GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – The #23 Lake Erie wrestling program kicked of Great Midwest competition today with a tri-match against the Davenport University Panthers and the #22 Tiffin University Dragons. The Storm dropped their first competition to the Dragons but took down the Panthers easily, earning a split on the day and their first win of the season.
#23 Lake Erie vs #22 Tiffin
Following their gritty showing against #8 Gannon last week, the Storm began G-MAC competition against another ranked opponent, #22 Tiffin. Lake Erie began the day with a a pair of losses at 125 and 133 against two ranked opponents in #8 Anthony Aniciete and #8 Maximus Shore.
At 141, #1 Christian Small got the Storm back in it with a quick pin at 2:06, and Carsen Richards followed up with a pin of his own at 4:23.
With a 12-7 lead, the Storm suffered a technical fall loss at 157 and proceeded to forfeit their 165 match. They lost at 174 by a 7-0 decision and then forfeited their 184 match before losing by fall at 197 and forfeiting 285.
The 39-12 loss was inflated by the three forfeits, but the the Storm core remained strong against the ranked Dragons.
#23 Lake Erie vs Davenport
The Storm switched things up a bit during their next match against Davenport. Jordan Rodriguez got the nod at 125 and quickly took care of business, taking down Roan Cooper in just 30 seconds to set the tone in the dual.
The Panthers tied it up with a pin of their own at 133, but at 141, Richards got another big victory with a 19-3 technical fall victory against Jacob Harris. At 149 and 157, Small and Egidio DeFazio got back-to-back pin victories. Small got his second pin victory of the day at 3:47 against Cole Karsinski, and DiFazio earned his at 5:36 against Cody Ueberroth.
Matthew Kaufmann competed for the first time this season at 165 and earned a 10-3 decision victory over Jamason Jodway to give Lake Erie a commanding 26-6 lead over Davenport.
The Storm forfeited their 174 match and bumped up Scaramuzzino to 184, where he earned the team's fourth pin victory of the match and secured the dual victory for his team.
Lake Erie fell by major decision at 197 and forfeited their 285 match, to bring the final score to 32-22.
The Storm's four pins in the match mark the most in a dual meet for Lake Erie since February 4, 2023, against Davenport, when they tallied five.
Looking Ahead
Lake Erie wrestling will be back in action on Thursday, December 5th, on the road against Kent State at 7 p.m.
