GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas --- The Wayland Baptist men's wrestling team won its first-ever dual on Saturday at the 14th Annual Hilton Arlington Lone Star Duals held at Grand Prairie High School. The Pioneers shut out Central Baptist College 49-0 in their third dual of the day, and then finished things off by defeating a team from the University of Texas-Arlington, 45-3.
Twenty-one teams competed in the college portion of the Lone Star Duals, including squads from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona State, the University of Northern Colorado, Harvard, and the Citadel.
WBU started out at 8:00 Saturday morning with a 39-6 loss at the hands of NCAA Div. II powerhouse Central Oklahoma. At 10:00, the Pioneers fell 42-7 to Marion Military. After a short rest, the Wayland men got that all important first win over CBC, and then took on the Air Force Academy at 4:00. The Falcons walked away with a 55-0 decision.
Twelve hours after they started competing, the WBU team picked up its second dual win.
Junior Richard Leal went 4-1 on the day. The 125-pounder shutout UCO's Austin Quinton 7-0, and followed that with an 11-2 major decision over Marion Military's Deanthony Smith. Following a forfeit win against Central Baptist, Leal suffered his only loss, a 14-6 major decision to Air Force's Andrew Zwirlein. The Pampa High graduate got his final victory by forfeit against UTA.
Two former Randall High School wrestlers earned three wins each. WBU freshman Michael Gerber won by decision over UCO's Ryan Rosales, 7-2, and got a major decision over CBC's Christian Binganici. The 149-pounder who missed the majority of the fall portion of the Wayland season after a bout with mono, also got a forfeit win against UTA.
Marc Backus, a freshman wrestling at 165 pounds, took an 8-5 decision over Marian Military's Marvin Lawrence, defeated Central Baptist's Brad Burnside 6-2, and had a win by forfeit over UTA.
Shane Wilkinson (133), Paz Acosta (141), Aaron Rios (157), Manuel Rocha (184), and Andrew Harmoney (285) each picked up two victories for Wayland.
Wilkinson, a freshman from Arlington, pinned CBC's Nate Waldrip at the 46 second mark of their match, and then it took him 2:11 to pin UTA's Hector Huante.
A freshman from Amarillo's Palo Duro High School, Acosta pinned Donata Gradenhire of Central Baptist at the 2:09 mark, and followed that up with a 6-4 decision over Tyler Harrison of UTA.
Rios, a freshman from El Paso, acquired his two wins by forfeit. Rocha, in his first year from San Antonio, picked up a win by forfeit, and got a pin 1:53 into his match against CBC.
Like Wilkinson, Harmoney was also wrestling in front of a home crowd. The sophomore heavyweight pinned Central Baptist's Jared Pflasterer over a minute into the second round, and won by forfeit against USA.
Junior B.J. Sheppard competed in the 174 pound class. The California native picked up a forfeit win against Central Baptist.
