St. Louis, Mo. – The Blue Jay men's wrestling team made their way east on I-70 this afternoon to take on the Fontbonne University Griffins in St. Louis, Mo. The match featured many great performances by several Blue Jays however the Griffins managed enough points with the aid of 18 points due to forfeit to end up on top 27-21.
Brock Davis got things going in the right direction right out of the gate in the 125-pound weight class by pinning Ahmond Oates of Fontbonne 2:48 into the match. The win pushed Davis record for the season to 4-0. This win staked Westminster to a 6-0 lead in the match. The 133-pound and 141-pound weight classes again had no competitors for Westminster College this match and resulted in two forfeit losses for the Blue Jays and found the Griffins up 12-6 because of those points.
The Blue Jays got going again in the 149-pound weight class as Jackson Beene scored a 7-5 decision over Joshua Presley. That decision and the three points earned, cut the Griffin lead to 12-9. Beene improved
to 1-1 this season with his first ever Division III victory. Another forfeit in the 157-pound weight class resulted in 6 more points for Fontbonne and extended the Griffin lead to 18-9. Sean Sax stepped up to the 165-pound weight class in todays match after wrestling last weekend in the 157-pound weight class. It didn't matter, Sax pinned his opponent, Christian Trigg, in a mere :45 seconds. Sax improved to 4-0 on the season and the pin narrowed the score to 18-15. Neither school had a competitor in the 174-pound weight class.
Fontbonne increased its lead in the next match winning by pin. The match was 24-15 heading into Montgomery Mills match in the 197-pound weight class. Needing a win to keep the Blue Jays in contention to win the match, Mills came through by pinning his opponent, Sam Martin, 0:46 into the match to bring the Jays to within 24-21 with one match remaining. Kobe Kaminski, Westminster's heavyweight gave a valiant effort but came up short in a tough 4-3 loss by decision. The resulting three points secured the win for the Griffins.
Westminster Head Coach Tony Eierman offered these thoughts, "I want to start by thanking the Westminster and Fontbonne adminsitrations for allowing us to compete and to do so safely. Brock Davis started us off with a pin, Jackson got his first D III win. Sean Sax and Montgomery Mills pinned their opponents to bring us within three points of a 18 point deficit. Kobe lost a tough match to end a great dual"
The Westminster Blue Jays will be back in action on Friday at 6:00 p.m. as they host Iowa Wesleyan University in their first and only home dual of the season. No fans will be allowed into Historic Gym due to COVID-19 protocols. The match will be streamed live on our Westminster Athletics YouTube channel HERE.
