RESULTS

Lakeland, FL – The Patriots wrestled well at the Fire Duals on Saturday, going 2-1 against NAIA ranked opponents. Included in the wins, #8 Cumberlands defeated higher-ranked and hosts, #7 Southeastern.
 
Cumberlands defeated Southeastern 36-7 early in the morning to open action, and closed with a 30-11 victory over #17 Indiana Tech. The Patriots were almost able to avenge last season's loss to the Reinhardt Eagles, falling to this year's squad – who are second in the NAIA – by a narrow, 19-18 margin.
 
Bryce Nickel stood out above the rest on Saturday with each of his three wins coming against opponents ranked in the 141-pound class. The unranked rookie out of Arizona defeated #7 Ethan Owen, #10 Jody McAlister and #20 Conner Gimson each in decisions, tallying 25 match points between the rounds.
 
Tres Leon found his groove to claim three wins at 157, two of which against ranked opponents. Meanwhile, Jacob Seto went without a loss at 133 with a single win against a ranked opponent. Both wrestlers rallied high in-match points to collect a tech fall toward their season stats.
 
Eric Deluse and Ramsey Bloy split the bill in the 197-pound weight class, both going 2-0. Bloy led the duo with one of the three Patriot pin falls of the day, clocking his at 3:47. Rounding out the to performers, Aaron Johnson went 2-0 against heavyweights with two decisions.
 
Select wrestlers will see action at the upcoming Midlands Open in Chicago, IL on December 28. Meanwhile, the Patriots rest up ahead of the long-awaited NWCA National Duals coming up in early January.
 
#8 CUMBERLANDS DEFEATS #7 SOUTHEASTERN, 36-7
After a loss at 125, #10 Seto knocked off #8 Olson Delisca at 133 in a 6-4 decision. Nickel gave the Patriots a 6-3 lead with a 10-7 decision of his own against a ranked Fire opponent.
 
Southeastern took back the advantage with a major at 149. However, the Patriots would hold the opposition off the board for the rest of the dual behind Leon's 24-7 tech fall at 157, Max Emerson's 1:16 pin at 184, and Bloy's 3:47 pin at 197.
 
The two pins combined to clock 5:03 of action used. Meanwhile, the Patriots outscored the Fire through the classes 63-43.
 
#8 CUMBERLANDS DEFEATS #17 INDIANA TECH, 30-11
In the final match-up of the day, Chandlar Akins opened action by pinning his opponent in the first period. Following a Seto decision win, Nickel drew his third win over a ranked opponent of the day, his fifth of the season, in a close 7-6 decision.
 
The Patriots relinquished three class match-ups to the Warriors, two decisions and a tech fall, while they continued to overpower the dual. Leon snagged his third win of the day with a 12-3 major, while Deluse rallied 20 points into the second period to notch the tech fall.
 
Over the tech fall, major decision, and three decision wins, Cumberlands outscored their opponents 58-46 in match scores.
 
#8 CUMBERLANDS FALLS TO #2 REINHARDT, 19-18
An early pin gave Reinhardt the 6-0 advantage early into the dual. Seto used 19 seconds of the second period to round out his tech fall to narrow the margin to a one-point differential. Nickel outmatched his second top-10 opponent of the day at 141 in an 8-6 decision to give the Patriots an 8-6 lead.
 
Leon matched the decision of the previous class at 157, downing #12 Nolan Saxton 8-3. From there, Reinhardt took control by scrapping together two decisions and a major, each with a wrestler ranked in the top-three of their respective weights.
 
Deluse chalked a 13-3 major over #9 Jacob Henderson at 197 to close the margin to 19-15 in the Eagles' favor. Bloy moved out of his comfort zone to heavyweight, needing a pin to win or tech to tie, coming up short with a 3-1 decision.
 
Since opening dual action at the NAIA National Duals last week, the Patriots registered at least one pin in every contest until meeting Reinhardt on the floor. Despite outscoring them 66-41 through each weight division, the lone Reinhardt fall gave them the advantage in the end.
 
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