The Blue Raiders were at the top of the food chain at the Bear Invitational at Mercer University this last weekend. The tournament hosted seven universities and MTSU showed no mercy. Along with eight placers, the team as a whole brought home the gold in the trophy form of a bear.
Senior Anthony Patnode (125) achieved first by pinning North Florida’s Ridge Britton in less than a minute. Patnode started off his college wrestling career with fourth place as a freshman but worked his way up through the ranks for a triumphant finish as a senior. Junior Eric Feurbaucher (133) bested Josh Shelton (Truett-McConnell) twice, earning him the first place title.
Not only did he place first with a major decision of 23-10 over Wesley Adams (Mercer), Sophomore Carlos Garcia (141) had a very successful day of wrestling which lead to his recognition as the “Most Outstanding Wrestler” of the tournament. Garcia was also the first to receive the MTSU Wrestling Belt that he will pass on to the next best wrestler on the team.
At 157, Freshman Jordan Russell wrestled his way to a second place finish after a 6-4 loss against Nick Distasio (Truett-McConnell). Junior Everett Colbert (165) wrestled hard to keep his champion title and, with a 23-6 tech over Dylan Lowe (North Florida), he won first place for the third consecutive year. Charlton Thayn (184) was runner-up to Mecer’s own two time All-American, Derek Wojcik. After wrestling against teammate Adam Wells, Junior Rashied Rayford (235) won 4-2 and wrestled on to place third in the tournament. Freshman Taylor Podany (285) pinned both of his opponents, each in the first period, and picked up his first college gold medal.
MTSU will wrestle November 19th against Cumberland Univ. and Shorter Univ. at Cumberland.
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