Columbia, KY – The Patriots competed at the NAIA Challenge Dual, as they took on three teams receiving votes Texas Wesleyan, Truett McConnell, and Williams Baptist, as well as #13 ranked Marian and #3 ranked Indiana Tech.

DeVaughn Sapien led the way for the Patriots winning all five of his matches, with one fall and three decision wins. 11^th ranked at 174, Jarod Swank also had a good day going 5-0, with two falls, and two major decisions. Sixth ranked at 125, Austin Franco went 4-0, with a tech fall, a fall, and a decision win. Second ranked in 285, Aaron Johnson went 4-0 with a major decision, and two decision wins.

UC opened the day with a 42-6 win over RV Texas Wesleyan. The dual started with the Patriots getting a 5-0 lead as Franco got a 19-3 tech fall in the 125 match-up. Next, Sapien got a fall victory and extended the lead to 11-0. Sixth ranked Bryce Nickel would add three points to the Patriots lead in the 141-match with a 4-3 decision win over Jordan Martinez, who is ranked 11^th at 133. In the 149-match 18^th ranked Chasen Brown picked up a major decision win. Then for the 157-match the Patriots sent out O'Brian Black, and he would get a 21-3 tech fall and add five points to the UC lead, 23-0. Then at 165-match, Harrison Brooks picked up a fall win and Swank got a forfeit win at 174. UC now had a commanding 35-0 lead. After the Rams got on the board 35-6, UC would send out 10^th ranked Gabe Jacobs to take on 19^th ranked Deandre Rucker. Jacobs got the 6-2 decision victory. Then the final match Johnson would get the major decision win to end the dual.

The Patriots next matchup was against RV Truett McConnell, and they won 40 -13. The first matchup saw sixth ranked Franco getting a fall victory over Brandon Navixay, then Sapien getting a forfeit at 133 pounds. This gave UC a 12-0 lead. After giving up four points, Brown would get UC back on track with a fall win at 149. Then in the 157 match Charlie Friedenreich would see his first action and get a major decision win. 11^th ranked Swank would get the match clutching fall to give UC a 28-7 led. 10^th ranked Jacobs would get a fall win, then second ranked Johnson would get a forfeit win to end the dual.  

In the third match-up of the day UC would beat RV Williams Baptist 42-4. In the match, the eagles would forfeit three of the matches. Jaxon Wells would see his first action of the season and picked up a major decision win at 141. Thomas Ketchen-Carter would pick up his first major decision win, as UC cruised to their third victory on the day.

In the fourth match-up UC beat #13 ranked Marian 22-15. Sapien, Franco, and Nickel started the dual with three straight decision wins. Ryan McManus would get a major decision win, which expanded the Patriots lead to 13-0. The Knights closed the gap 13-6, with two decision wins. Swank would get a fall to extend the lead 19-6. Marian would answer with a fall and a decision win, to cut the lead to 19-15. Johnson would then get the decision win to win the match.

In the fifth matchup, UC took on #3 ranked Indiana Tech, and lost in a close one 20-19. Sapien opened with a decision win over ninth ranked Nathan Orum in the 125-match. The Warriors would get a fall victory in the 133-match and took the lead 6-3. In the 141-match Nickel would tie the dual with a decision win over eighth ranked Kyle Kantola. The Warriors would get three straight decision wins to extend the lead to 15-6. Swank would cut the lead to 15-10, with a major decision victory. Indiana Tech would get a tech fall to extend the lead to 20-10. With the dual on the line, the Patriots had to win both 197 and 285 matches by fall or tech fall to win the dual. Jacobs would get a fall to make it 20-16. Then Johnson got the win, but it was by decision which is only three team points. And the Patriots fell 20-10

Cumberlands are now 5-1 on the season. They are back in action next Thursday on Dec 16, as they head down to Waleska, GA to take on Reinhardt and Life in a Tri-Match starting at Noon.

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