Beck and Rowlen place 1st to lead Hawks in Star City Open

SALEM, Va.  – The Huntingdon wrestling team won two weight divisions and won a total of 40 matches to place third in the Star City Open on Sunday.

Elizabethtown College won the nine-team tournament with 115 points, followed by Stevens Institute of Technology in second with 113.5 points and Huntingdon in third with 106 points.

Seniors DeAndre Beck and Jesse Rowlen each won their weight classes to become the first Hawks during the NCAA era to place first in a tournament. Beck went 4-0 to win the 141-pound weight class and Rowlen went 4-0 to win the 285-pound weight class.

Beck won by pin (2:46) in the first round before winning by decision in the quarterfinals (7-4) and the semifinals (10-4). In the championship match, Beck defeated the Stevens Institute of Technology's Michael Derin by sudden victory (3-1).

Rowlen also won by pin (5:42) in the first round before winning by decision in the quarterfinals (3-1) and semifinals (9-3). In the finals, Rowlen pinned Ferrum's Carlos Leyva in 2:11.

In addition to Beck and Rowlen, seven other Hawks finished in the top six of their weight classes and a total of 14 Hawks won at least two matches.

Kori Walker won three matches and placed third in the 197-pound weight class. After receiving a bye in the first round, Walker won by major decision (13-5) in the quarterfinals before losing by pin (1:22) in the semifinals. Walker won by major decision (15-3) in the consolation semifinals before winning the third-place match with an 8-6 decision.

Quintez Pearson won four matches and placed fourth in the 149-pound weight class. Pearson earned a pin (6:59) in the first round before losing by pin (2:46) in the quarterfinals. He won a major decision (18-10) in the second round of consolation, won an 8-6 decision in the third round of consolation and a 9-6 decision in the consolation semifinals before losing by major decision (12-1) in the third-place match.

Huntingdon had three fifth-place wrestlers in Wyatt Miller (174 pounds), Cody Dixon (184 pounds) and Jacob Smith (133 pounds). Miller won four matches, Dixon won three matches and Smith won two matches.

Miller won by technical fall (17-2) in the first round before losing by technical fall (18-2) in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, Miller won by decision (8-2) and pin (4:29) before losing a major decision (14-5) in the consolation semifinals. Miller won the fifth-place match in sudden victory (16-14).

Dixon won by pin (2:02) and decision (13-6) in the first two rounds before losing by technical fall (16-0) in the semifinals. In the consolation bracket, Dixon lost 12-5 in the semifinals before winning the fifth-place match against teammate Austin Threatt by medical forfeit.

Smith received a bye in the first round before winning by pin (2:10) in the quarterfinals and losing by pin (4:25) in the semifinals. Smith lost 4-0 in the consolation semifinals before defeating teammate Nelson Elder by pin (3:24) in the fifth-place match.

Elder finished with two wins and placed sixth in the 133-pound weight class. After losing 5-1 in the first round and receiving a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, Elder won by decision (9-5) and by pin (6:12) in the second and third rounds. A loss by pin (3:25) in the consolation semifinals set up the fifth-place match with Smith.

Threatt earned two wins and placed sixth in the 184-pound weight class. Threatt won by technical fall (17-1) in Round 1 and decision (11-9) in the quarterfinals before losing by pin (1:42) in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals and the fifth-place match, Threatt was unable to wrestle and lost by medical forfeit.

Coming Up: Huntingdon wrestles at Brewton-Parker on Nov. 30.