By: Jade Richardson
Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University men's wrestling team avenged themselves against Embry Riddle University on Monday night as they hosted their first dual of 2014, winning 25-24.
The Clan were led by Skylor Davis (Zillah, WA) and Sukhan Chahal (Surrey, BC) who gave the men an early lead, as they wrestled in front of a large home crowd in the West Gymnasium.
"We had a similar performance two weeks ago when we faced this team on the road," said coach Justin Abdou. "We started strong with Skylor and Sukhan, but the middle guys struggled to get things going similar to last time."
Davis (Zilah, WA) opened the meet for SFU at 125-pounds as the 2013 All-American took Gilbert Martinez by major decision in the first match, earning six team points to start the night.
He was followed by freshman Chahal at 133-pounds who earned a 5-2 victory ending in a fall, and adding another six points to the Clan's campaign.
The two men were followed by three losses as Dillon Hume (Maple Ridge, BC), Brendan Seppala (Calgary, AB) and Josh Punzo (Burnaby, BC) fell to their Embry Riddle
competitors at 141, 149 and 157 respectively.
The visitors would take a total of 16 points with the victories, putting them up 16-12 after five matches.
Senior Brock Lamb (Destin, FL) would take to the mat next, putting the Clan back in the win column with an 11-6 victory over Matthew Coultas in the 165-pound weight class.
His four team points would tie the two teams at 16 apiece.
After a scoreless after the first period, at 174-pounds Reid Watkins (Okatoks, AB) would take a 1-0 lead in the second.
It was not enough to best his competitor Jose Cruz III who would take the match 11-2 for four team points.
Josh Kim (Toronto, ON) would help the Clan bounce back with a three point victory at 184-pounds, beating his challenger Jonathan Wiley 13-9 with a major comeback in the third period.
"Josh really pulled through tonight for us," continued Abdou. "We lost points in that match last time and he made an excellent effort to get that win in the third when he was extremely tired."
Ryan Yewchin (Nanaimo, BC) fell to Troy Killgore at 197-pounds, but would manage to avoid a major decision and hold Embry Riddle to four team points before the Clan earned six team points with at 285-pounds for the dual victory.
SFU will be back in action on January 31 as they face the San Francisco Gators on the road in another dual competition.
