McCurdy Pin Leads Dragons to Victory over Liberty in Final Match of Virginia Duals
Hampton, Va. - Senior Brett McCurdy pinned Frankie Gayeski in a crucial 149-pound match to lead the Dragons to a 24-11 victory over Liberty to salvage the final match of Drexel's 2010 Virginia Duals. The Dragons won six of the 10 bouts en route to improving the team's record to 5-6 on the season. Drexel dropped its first two duals of the competition to nationally ranked opponents.
The Flames picked up the opening match with a 6-0 decision before Mytych picked up his third victory of the Virginia Duals with a 10-0 blanking of Sean Katz at 133 pounds to give Drexel a 4-3 lead. Shane Fenningham followed with a 7-4 win to extend Drexel's lead to 7-3. Liberty appeared to be on the verge of drawing three points closer when Gayeski picked up two first period takedowns to lead his bout against McCurdy, 4-2, entering the second period. McCurday escaped to open the period then earned a takedown and was able to get Gayeski on his back for the pin to boost Drexel's score by six points. The 13-3 advantage was important as Liberty took the next two matches to move to within five points at 13-8. The Flames were docked one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct during the 165-pound match.
Dave Woodall got Drexel back on track with a 14-5 major decision triumph at 174-pounds but the Flames took the 184-pound bout to close the Dragons' lead to 17-11 entering the final two contests. Jack Callendar clinched the dual for Drexel in the 197-pound match as he battled back from a 5-2 third period deficit to defeat Brandon Johnson, 6-5. Kyle Frey capped the dual with a 9-1 major decision win at heavyweight.
Drexel 24, Liberty 11
125 - Juistin Branham (Liberty ) over Yiming Law (Drexel) Dec 6-0
133 - Steve Mytych (Drexel) over Sean Katz (Liberty ) Maj 10-0
141 - S. Fenningham (Drexel) over Collin Lewis (Liberty ) Dec 7-4
149 - Brett McCurdy (Drexel) over Frankie Gayeski (Liberty) Pin 4:41
157 - Justin Smith (Liberty ) over Charles Aungst (Drexel) Dec 4-1
165 - Chad Porter (Liberty) over Alex Rinaldi (Drexel) Dec 2-1 (Liberty -1 team point)
174 - Dave Woodall (Drexel) over Brad Clark (Liberty ) Maj 14-5
184 - Nick Knowles (Liberty ) over Justin Wieller (Drexel) Dec 3-1
197 - Jack Callender (Drexel) over Jacobi Johnson (Liberty ) Dec 6-1
HWT - Kyle Frey (Drexel) over Andrew Wilson (Liberty ) Maj 9-1