Life University Athletics

MARIETTA, Ga. --- It was a successful weekend for the second-ranked Life University men's wrestling team, the Running Eagles hitting two opens over the course of as many days. Saturday the men competed at the Grand View Open, before ending the weekend with the Georgia Open.

At the Grand View Open, one of the top opens every year for NAIA men's wrestling, the Running Eagles recorded nine placers between the Freshman/ Sophomore and Open Brackets. 

Of those placers, two landed top three placements. Tyree Johnson earned the best placement of the day, going 3-1 in the 133 lbs. bracket. Johnson earned a 15-1 major decision in his first match before another decision sent him to the semifinals. In his semifinals match against the seventh-ranked 133 lbs. wrestler, Johnson pulled off a 3-1 decision to earn a spot in the title match. In the final match, he again went against a top ranker, this time the No. 1 133 pounder, barely being edged out in a 6-5 decision to finish second.

Austin Harris again had an outstanding weekend, his only loss coming in sudden victory against the fifth-ranked heavy weight. A pin and a pair of tech falls saw him in the consolation bracket semis where a victory by injury over the 15th-ranked 285 lbs. saw him advance to the third place match. In the third place match against the sixth-ranked wrestler, Harris controlled the match from start to finish for a 7-0 decision.

At the Georgia Open four of the competing Running Eagles earned placement with two of the rankings begin among the top three. Christian Morris dominated the 125 lbs. bracket on his way to a title, starting his day with a 18-0 tech fall before three straight pins saw him finish the day unblemished.

Myles Starke also put together a perfect day in the 184 lbs. bracket. His day began with a 20-5 tech fall before a 16-3 major decision sent him to the semifinals. Hard fought, decision victories in his final two matches saw the junior claim the Running Eagles another individual title.

Head coach Omi Acosta was pleased with the effort shown by his guys, but still sees room for improvement. "It was a great day of wrestling. Guys wrestled tough but made a lot of mistakes. We need to continue to be aggressive and continue to look for scoring opportunities. We have some notes to go over and get better from here on out"

The Running Eagles host an event next week, the Life U Open begin held Saturday at McEachern High School.

Full Grand View Open Results:

CLASS	NAME	RESULTS	PLACEMENT
Fresh/Soph 125	Adrian Morales	5-2	-
Fresh/ Soph 133	Jose Gonzalez	1-2	-
Fresh/ Soph 141	Gabriel Perez	0-2	-
Fresh/ Soph 149	Logan Reaves	5-2	4th
Fresh/ Soph 149	Quay Goldsborough	3-2	-
Fresh/ Soph 157	Jaden New	0-2	-
Fresh/ Soph 157	Alexander Couto	5-2	4th
Fresh/ Soph 285	Dylan Galloway	6-2	5th
Open 125	Chase Ayers	1-2	-
Open 133	Tyree Johnson	3-1	2nd
Open 133	Keegan Slyter	4-2	4th
Open 141	Bret Minor	2-2	-
Open 141	Jordan Mitchell	5-2	5th
Open 141	Jody McAlister	2-2	-
Open 149	Julian Hernandez	3-2	-
Open 149	Rex McDaniel	2-2	-
Open 157	Miguel Angel Hernandez	3-2	-
Open 157	Gregory Ewert	1-2	-
Open 157	Steven Villalobos	4-2	4th
Open 165	Camden Trupp	1-2	-
Open 174	Tyler Brandt	2-2	-
Open 174	Tre Morrisette	2-2	-
Open 184	Kyle Homet	4-3	6th
Open 184	Asher Eichert	1-2	-
Open 197	Navarro Nampuya	1-2	-
Open 285	Spencer Dacus	1-2	-
Open 285	Austin Harris	5-1	3rd

Full Georgia Open Results:

CLASS	NAME	RESULTS	PLACEMENT
Open 125	Christian Morris	4-0	1st
Open 133	Ethan Dooley	1-2	-
Open 133	John Walsh	3-2	4th
Open 133	Grayson Patterson	2-2	-
Open 141	Christian Williams	0-2	-
Open 141	Travis Knowlton	1-2	-
Open 141	Josiah Fernandez	2-2	-
Open 141	Jacob Johnson	1-2	-
Open 141	Gabriel McGlamery	3-2	-
Open 141	Darrell Mims	1-2	-
Open 149	Xavier Bowden	0-2	-
Open 149	Tyrell Simmons	0-2	-
Open 149	Jack Evans	0-2	-
Open 149	Cameron Crump	1-2	-
Open 157	Anthony Delgado	1-2	-
Open 157	Le'Neal Thomas	1-2	-
Open 157	Coleman Tadich	0-2	-
Open 165	Noah Flisser	2-2	-
Open 174	Jakeem Littles	4-2	4th
Open 174	Furman Smith	0-2	-
Open 184	Sebastian Rodriguez	0-2	-
Open 184	Myles Starke	4-0	1st
Open 184	Jordan Reed	0-2	-
Open 184	Jayden Lhaubouet	2-2	-
Open 197	William Evelyn	1-2	-
Open 197	Joshua Oyeneye	2-2	-
Open 197	Creig Sillimon	0-2	-
Open 285	William Abbott	1-2	-
Open 285	Mark Bonilla	2-2	-
Open 285	Javiar Arango	1-2	-
Open 285	Devin Dudley	3-2	-