J. Andrew Lockwood
Senior Editor / Columnist
Kicking off the collegiate wrestling season at home, Mercer’s grapplers wrestled their way to a second place finish in a talented field that included South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Emory, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, and the winner Middle Tennessee State. Finishing second in the team standings by only a six point margin, the Bears saw freshman Mike Green win the 141 lbs weight class in his first college wrestling tournament.
Green would be the only individual weight class champion for Mercer, but Austin Griffin (133 lb.), Parker Owen (174 lbs.), Jerod Northcott (184 lbs.) and Ross Babbitt (285 lbs.) would take the second spots in their respective weight categories. Also placing for Mercer in the top three of their weight classes were Shaun Walker (157 lbs.) and Ben Mercier (235 lbs.).
“I was very proud of how they competed for their first competition of the season,” said head wrestling coach Kevin Andres after the tournament. “MTSU brought the most guys to the tournament and that helped them win the team title, but we finished a close second and I’m proud of that,” he added.
“It was great getting out on the mat and competing,” added All-American Jerod Northcott. He later added, “We had a great turnout in fans and supporters coming out to watch us and we’ve got a great future ahead of us. There’s a lot of young talent on this team and we’re a little inexperienced on the mat but with a little work we’ll be strong in the coming months.”
Conditioning seemed to play a part in the Bears success on Saturday as Northcott added, “We’re one of the better conditioned teams here and that gave us an advantage.”
With the wrestling season just starting, the Bears will be on the road for the next few weeks as they travel to Orlando this weekend (UCF Open) and Murfreesboro the following weekend (Brawl in the Boro) before returning for the Homecoming Dual November 17th. For their complete 2009-10 schedule as well as news and notes about Mercer’s largest and most competitive club sport, visit ncwa.net/teams.
National Collegiate Wrestling Association Results:
Top 5 Schools
School Points
1. Midd Tenn State 54
2. Mercer 48
3. Georgia Southern 41
4. Kennesaw 30
5. Univ of South Carolina 20
125 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. H. Adcock MTSU
2. C. Watson MTSU
3. C. Scaife KSU
133 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. T. Trulick MTSU
2. A Griffin Mercer
3. Q. Van GT
141 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. R. Green Mercer
2. A. Pham UGA
3. M Wright GT
149 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. K. Albert KSU
2. T. Mrozik GSU
3. C Stewert GSU
157 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. L Stefanacci USC
2. D. Kotsch MTSU
3. S. Walker Mercer
165 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. D. Holte EU
2. S. Flanagan GSU
3. J. Hyder UGA
174 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. R. Cravens KSU
2. P. Owen Mercer
3. N. Appleby MTSU
184 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. B. Brummel USC
2. J. Northcott Mercer
3. G. Guy KSU
197 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. I. Bradley MTSU
2. S. Scruggs GSU
3. H. Smith GSU
235 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. B. Pendleton GSU
2. J. Bumphus MTSU
3. B. Mercier Mercer
285 Top 3 Individuals
Name School
1. C. Mock GSU
2. R. Babbitt Mercer
3. M Gossett MTSU
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