LEBANON, Tenn. - The location and format were different, but the result was the same for Campbellsville University Saturday, as the Tigers won their second-straight Mid-South Conference Championship. The Tigers dominated the competition with 135.5 points in tournament format at Cumberland University's Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.

"I think the key today was our training. Ever since losing to Notre Dame (College) our guys have been working hard and training really well. A lot of people won't schedule a tough dual like that this late in the season. We lost the dual, but I think it really motivated our guys. They've been working very hard," CU head coach Franky James said. "
  st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } The Tigers claimed individual titles at 125, 133, 141, 165, 174 and 197 after placing nine wrestlers in the finals, including both participants at 174. Following Campbellsville was neighboring school Lindsey Wilson College with 91.5 points. Cumberland University was third (68.5), edging first-year program Shorter University (64.0). The University of the Cumberlands (59.0) and West Virginia Tech (22.0) rounded out the competition.

Johnny Papesh (125), Tim Thurston (133), Tommy Pretty (141), David Clemens (165), Josh Ashbrook (174) and Spencer Adams (197) all claimed individual titles for Campbellsville.

"When you have nine guys in the finals, you know you're doing well. It was nice to win the tournament. We had six champions, but would have liked to see some of the other guys do better ... Winning never gets old. It was a fun day," said James, who was named MSC Coach of the Year for the second time.

Papesh defeated Lindsey Wilson's Myron Bradbury, 3-2, in the finals, while Thurston won 7-3 over Univ. of the Cumberlands Jered Medina. Pretty posted a 5-1 decision against LWC's Isaac Thomas, and Collum won 5-2 against UC's Jacon Stephens.

Corey Bleaken of Cumberland University won by major decision against Campbellsville's Conor Young at 157, but the Tigers' David Clemens turned the tables in the next match with a major decision versus Cumberland's James Casadaban.

Ashbrook posted a win by forfeit over teammate Caleb Browner. Browner was in competition for Freshman of the Year but forfeited to his uperclassman teammate for the final.

"Caleb's a beast. A lot of people had not seen him until today," James said. "Nobody wants to wrestle this guy in the wrestling room. We didn't want to put him through a grueling season as a freshman, so he's coming in fresh toward the end."

Adams avenged two regular season loses to Lindsey Wilson's Jacob Bradford by posting a 7-3 victory in the 197-pound final. Lindsey Wilson's Teddy Furnish won 4-1 over Campbellsville's Chris Daniels.

CU also had three wrestlers place third in the tournament, as Tyler Alsip claimed the consolation prize at 133 by forfeit. Alsip battled from down 4-2 to even the score and pin Ethan Miller of Lindsey Wilson to advance to the third-place match.

At 157, Nick Waldrop also won by pin to finish third. His pin of Bryce Neff of University of the Cumberlands came in just 33 seconds - the fastest pin of the entire tournament. The performance might have clinched a spot for Waldrop in the NAIA qualifier next weekend after being limited through the season due to injury.

"Nick probably wrestled himself into the Top 12. He had a really good day," said James, who will be evaluating his Top 12 for national qualifying during the upcoming week.

Allen Scruggs fell just shy of the finals at 184 pounds. The sophomore from Georgia lost 4-3 in four overtime periods to Scott Stewart of Cumberland University. However, he wrestled back to claim third, after pinning Cumberlands' Kyle Fraser in 4:03 and winning a major decision over Shorter's Gunny Hoyt.

Through the day, Campbellsville's 17 wrestlers combined for a 31-14 record, including a 16-10 record in matches won by decision. CU collected eight major decisions, five pins and two tech falls.

Shorter's Robbie Collum claimed Freshman of the Year honors after claiming an individual title at 149 pounds. Andrew Hairston of Lindsey Wilson won the 184-pound title.

Campbellsville and the other MSC teams will travel to St. Charles, Mo., next Saturday to compete in the NAIA East Region Qualifying Tournament. Each team will take their Top 12 to compete for seed positioning for the NAIA Championships, which will be March 2-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.


Final Bracket

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

125 - Johnny Papesh, Campbellsville University

133 - Tim Thurston, Campbellsville University

141 - Tommy Pretty, Campbellsville University

149 - Robbie Collum, Shorter University

157 - Corey Bleaken, Cumberland University

165 - David Clemens, Campbellsville University

174 - Josh Ashbrook, Campbellsville University

184 - Andrew Hairston, Lindsey Wilson

197 - Spencer Adams, Campbellsville University

 

Freshman of the Year: Robbie Collum, Shorter University

Coach of the Year: Franky James, Campbellsville University

Campbellsville University: Josh Ashbrook, Decoreus Leavell, Matt David, Conor Young

Cumberland University: Adam Myers, Joshua Chappa, Andrew Shoultz, Matthew Stanfield

Lindsey Wilson: Cody Washington, Jacob Bradford

Shorter University: Raleigh Abbott

University of the Cumberlands: Derek Murdock, Garrett Harrison, Zachary Barkett

West Virginia Tech: Benjamin Wood