacho (285) garnered tournament wins, while redshirt junior Gage Curry (125) and redshirt senior Sal Profaci (141) placed second and third respectively.
Clarke began his weekend with a fall two minutes forty-six seconds into his opening match. He went on to beat No. 14 Requir van der Merwe of Stanford 11-5, to secure his individual tournament victory.
"Kizhan earned a very tough, hard-fought win," head coach Teague Moore said. "It took the entire seven minutes to secure the win. He showed an immense amount of heart and determination in that match."
As for the other victors, Harvey took down two ODU opponents. The first was by a 14-2 major decision and only a minute and a half into the match against his first-round opponent. Camacho began his weekend with a fall at the two and a half mark. He cruised to a final win, an 8-0 major decision against The Citadel's Michael McAleavey.
These performances pleased a recently-extended Moore.
"To attack when match victories were secured, that is what we want to see from our wrestlers," he said.
The Eagles host the AU Round Robin against Virginia Military Institute and Maryland on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Bender Arena.
sports@theeagleonline.com
