Academy wrestlers fall to Brown at Lone Star Duals

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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AFPN) --  The Air Force Academy wrestling team remained winless Jan. 8, falling to Brown University, 26-15, in its last meet at the Lone Star Duals wrestling tournament. Picking up individul wins for the Falcons were Josh Peterson, Brandon Strong, Beau Tresemer and Brenden McLean.

Air Force started out the match already down 6 points as it was forced to forfeit the 125-pound weight class because Zach Valdez suffered an injury in an earlier match against Columbia University. Strong, who remained undefeated, evened up the team score in his 133-pound bout by recording a fall in 6:37 against Greg Pace.

After giving up a fall at the 141-pound weight class, the Falcons got three team points at 149 pounds from Peterson, who notched a 3-2 decision over Tim Smith to bring Air Force within 3 points.

Brown won at 157, but gave up a 7-2 decision by Tresemer at 165 pounds. Besides the three team points awarded to the Falcons for Tresemer’s win over Mike Savino, the Bears lost a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Air Force remained within 3 points in the team scoring.

However, the Falcons were able to win just one of their last three matches. The lone Air Force wrestler to grab a victory down the stretch was 197-pounder McLean, who also remained 3-0 after notching a 5-2 decision over Leo Saniuk.

Also on Jan. 8, additional Falcon wrestlers competed at the Tracy Borah Invitational in Gunnison, Colo. Among the top performers were Trey McLean, the runner-up at heavyweight, and Luke Lefever, who went 2-1 on the day to finish third at 184 pounds.

After falling to Western State College’s Dillon Waggoner in 1:58, Lefever dropped to the consolation bracket, where he recorded an 8-0 over Dillon Blackmon from the Colorado School of Mines. Lefever then moved into the third-place bout, where he was able to outlast Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Joffre Lander in an 8-6 decision.

McLean faced Western State’s George Coleman in his first match of the day. He pinned Coleman in a time of 1:34, his fourth fall of the year. McLean then moved directly into the championship bout where he dropped an 8-2 decision to top-seeded Robert Charlton of Embry-Riddle.

The Falcons compete again Jan. 15 when they run the annual Colorado Collegiate Invitational, featuring Adams State University, Colorado School of Mines, Northern Colorado University and Western State, along with visiting Portland State University. Following the tournament, Air Force will take on Portland State.