ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Missouri Baptist Men's Wrestling earned their first dual win of the season against Heart opponent (RV) Saint Ambrose University tonight in the Petty SRC.
The Spartans opened the night with fireworks. Freshman 125-pounder Josiah Neri needed a little less than three minutes to pin his opponent, earning an early six team points for MBU.
The Fighting Bees responded with wins at the 133 and 141 classes. Freshman Jackson Bassett had the toughest matchup of the night, wrestling the No. 8 ranked grappler at 141 in Guiseppe Guerra for SAU. Bassett lost by tech fall (17-2) in the final period (6:21). After three matchups, the Bees were up 8-6.
Missouri Baptist regained the lead in the 149 match after a win by Noah Richardson. The junior from Eureka, Mo. forced a similar result to the previous bout, besting his competition by tech fall (17-2) at the 6:30 mark.
After another loss, the Spartans stacked a quick pin by No. 24 Jeremiah Drake in 2:16 at 165 and a strong tech fall win by Evan Morris (18-0 6:18) at 174 to extend the lead, 22-11.
Saint Ambrose fought back with a pair of decision wins at 184 and 197 to draw within five.
The dual was sealed by the No. 23 wrestler in the heavyweight class, Amad Soufi. The bout appeared to be competitive between the two grapplers until the early goings of the final period, when Soufi found his opening and pinned his opponent. The contest ended the way it began, with the crowd roaring for another excellent Spartan performance.
Despite each team taking five individual matches, Missouri Baptist claimed a convincing win over Saint Ambrose 28-17.
Now 1-1 as a team and with numerous individual matches down, Missouri Baptist Men's Wrestling heads into one of many tough weekends, this time at the Grand View Open, hosted by the reigning NAIA National Champions. The Spartans are set to begin the competition at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
