Life University Athletics

GREENWOOD, SC. --- The No. 2 Life University men's wrestling team picked up an impressive win over DII Lander Friday night with a 19-16 victory over the second-ranked (NCAA) Bearcats.

The match came down to the final bout as Lander's heavyweight attempted shot after shot to try to take down Life's fourth-ranked Zane Lanham. Lanham refused to concede points, defending each shot to come away with a 4-2 decision to secure a 19-16 win for the Running Eagles, handing Lander their first home loss since 2021.

Life improves to 16-0 on the season while Lander falls to 11-3.

The night started with Lander taking a 14-2 major decision and 4-0 lead early on.

After that, two convincing decisions then saw Life U wrestlers control their opponents on the way to victory. Thaddeus Long got things rolling at 133 lbs with a 7-2 decision followed by a decision from Tyree Johnson. A tech fall at 149 lbs then saw the Running Eagles fall behind in team score before Brevin Balmeceda's narrow 2-0 decision eliminated the advantage to a 9-9 stalemate midway through the dual.

After dropping another decision at 165 lbs., Life U's #1 Riley Smucker followed with an impressive decision after earning a round two takedown and round three escape to hold-off for another ranked victory for the Running Eagles, a 4-2 decision. Kyle Homet's impressive showings of late continued into Friday night, coming off last week's impressive Missouri Valley Invite win and AAC Player of the Week selection, the red-shirt senior picked up a vital 12-2 major at 184 lbs.

Then, after dropping the 197 lbs matchup, the already packed out arena became even more tense in the final bout as Zane Lanham and Juan Edmond-Holmes battled it out at 16-16.

In the deciding match, it was a battle of fourth-ranked wrestlers as Lanham represented the NAIA and Holmes represented NCAA DII. Lanham earned an early 4-0 in the second before Holmes battled back to make it 4-2 with some time to spare in the third. Lanham then battled the final moments refusing Holmes a chance to secure a takedown, giving Life U. the win.

Head coach Omi Acosta shared his thoughts after the thrilling win, stating, "Like always, first I want to give thanks to God for allowing us to compete and get out of here healthy. Next, I want to give a huge shoutout to Lander and Coach R.C. Lahaye for hosting us and being great hosts and putting it all on the line tonight. And also, I'm extremely proud of the fight and the grit that my guys showed last. We represented the NAIA and it felt good to get the W. We'll continue to get better and prepare for the conference tournament. God Bless, and LUCHA!!"

Up next, the Running Eagles split to multiple events Saturday, traveling to both the AAC Duals at Truett-McConnell and the Blue Raider Open hosted by Lindsey-Wilson.