LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Three consecutive victories in the lighter weight class groups by Dominic Chavez (125), Jacob Brasseur (133), and Trenton Donahue (141) gave the Presbyterian College men's wrestling squad a fighting chance to surprise Bellarmine on Thursday evening after a lackluster opening, however that slow start ended up costing the Blue Hose when all was said and done in Louisville by the final score of 22-20.

Competing tooth and nail with a Knights lineup that boasts an 11-0 mark when competing against nonconference foes to balance their .500 Southern Conference tally, Presbyterian made the once-comfortable Bellarmine unit a bit more nervous than they were expecting once Brasseur, Donahue, and Chavez reeled off the trifecta by decision, MD, and technical fall, although those 12 points weren't quite enough to make up for the deficit of 14 that had been gathered over the prior seven bouts.

It looked as if the Knights would run away with a sizable victory with four matches in the can, firing out of the gates for a 16-0 advantage to saddle PC with a marginally-low chance of reaching a successful comeback bid. Miraculously, that unforeseen rally immediately took shape under dire circumstances and finished dangerously close to what would have been the largest come-from-behind win in the history of the program.

Still fresh from his 4-0 dash to a championship in class 184 at the Newberry Open earlier this month, sophomore David Bertrand hurled out the lifejacket near the contest's midway point on Thursday, gaining a six-point W over Kennedy Wyatt that opened the door for Malcolm Wiley (197) to gain more steam with a 16-1 tech to topple Royce Hall.

Just like that, the ominous deficit had been trimmed completely in half, and while the Knights were able to recuperate and hoist the lead back to double digits, Presbyterian's final stand from its three closers made things extremely close down the stretch.

A 9-1 major decision in the lightweight scuffle improved junior Dominic Chavez' SoCon record to 5-1 on the year alongside his seventh dual victory, turning the baton to Brasseur for a four-point win in the next match.

Although a seven-point hole awaiting the last grapple meant that PC was incapable of the team W, Donahue still made the most of the situation by dominating Michael Schiffhauer in an 18-0 TF to flip the final score around significantly from where it once stood.

When combining records together, the Donahue-Wiley-Bertrand trio has reached 44 victories between them since November. In fact, all five of the Blue Hose's victorious competitors have tallied a minimum of 11 wins on the season with the exception of Chavez, who has nearly reached that mark anyhow despite missing time early in the campaign due to injury.

While ending the night's tumultuous affair on the losing end, it must be noted that Bellarmine's last two victories over Presbyterian have occurred by a combined margin of only three points, another signal that head coach Mark Cody's club continues to make ample strides towards the upper echelon of the SoCon for the near future.
 
RESULTS
 
149: Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) def. Khalid Brinkley (PC) by MD, 16-3 – 4-0 Bellarmine
157: Grant Odell (Bellarmine) def. Michael Ramirez (PC) by Dec., 10-5 – Bellarmine
165: Cole Nance (Bellarmine) def. Tyler Chittum (PC) by Fall, 2:31 – 13-0 Bellarmine
174: Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) def. Zach Wells (PC) by Dec., 13-7 – 16-0 Bellarmine
184: David Bertrand (PC) def. Kennedy Wyatt (Bellarmine) by Dec., 9-3 – 16-3 Bellarmine
197: Malcolm Wiley (PC) def. Royce Hall (Bellarmine) by TF, 16-1 – 16-8 Bellarmine
285: Thadd Huff (Bellarmine) def. Morvens Saint Jean (PC) by Fall, 6:02 – 22-8 Bellarmine
125: Dominic Chavez (PC) def. Damion Ryan (Bellarmine) by MD, 9-1 – 22-12 Bellarmine
133: Jacob Brasseur (PC) def. Jack Parker (Bellarmine) by Dec., 5-1 – 22-15 Bellarmine
141: Trenton Donahue (PC) def. Michael Schiffhauer (Bellarmine) by TF, 18-0 – 22-20 Bellarmine
 
EXHIBITION
 
Alex Rivera (Bellarmine) def. Joshua Williams (PC) by TF, 19-2
 
UP NEXT
- The entirety of the 2022-23 regular season has now come and gone for the Blue Hose, who will await their seeding for the Southern Conference Championships in Boone, North Carolina next Saturday, March 4. Brackets will officially be unveiled on the first day of the month as Presbyterian hopes to build off of last spring's eighth place standing.