Air Force Academy

"Overall, we wrestled well today," said assistant coach Reese Edgington. "We realize now that we must be focusing toward the end of the year competitions in the West Region (NCAA qualifying tournament) and the NCAA tournament."

C2C Terry Parham (Pacific Junction, Iowa) kicked off the winning in the first match of the afternoon with a first-period fall over Don Ortega. Parham's dominance was followed by back-to-back falls by C3C Sam Sherertz (St. Louis, Mo.) at 184 pounds and Ryan Kaiser (Ft Morgan, Colo.) at 197 pounds. It was the second fall of the weekend for Sherertz, who defeated his Adams State rival in just 1:42.

Heavyweight C3C Kevin Hoy (Waretown, N.J.), who is working at regaining his national ranking, defeated his opponent 13-4, racking up over four minutes of riding time. Nationally-ranked C2C Scott Frohardt (Parker, Colo) used a dazzling display of attacks en route to a technical fall in just 1:33 of the first period.

C2C Andy Peters (Boring, Ore.), C1C Ryan Montanez (Simi Valley, Calif.), and team co-captain Alex Pelbath (Oceanside, Calif.) were all victorious in their matches. C1C T.J. Huxel (Perry, Ohio) remained undefeated in dual meets, winning by fal1at the 157-pound weight class. 125-pounder Heath McKim was the only Falcon wrestler not to taste victory, losing a hard fought battle to Adam Mars.

"This is the best USAFA wrestling team in a long time, so we are looking forward to getting back in the practice room to make the necessary adjustments to surprise people on the national level," Edgington said. "I think we'll do just that if we keep moving in the direction we are going in now."

The Falcons next test will be in the upcoming weekend (Sat, 27 Jan) at the Jack Hancock Invitational tournament to be held on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colo.

Air Force Academy 43, Adams State College 3
Wt    Result: 
174   (AFA) Terry Parham WBF over (ASC) Don Ortega, 1:42
184   (AFA) Sam Sherertz WBF over (ASC) Walter Sherar, 1:42
197   (AFA) Ryan Kaiser WBF over (ASC) Manny Martinez, 3:29
Hwt   (AFA) Kevin Hoy dec. over (ASC) Dustin Sullivan, 13-4
125   (ASC) Adam Mars dec. over (ASC) Heath McKim, 13-7
133   (AFA) Andy Peters dec. over (ASC) Jimmy Melek, 7-3
141   (AFA) Ryan Montanez dec. over (ASC) Shane Barnes,  6-5
149   (AFA) Scott Frohardt tech. fall over (ASC) Angelo Duarte, 1:33
157   (AFA) T.J. Huxel WBF over (ASC) Travis Koppenhaffer, 2:57
165   (AFA) Alex Pelbath dec. over (ASC) Jesse Rosenberry, 16-4

Air Force Academy 27, Western State College 15
Wt    Result                                              
125   (WSC) Guillen dec (AFA) McKim , 2-0 
133   (WSC) McCathron WBF (AFA) Peters,       5:28 
141   (WSC) Stratton dec  (AFA) Montanez, 5-2 
149   (AFA) Frohardt dec (WSC) Jiron, 10-4 
157   (AFA) Huxel maj dec  (WSC) Holmes, 11-3 
165   (AFA) Pelbath dec ((WSC) Vondy, 7-4 
174   (AFA) Parham WBF  (WSC) Sisler, 5-3 
*184  (AFA) Sheretz WBF  (WSC) Sisneros, 1:08 
197   (WSC) Mueller dec (AFA) Kaiser, 1-0 
HWT   (AFA) Hoy tech fall  (WSC) Ainsworth, 17-2 

*Duals started at the 184-pound weight class