Saturday, March 9
Boone, N.C.
10:00 a.m.
Davidson College Athletics
vs
Southern Conference Championships
Photo by: Brendan Saak/Davidson Athletics
Peake Takes Second; Fernicola and Sanderlin Place at SoCon Championships
3/9/2024 10:15:00 PM | Wrestling
BOONE, N.C. – The Davidson College wrestling team competed at the Southern Conference Championships at the Holmes Convocation Center on Saturday. Sophomore Tanner Peake made it to the finals at 157 pounds for the second consecutive year and seniors Bryce Sanderlin and Jake Fernicola each took fourth place.
The Wildcats finished sixth as a team with 23 points and App State won the team title with 114 points.
Tanner Peake continued to solidify himself as an up-and-coming talent in the Southern Conference. The Flemington, N.J. native made quick work of his opponent in the first round with an 18-3 tech fall over Presbyterian's Elijah Holiday. Things got interesting in the semifinals when he met Campbell's Chris Earnest, the No. 3 seed. Peake held a 4-2 lead nearing the end of the second period when Earnest threw a shot. Peake went out-of-bounds but Earnest shoved Peake into the scorer's table. Peake was shaken up on the move and recovery time when into effect. Campbell surrendered a misconduct point to Peake as recovery time ran out, and after review, Ernest was disqualified for the act sending Peake to the finals for the second straight year. In the finals, Peake fell to top-seed Tommy Askey, 9-2, in a rematch of last year's final. He secured two escapes, one in the second period and one in the final minute. Peake will next await the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, March 13 to see if he will earn a wildcard bid to the national tournament.
Sanderlin, a senior from Chesapeake, Va., earned a first-round win over Chattanooga's Kamdyn Munro in a 6-1 decision to advance to the semifinals. He then met No. 1 seed Will Miller of App State where he started the match strong with an early take down and trailed by one point heading into the second period. Miller pulled away late sending Sanderlin to the consolation bracket. From there, the 165-pounder pinned Gardner-Webb's Andrew Wilson to move to the third-place match. In the consolation final, Munro exacted revenge with a pin of Sanderlin giving the senior a fourth-place finish for the second consecutive year. Sanderlin ended his career with a 52-29 record.
Heavyweight Jake Fernicola got his day started with a hard-fought 3-1 win over VMI's Tyler Mousaw to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinal match, Fernicola fell to SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Taye Ghadiali, via pin to drop to the consolation bracket. The Piedmont, S.C. native bounced back with a shutout victory in the consolation semifinals over Chattanooga's Kaleb Snodgrass. In the third-place match, he and Ben Stemmet of The Citadel were tied at one point apiece at the end of regulation to send it to an extra period. In overtime, Fernicola threw a shot, but Stemmet flipped the attack and secured the take down. It was also the second consecutive fourth-place finish for Fernicola.
Tyler-Xavier McKnight and Wyatt Ferguson advanced to the consolation semifinals with a pair of wins each, but fell just short of the placing match. McKnight ends his first collegiate season at 22-17 and Ferguson finishes with a 16-16 mark.
Results
Quarterfinals
125 – Chad Bellis (App State) def. Enis Ljikovic, fall 0:52
133 – Ethan Oakley (App State) def. Hale Robinson, fall 5:48
141 – Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) def. Joshua Viarengo, TF 15-0
149 – Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) def. Tyler-Xavier McKnight, TB-2, 2-1
157 – Tanner Peake def. Elijah Holiday (Presbyterian), TF 18-3
165 – Bryce Sanderlin def. Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga), dec. 6-1
174 – Sergio Desiantes (Chattanooga) def. Marc Koch, dec. 8-6
184 – Wyatt Ferguson def. Adam Ortega (The Citadel), dec. 11-6
197 – Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) def. Cameo Blankenship, MD 8-0
HWT – Jake Fernicola def. Tyler Mousaw (VMI), dec. 3-1
Semifinals
157 – Tanner Peake def. Chris Earnest (Campbell), DQ
165 – Will Miller (App State) def. Bryce Sanderlin, MD 12-3
184 – Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) def. Wyatt Ferguson, dec. 7-0
HWT – Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) def. Jake Fernicola, fall 0:50
Finals
157 – Tommy Askey (App State) def. Tanner Peake, dec. 9-2
Consolation #1
125 – Anthony Burke (VMI) def. Enis Ljikovic, TF 17-0
133 – George Rosas (The Citadel) def. Hale Robinson, fall 1:20
141 – Isaac Byers (App State) def. Joshua Viarengo, MD 17-4
149 – Tyler-Xavier McKnight def. Ryan Vigil, SV-1 5-2
174 – Sam Mora (Gardner-Webb) def. Marc Koch, dec. 8-1
197 – Josh Evans (VMI) def. Cameo Blankenship, dec. 4-0
Consolation #2
149 – Justin Rivera (Campbell) def. Tyler-Xavier McKnight, dec. 7-3
165 – Bryce Sanderlin def. Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb), fall 5:26
184 – Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) def. Wyatt Ferguson, TF 15-0
HWT – Jake Fernicola def. Kaleb Snodgrass (Chattanooga), dec. 4-0
Consolation Finals
165 – Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) def. Bryce Sanderlin, fall 2:42
HWT – Ben Stemmet (The Citadel) def. Jake Fernicola, SV-1 4-1
Team Results
App State – 114
Campbell – 97.5
Chattanooga – 63.5
Gardner-Webb – 49.5
The Citadel – 44.5
DAVIDSON – 23.0
VMI – 18.0
Presbyterian – 5.5
The Wildcats finished sixth as a team with 23 points and App State won the team title with 114 points.
Tanner Peake continued to solidify himself as an up-and-coming talent in the Southern Conference. The Flemington, N.J. native made quick work of his opponent in the first round with an 18-3 tech fall over Presbyterian's Elijah Holiday. Things got interesting in the semifinals when he met Campbell's Chris Earnest, the No. 3 seed. Peake held a 4-2 lead nearing the end of the second period when Earnest threw a shot. Peake went out-of-bounds but Earnest shoved Peake into the scorer's table. Peake was shaken up on the move and recovery time when into effect. Campbell surrendered a misconduct point to Peake as recovery time ran out, and after review, Ernest was disqualified for the act sending Peake to the finals for the second straight year. In the finals, Peake fell to top-seed Tommy Askey, 9-2, in a rematch of last year's final. He secured two escapes, one in the second period and one in the final minute. Peake will next await the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, March 13 to see if he will earn a wildcard bid to the national tournament.
Sanderlin, a senior from Chesapeake, Va., earned a first-round win over Chattanooga's Kamdyn Munro in a 6-1 decision to advance to the semifinals. He then met No. 1 seed Will Miller of App State where he started the match strong with an early take down and trailed by one point heading into the second period. Miller pulled away late sending Sanderlin to the consolation bracket. From there, the 165-pounder pinned Gardner-Webb's Andrew Wilson to move to the third-place match. In the consolation final, Munro exacted revenge with a pin of Sanderlin giving the senior a fourth-place finish for the second consecutive year. Sanderlin ended his career with a 52-29 record.
Heavyweight Jake Fernicola got his day started with a hard-fought 3-1 win over VMI's Tyler Mousaw to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinal match, Fernicola fell to SoCon Wrestler of the Year, Taye Ghadiali, via pin to drop to the consolation bracket. The Piedmont, S.C. native bounced back with a shutout victory in the consolation semifinals over Chattanooga's Kaleb Snodgrass. In the third-place match, he and Ben Stemmet of The Citadel were tied at one point apiece at the end of regulation to send it to an extra period. In overtime, Fernicola threw a shot, but Stemmet flipped the attack and secured the take down. It was also the second consecutive fourth-place finish for Fernicola.
Tyler-Xavier McKnight and Wyatt Ferguson advanced to the consolation semifinals with a pair of wins each, but fell just short of the placing match. McKnight ends his first collegiate season at 22-17 and Ferguson finishes with a 16-16 mark.
Results
Quarterfinals
125 – Chad Bellis (App State) def. Enis Ljikovic, fall 0:52
133 – Ethan Oakley (App State) def. Hale Robinson, fall 5:48
141 – Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) def. Joshua Viarengo, TF 15-0
149 – Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) def. Tyler-Xavier McKnight, TB-2, 2-1
157 – Tanner Peake def. Elijah Holiday (Presbyterian), TF 18-3
165 – Bryce Sanderlin def. Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga), dec. 6-1
174 – Sergio Desiantes (Chattanooga) def. Marc Koch, dec. 8-6
184 – Wyatt Ferguson def. Adam Ortega (The Citadel), dec. 11-6
197 – Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) def. Cameo Blankenship, MD 8-0
HWT – Jake Fernicola def. Tyler Mousaw (VMI), dec. 3-1
Semifinals
157 – Tanner Peake def. Chris Earnest (Campbell), DQ
165 – Will Miller (App State) def. Bryce Sanderlin, MD 12-3
184 – Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) def. Wyatt Ferguson, dec. 7-0
HWT – Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) def. Jake Fernicola, fall 0:50
Finals
157 – Tommy Askey (App State) def. Tanner Peake, dec. 9-2
Consolation #1
125 – Anthony Burke (VMI) def. Enis Ljikovic, TF 17-0
133 – George Rosas (The Citadel) def. Hale Robinson, fall 1:20
141 – Isaac Byers (App State) def. Joshua Viarengo, MD 17-4
149 – Tyler-Xavier McKnight def. Ryan Vigil, SV-1 5-2
174 – Sam Mora (Gardner-Webb) def. Marc Koch, dec. 8-1
197 – Josh Evans (VMI) def. Cameo Blankenship, dec. 4-0
Consolation #2
149 – Justin Rivera (Campbell) def. Tyler-Xavier McKnight, dec. 7-3
165 – Bryce Sanderlin def. Andrew Wilson (Gardner-Webb), fall 5:26
184 – Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) def. Wyatt Ferguson, TF 15-0
HWT – Jake Fernicola def. Kaleb Snodgrass (Chattanooga), dec. 4-0
Consolation Finals
165 – Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) def. Bryce Sanderlin, fall 2:42
HWT – Ben Stemmet (The Citadel) def. Jake Fernicola, SV-1 4-1
Team Results
App State – 114
Campbell – 97.5
Chattanooga – 63.5
Gardner-Webb – 49.5
The Citadel – 44.5
DAVIDSON – 23.0
VMI – 18.0
Presbyterian – 5.5
Players Mentioned
184
/ Wrestling
184
/ Wrestling
285
/ Wrestling
157
/ Wrestling
125
/ Wrestling
149
/ Wrestling
157
/ Wrestling
125
/ Wrestling
165
/ Wrestling
141
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