Poteau, OK – The Indian Hills Men's Wrestling squad wrapped up its Oklahoma road trip with a strong showing at the Viking Open as the Warriors saw 10 individual place-finishers in the 21-team field.
A day after picking up a 44-0 dual win over Carl Alber State College (OK), the Warriors returned to action with the Vikings' home open tournament. The 174lb bracket saw sophomore All-American Jaquan East (Kokomo, IN/Kokomo) and Mohamed Tarek Abdelhady (Alexandria, Egypt/Sports Military School) each advanced to the championship bout to earn first-place finishers for the Warriors. Both individuals went 3-0 before defaulting out of the championship match against one another.
East gave up just five points on the day as the sophomore earned a 16-1 tech fall in the opening match before battling to a pair of 4-2 decisions. Abdelhady scored a 17-7 major and an 18-2 tech fall before taking a 7-3 decision to finish the day unbeaten.
Freshman Justin Brown (Borden, IN/Floyd Central) put together an impressive showing in the 285lb bracket with a runner-up finish. Brown went 4-0 to advance to the finals, including a second round pin in just 54 seconds. Brown earned a 10-5 decision to advance to the finals before falling in the championship round.
Naasir Edmonds (Virginia Beach, VA/Landstown) placed third overall in the 285lb bracket by going 4-1 on the day. Edmonds secured an opening round fall and a 4-1 decision before falling to the consolation bracket. Edmonds wrapped up the day with a 15-0 tech fall in the third-place match.
Freshman Gavyn Whitehead (New Castle, IN/New Castle) went 5-1on the day to earn a third-place finish in the 141lb bracket. After a 15-4 major decision in the second round, Whitehead fell to the consolation bracket, but rattled off four consecutive victories to earn a spot on the podium. Whitehead earned a 15-0 tech fall and three consecutive decisions to close out the day.
Sophomore Arieh Hart (Anna, IL/Anna-Jonesboro) continued a strong start to his sophomore campaign with a third-place finish in the141lb bracket. Hart earned an opening round fall in 1:02 before suffering a loss in the quarterfinal round. Hart battled back through the consolation bracket, earning three consecutive wins to take third overall. Hart earned a fall in 58 seconds before taking back-to-back tech falls, outscoring his opponents 48-12
Freshman Andrew Marquez (Rock Island, IL/Rock Island) took third overall at 197lbs for his second consecutive top-three finish in an open tournament. Marquez earned four wins, including a consolation semifinal victory by way of fall to take a podium spot for the Warriors.
The Warriors saw three individuals earn a fourth-place finish in their respective weight class. Keaton Morton (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) picked up four victories on the day, including an opening round pin the first round to pick up a fourth-place finish at 149lbs. Deontae Forest went 5-2 on the day, including back-to-back 1-0 decisions to advance to the third-place match. Freshman Cinsere Clark (Des Moines, IA/Valley) earned three wins in the 157lb bracket, outscoring his opponents 25-1 to take fourth-place overall.
The Warriors return to action on November 13 with their Iowa Community College Atheltic Conference (ICCAC) opener at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, IA. Action gets underway at 7:00 PM.
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