CLINTON, S.C. – Longing for their first Templeton Center appearance of the 2022-23 campaign after a season-opening six consecutive matches either as a true visitor or within a neutral location, the Presbyterian College men's wrestling squad will finally get the chance to showcase their skills in front of a Clinton audience on Wednesday afternoon. Taking place four days before Christmas, the Blue Hose will hope that Santa Claus comes early as PC welcomes both Duke and George Mason for a triple threat beginning at noon.
LAST TIME OUT
Under the direction of program starter
Mark Cody, Presbyterian has published their highest success rate on the young season when in dual competition, entering tomorrow's tri-meet at 2-2 in head-to-head bouts. While the Blue Hose enjoyed two straight lopsided victories over Queens and Truett McConnell as the schedule turned to December, their momentum was slowed by Davidson in the Southern Conference opener last Friday by a 26-7 clip in North Carolina.
Dominic Chavez and
Cordel Duhart – a pair of PC juniors who continue to surge up the ranks of the roster with each matchup – posted the two blue and white W's against the Wildcats to open the league journey, the latter improving to 3-0 thanks to consecutive MD wins by the identical difference of 18-6.
197-pounder
Malcolm Wiley ultimately saw a six-match winning streak evaporate over a hotly-contested decision at the close of Friday's dual, still in possession of the team's most efficient record at 10-3 personally (along with a 1
st-place crown at The Citadel Open one month back). True freshman
Ryan Luna currently checks in with the second-highest win count on the lineup (six), followed by five triumphs from
Jacob Brasseur,
Tyler Chittum, and
Trenton Donahue.
Wednesday's pre-holiday double-header will denote the school's first ever meetings against both the Blue Devils and the Patriots, in the midst of their fourth season of competition affiliated with the SoCon. While tomorrow's tri-meet doesn't land in conference territory, the quality of PC's opponents certainly speaks volumes, as Duke and George Mason hold a combined head-to-head record of 8-3.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GMU will stroll into Clinton on Wednesday with an unblemished 6-0 mark in one-on-one encounters, claiming the first half of that streak (wins over Queens, Millersville, and Williams College) by the startling combined score of 125-3. Since then, head coach Frank Beasley's club has downed Bloomsburg, Gardner-Webb, and American University over the past three weeks, the final outing in that sequence on Sunday expressing the first time that the Patriots obtained a victory by single digits (23-15).
Scoring a minimum of 22 points in each of their meetings while taking all six of those victories in Fairfax, George Mason will turn to the visiting side of the table for the first time in a dual setting tomorrow, already just three wins away from equaling last year's nine-win total.
Meanwhile, Duke enters the triple threat at 2-3 (sharing a mutual opponent with the Patriots in American U, who bested the Blue Devils by six in the season-opener). Head coach Glen Lanham and co. share a win over Bloomsburg with George Mason (taking that result in Maryland by a 32-6 margin), achieving their second dual triumph against Franklin & Marshall in a 19-18 barnburner on December 4.
SoCon representative VMI handed the Blue Devils a 28-9 defeat in Virginia the last time that they were seen in action, with Wednesday's trip to PC serving as Duke's first date in two and a half weeks. Coach Lanham's group shares a unique distinction with Presbyterian in that, at the time of writing, neither side has accounted for a home appearance, which changes in 24 hours to the Blue Hose's benefit.
A link to live statistics can be found below or at the top of this page.
PC vs. Duke & George Mason Live Stats -
https://www.trackwrestling.com/seasons/MainFrame.jsp?TIM=1671471368586&twSessionId=gwrusxmtel&pageName=%2Fseasons%2FResults.jsp
