PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie wrestling team hosted the #2 Gannon University Golden Knights for a highly anticipated non-conference dual. The Storm hung tight with the Golden Knights but ended up falling, 29-12.

Dual Recap
At 125, Braden Halen took on #5 Logan Sallot. Sallot had the edge on Hahlen early and with a potential technical fall victory on the horizon for Gannon, Hahlen trapped Sallot, took him down and pinned him, giving the Storm an early 6-0 lead.

At 133, Anthony Sagaris fought closely with #3 Jerry Echevarria, narrowly falling by 7-6 decision.

It was another close match at 141, with Carsen Richards narrowly falling to #4 Jake Niffenegger but at 149, Colin Roberts came up big with a 9-7 decision win over #5 Kenny Kiser, giving the Storm a 9-6 lead.

The match of the day happened at 157 with Josh Howey taking on Caleb Butterfield. The two men traded leads the whole way and forced overtime. At the end of the first overtime, Butterfield would be awarded a takedown and the win but Lake Erie head coach John Penfold threw the challenge block, arguing the ruling. The call was subsequently reversed and the match went into a second overtime. This was all Howey needed as he took down Butterfield, 14-11 and extending the Storm lead to 12-6.

It was a tough final stretch for the Storm as they dropped their remaining five matches to four ranked opponents in #5 Grant Mackay (165), #6 Pat Jackson (184), #11 Joey Lyons (197), and #1 Dorian Crosby.

Looking Ahead
The Storm will be back in action on Saturday, January 24th on the road to compete against G-MAC opponent Thomas More before competing in the G-MAC Championships on Saturday, January 31st in Owensboro, Kentucky.