North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Penn State Open
Fought Leads Wrestling At Nittany Lion Open
12/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 4, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Freshman 125-pounder Coltin Fought advanced all the way to the championship round Sunday to lead NC State to a strong showing at the 2011 Nittany Lion Open, with five Wolfpack wrestlers landing in the top eight of their respective weight classes.
In addition to Fought, seniors Darrius Little (141) and Quinton Godley, and sophomore Matt Nereim (149) all turned in seventh-place finishes, with sophomore Nijel Jones (165) finishing eighth.
“We wrestled well,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “We had eight starters here, and we set our goal as a staff coming in to have five of the eight place, so we did that. And the thing of it is, it could have been better. A couple of guys didn’t wrestle the way they could have, but overall we have to be pleased.”
Fought, a true freshman from Bloomsburg, Pa., won his first four matches of the tournament before running into 17th-ranked Nico Magaludis in the finals. Magaludis — one of eight ranked wrestlers from host Penn State, the defending national champions — ended Fought’s run with an 11-1 major decision, but the Wolfpack freshman, who extended his career-best winning streak to nine before the loss, turned in his third consecutive standout performance in an early-season tournament.
Fought began his season Nov. 13 with a second-place finish at NC State’s own Wolfpack Open, then finished third two week’s later at the Pembroke Classic. This tournament, however, was a significant step up in terms of the caliber of the competition, with wrestlers from 10 nationally ranked teams in the field, along with more than 40 individuals who were ranked in the latest national polls.
“Coltin Fought is the real deal,” Jordan said. “He’s tough as nails and he really competes. I hope this will get him into the national rankings. He really wrestled well. That kid he faced in the finals is on a whole other planet. Coltin was really impressive today.”
Following are NC State’s individual results from the 2011 Nittany Lion Open
Coltin Fought ­— 125 pounds
defeated Liberato Kyle (West Chester), by technical fall, 17-0
defeated David Terao (American), 10-3
defeated Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech), 16-7
defeated Jordan Conaway (Penn State), 10-5
lost to #17 Nico Magaludis (Penn State), 1-11
Coltin Fought finishes 2nd
Darrius Little (unattached) — 141 pounds
defeated Tanner Hough (Duke), 4-1
defeated Elijah Sullivan (Columbia), 9-4
lost to Frank Goodwin (Maryland), 6-8
defeated Quentin Leadbeter (Navy), by fall at 1:40
lost to Michael Depalma (Edinboro), 3-5
defeated Derek Heyman (Binghamton), 11-3
Darrius Little finishes 7th
Gabe LaVey — 141 pounds
lost to Joe Rendina (FLWC), 7-11
Gabe LaVey eliminated
Matt Nereim — 149 pounds
defeated Joe Salinetro (Lock Haven), by fall at 5:26
lost to John Belanger (Army), 4-9
defeated Kevin Timothy (George Mason), 11-9
defeated Josh Houldsworth (Columbia), by fall at 4:06
defeated Owen Wilkinson (Lock Haven), 11-4
lost to Seth Beitz (Penn State), 3-11
defeated Josh Pascazi (Pittsburgh), 12-8
Matt Nereim finishes 7th
Thomas Gantt (unattached) — 149 pounds
defeated Andrew Maksimovic (Boston University), 4-1
lost to Jared Ross (Army), 3-9
lost to Nick Hodgkins (Central Michigan), 8-11
Thomas Gantt eliminated
Nijel Jones — 165 pounds
defeated John Mangini (unattached), by fall at 3:26
lost to #14 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), by fall at 1:28
defeated Patrick Jennings (Edinboro), 9-5
defeated Tyler Buckwalter (Kent State), by fall at 3:45
defeated Sheldon Brandenburg (Cleveland State), by fall at 5:25
defeated Joseph Favia (Stevens), 7-5
lost to #19 Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo), by technical fall, 0-15
lost to Adam Fondale (Columbia), 2-14
Nijel Jones finishes 8th
Steven Ramos — 165 pounds
lost to Erin Civan (Columbia), by fall at 3:46
defeated Marshall Willet (Ohio University), by fall at 4:00
defeated Kevin Brown (Columbia), by fall at 6:44
lost to Adam Fondale (Columbia), 1-8
Steven Ramos eliminated
Quinton Godley — 174 pounds
defeated Brandon Phillips (Penn State), 12-3
defeated Vinny Waldenhauser (Virginia), 9-3
defeated Owen Smith (Maryland), 2-1
lost to #12 Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel), 2-6
defeated Frankie McLaughlin (George Mason), 11-4
lost to Matthew Brown (Penn State), 1-3
defeated James Mannier (Navy), 7-5
Quinton Godley finishes 7th
Robert O’Neill — 184 pounds
lost to Nick Milano (Clarion), 7-13
Robert O’Neill eliminated
KaRonne Jones — 197 pounds
lost to #8 Daniel Mitchell (American), 0-8
defeated Jonathan Moore (UPJ), 9-4
lost to Derek Stanley (Army), 1-6
KaRonne Jones eliminated
Eloheim Palma — 285 pounds
defeated Phillip Mandzik (West Virginia), 11-2
lost to Chris Penny (Virginia Tech), 3-7
lost to William Smith (Rutgers), by medical forfeit
Eloheim Palma eliminated
Players Mentioned
