No. 18 Barton Wrestling goes 2-1 on first day of National Duals, earns spot in final eight teams #GoBarton

The No. 18 ranked Barton Community College wrestling team went 2-1 today in Louisville, Kentucky, advancing to Saturday's final eight teams of the NWCA NJCAA National Duals.

Wrestling the three matches with an open weight class, Barton began the long day taking down Muskegon Community College 31-16. Building a 13-0 lead in the following match, the open class helped factor into a defeat as No. 10 Nassau Community College rallied for a 20-17 victory in sending the Cougars to the consolation side of the bracket. Barton recovered from the loss to end the opening day by bouncing No. 21 Jamestown Community College 37-13.

Barton's next match comes at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday as the Cougars face conference foe Cowley College for the opportunity to compete in the 11:00 a.m. fifth place match.

Three Cougars went unbeaten on the day in No. 8 ranked Gage Gomez, Keaton Sander, and No. 5 ranked Gage McBride in helping Barton outscore its opponents 85-49 in the three matches.

Gomez' 133 division day began with a 5-1 victory over Muskegon's Dylan Wilkins, then piled up ten points before pinning Nassau's Mohammed Alkair at the 2:57 mark. A trio of first period takedowns built a 7-3 lead over Jamestown's Nick Kozlowski, chalking up another in the second, then registered his second back pinning to wrap up the day with a 6:19 fall.

Giving Barton the lead for good in the morning match with a 7-5 win over Muskegon's Michael Carrasco, Sander scored four team points in each his final two 141 division matches by identical 10-0 major decision scores over Nassau's Anthony Sobotker and Jamestown's Ben Winkler.

Following the Cougars' open weight class at the 165 division, McBride got Barton back on track in sweeping his 174 division matches. Scoring six points in the opening frame, McBride rolled to a 13-7 win over Muskegon's Blake Ross to all but seal the first match. Following Barton's three opening wins against Nassau, the Cougars lost the next two matches plus the open weight class before McBride pounded Michael Sullivan in a 13-3 major decision for the team's final win of the match. In concluding the day, McBride turned a one point first period deficit into a point advantage into the third but needed a takedown with fifty-five seconds to clinch a hard fought 6-5 win over Jamestown's Daniel Torres.

Jacob Robles anchored the lineup in the 285 division, winning both his first and last matches by fall, ending in 1:36 over Muskegon's Rodolfo Mendez and a short work 1:05 pin of Jamestown's Nick Jones.

Brian Gates pulled off the upset of the day for the Cougars by knocking off the nation's 125 pound fifth ranked wrestler. Suffering a 13-3 major decision defeat to Muskegon's Dakota Greer in the morning match, Gates found himself in a deep 10-0 hole against Nassau's Jorge Barreiro. Battling to keep from getting pinned, Gates scored a reversal and two-point nearfall to slash the first period deficit to 11-4. Following a scoreless second frame, Gates' escape triggered an eleven point period consisting of a takedown and a pair of four-point nearfalls in rallying for the 15-11 upset victory.

Barton Dual Record: 2-1
Barton Dual Team Points: 85-49

Barton Individual Match Records:
125: Brian Gates: 2-1
133: Gage Gomez: 3-0
141: Keaton Sander: 3-0
149: Kolby Droegemeier: 2-1
157: Gable Howerton: 2-1
165: Open
174: Gage McBride: 3-0
184: Joey Ewalt: 0-3
197: Shane DeLong: 1-2
285: Jacob Robles: 2-1

Match Results:
#18 Barton defeats Muskegon CC 31-16
#10 Nassau CC defeats Barton 20-17
#18 Barton defeats #21 Jamestown CC 37-13