DOMINATING PERFORMANCE FROM MEN’S WRESTLING AT ROCKY TOP DUALS

GATLINBURG, Tenn. – Wrapping up the first half of the season almost could not have gone better for Avila men's wrestling, as the program went 2-1 with a pair of dominating wins on Saturday at the Rocky Top Duals.

In the first dual of the day, the Eagles took down Brewton-Parker, 49-3. Avila went 9-1 in the 10 duals.

Raul Romero (125 pounds) and Dru Thomas (149 pounds) each won their match by major decisions.  

Aiden Pina (133), Tyler Johnson (141), Kristjan Marshall (157), Keenan Tumbarello (165), Caleb Sharpe (184) and Gavin Howes (285) all won via falls in the opening matches.

Finally, Rodney Trotter, in the 197-pound class picked up a 17-1 tech fall win.

Avila took the momentum from the first dual into a matchup with Truett-McConnell, picking up another huge win, this time winning by a 37-8 margin.

In the middle matchup of the day, Romero moved to 2-0 with a 25-22 sudden victory.

Thomas, Nicholas Oji (174) and Rodney Trotter Jr. (197) picked up tech fall victories against Truett-McConnell.

Tyler Johnson would also move to 2-0 on the afternoon with an 11-2 major decision victory.

Sharpe picked up a fall victory in 2:07 while Marshall won his second dual with a 10-4 decision.

Avila's lone loss on the day could not have been closer, falling to Keiser, 29-26.

Johnson wrapped up his day with a 3-0 performance, winning via fall in 4:59 and Dru Thomas also picked up his third win, taking his dual via 13-0 major decision.

Marshall (fall, 3:09) and Rodney Trotter Jr. (15-2 major decision) also picked up their third wins on the day against Keiser.

In the final bout of the day, Howes nabbed his second dual win with a 4:04 fall.

In total, Avila went 22-7 on the day – 21 of the wins coming as bonus point victories – and 10 total falls.

Head Coach Eric Mateo was very proud of his team's performance to close out the semester: "We competed with gratitude and joy today – it was awesome to watch. I'm excited to continue to watch this team grow. As always, there are techniques and tactics that we need to improve upon, but I am proud of how we competed. We went out there with the intent to score bonus points and we did. A dual is one of the best parts of college wrestling and it was fun to be a part of that today."

A full list of results from the Rocky Top Duals can be found here.

Heading into Christmas break, Avila is next on the mat on January 9 at the Missouri Valley duals.