I knew that the Patriot Open would be really good. That's why I previewed it. I knew a lot of good matches would happen & a lot of interesting, unexpected things would happen as well. The problem in previewing these early season tournaments is that you never quite know who's gonna show up. You know who has the potential to show up & but until brackets come out, it's a guessing game.
For the past 8 seasons, I've been doing a ton of previews for duals and tournaments but not a whole lot of recapping. I want to get wrestling fans excited about what's coming up, but I also wonder if there's an audience for what already happened. Gonna try this out for a while and see what happens.
Here's a recap of The Patriot Open.
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| 125 lbs Champ Conner Diamond of Lindsey Wilson |
It didn't surprise me at all that Conner Diamond took the title at 125 lbs. The Blue Raider is a smart, smooth wrestler that really uses his head when he's out on the mat. What did surprise me though is how he was able to control Bellarmine's Damion Ryan as well as he did. Especially considering that Ryan just annihilated Esau Bazilme of Southeastern 14-2 earlier in the tournament. What was also surprising was is that Bazilme would drop another match in the consolation semi-finals to Adonis Boyd, 10-7, who by the way competed for Bellarmine himself at one time.
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| Gabe Hixenbaugh wins first ever tournament title for Montevallo at 133 lbs |
How cool is it that in their first ever tournament the Falcons crown a champion? Not only did Gabe Hixenbaugh win the Patriot Open, he totally kicked ass throughout the whole thing. In the finals he just had his way with Anthony Hughes of Marian, who was also a runner-up at the Patriot Open last year. Some surprises at 133 on top of Hixenbaugh's championship run. Bryce Cockrell getting beat out of the tournament was a big eye opener for me. Losing a 7-2 match to Kahlil Tucker. Wasn't expecting that. Nor was I expecting Randy Frailey of Siena Heights to have such a strong 3rd place showing. The season never waits to overwhelm me with upsets, it figures I can handle it by the truckload on an hourly basis.
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| Evan Potter takes the lead at 141 lbs |
141 lbs did not disappoint! Evan Potter of Southern Oregon came into this tournament ranked #4 & could very well find himself ranked #1 soon after knocking off #1 Pat Gould of Keiser 9-3 in the finals. Gould scored a tought fought 15-10 victory over Logan Wagner of Marian in the semi-finals. All three of these gentlemen are NAIA title contenders, mark my word. Fortunate to get to see this good of wrestling this early in the season.
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| Jace Lachau Keeps the 149 lbs Title At Home |
I was disappointed to see that the Jace Lachau Vs Parker Dobrocky match ended in a medical forfeit. I was looking forward to that match, especially after Dobrocky knocked off Jack Latimer of Cumberland in the semi-finals. I was also disappointed that Bryce Nickel didn't compete. I am really anxious to see where he stands this season, but I guess I gotta make like Axl Rose and be patient.
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| The Name's Bond, Andreus Bond |
I was very happy to see Andreus Bond back on top of the heap, but to be honest I was surprised to see him handle Dylan Straley as well as he did. At first seeing Straley stick #17 Brent Hudgins in 2:54 & then seeing him score a 4-3 decision over #19 Elijah Chacon, I was like, "Where in the Hell did you come from?" Nevertheless Bond was able to cool the fire that Straley was on with an 8-0 major decision. It was also not lost on me that former West Virginia Mountaineer Liam Lusher majored Chacon 12-3 in the consolation semi-finals.
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| A DI does was a DI does |
We had an all DI final at 165 lbs between Bellarmine 165 lbs'ers Grant O'Dell & Cole Nance. I was kinda hoping that Noah Hollendonner of Marian might give a bit more of a fight, but there's a reason we have classes. There's no use in trying to romanticize over the differences between DI & NAIA. You should expect a DI wrestler to beat up on an NAIA wrestler. That's why we have the separate divisions to begin with. Despite a tough 21-4 tech fall loss in the semis, Hollendonner came back strong to claim 3rd. From the mental aspect of this sport, that's very important.
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| Cole Smith Dominates 174 lbs |
#12 Cory Cannan of Lindsey Wilson knocked off #8 Alex Hernandez in a tough fought semi-final. Figured Cannan might give Cole Smith a decent match in the finals. Nope. It was all Smith, 17-0 technical fall. The way he just dominated, I have a feeling that #3 ranking he's at right now, might end up being a #1 before the season is said and done.
Honestly, no real thoughts concerning 184 lbs....
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| Niko Perovic Proves He's Adjusting to 197 lbs just Fine as Tristan Middlebrook knocks off #12 twice |
5th at the Patriot Open last season competing at 184 lbs, I was anxious to see how Niko Perovic was going to do at 197. Turns out, just fine. Won the title. The bigger surprise to me here though was Tristan Middlebrook's 3rd place performance. A 5-3 upset over #12 Andrew Herrera of Southern Oregon & then comes back & pins him at 2:05 for 3rd place!
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| Gabe Jacobs Keeps Himself Separated |
It took Gabe Jacobs a little over a minute to claim his title with a fall in the finals. Thing about it is, he won a rather solid bracket too. He had three other ranked wrestlers in the bracket, plus #4 Earnest Johnson who unfortunately got hurt early on and had to forfeit out of the tournament. Hope it's nothing serious and Johnson will be back to competing soon. Brue Wagers was 2nd here as Wil Saul took 3rd in a medical forfeit over Carlos Figueroa. Figueroa defeated Saul earlier in the tournament 8-3.
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Patriot Open as it usually does turned out to be a pretty good tournament!
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