Mahoney, Watkins lead Tornado at Georgia Open

FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The King University men's wrestling team had two placewinners Sunday at the Georgia Open, with seventh-ranked Trent Mahoney finishing second, while Brennan Watkins placed fourth.

THE BASICS
RESULT: No Team Scores
LOCATION: Shaw Athletic Center; Franklin Springs, Ga.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mahoney went 3-1 on the day wrestling at 165 pounds. After pinning Mount Olive's Cody Smith in his first match, he would win a 10-2 major decision over Kendall Norfleet before taking an 8-1 decision over Emmanuel's Christian Trimble.
• He would narrowly defeat #6 Gage Bernall of Lander via 5-4 decision in the semifinals before dropping a 6-2 decision in the championship bout to Life University's Steven Villalobos.
• Watkins finished fourth at 157 pounds, winning his first two matches, including a pin of Lander's Garrett Wood in his opening match. After winning his quarterfinal matchup 12-1 over Thomas Magness, he dropped his semifinal match 16-3 to Salvador Silva of Southeastern University. He would go on to drop the 3rd place match via pin to take fourth.
• Wrestling at 133 pounds, Gavin Qualls picked up a pair of wins, starting his day winning an 8-7 decision over John Daugherty of Montevallo. After losing his next match via pin, he won a 15-0 tech fall over Gage Bomar. His tournament came to an end with a loss to The Citadel's Genaro De La Garza.
• Nico Crosnoe won his first two matches, including a win by decision over conference for James Thaxton of Lincoln Memorial University and a major decision win over Samuel Hutchison. His tournament would come to an end after suffering a pair of losses, including a narrow 8-5 overtime decision.
• Ethan Narro picked up a win in his first match of the day, 10-5 over Jarquez Knight from Florida A&M University before dropping his next two matches, finishing at 1-2 on the day.

RESULTS BY WEIGHT CLASS
125 – Tyson Upchurch 0-2
133 – Gavin Qualls 2-2
141 – Wyatt Coleman 0-2; Nico Crosnoe 2-2
157 – Brennan Watkins 3rd, 2-2
165 – Elijah Brown 1-2; Ethan Narro 1-2; #7 Trent Mahoney 2nd, 3-1  Alex Mercado 1-2
174 – Darious Williams 0-2; Thomas Karlo 0-2


UP NEXT

• King will return to Conference Carolinas action on Wednesday when they compete at the University of Mount Olive. The dual is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in Mount Olive, N.C.