ARKADELPHIA, Ark.- Nine out of the 10 matches in the No. 9 Ouachita Tigers' dual against Central Baptist College ended in Tiger victories on Tuesday night, marking the first dual victory for the team in the very young 2012-13 campaign. The Tigers used six wins by fall, a technical fall and two wins via decision en route to their dominant performance over the Mustangs.
 
Head Coach Kevin Ward was ecstatic afterward, saying, “I'm especially proud of our young guys on getting their first dual meet wins tonight.  Anthony Melillo, Andrew Martin, and Seth Calvert are 3 freshmen that came through for us tonight.  I was really overwhelmed with the crowd and the support our student body showed.  We have the best students here at Ouachita and they showed that tonight.”
 
Garrett Evans, who is currently ranked as the No. 5 wrestler in the country in the 125 lb weight class, put on a show to start things off. Evans took CBC's Peter Acuna to the mat quickly, notching a win by fall just a minute and 32 seconds into the first round.
 
Anthony Melillo was up next for the Tigers in the 133 lb weight class, posting another dominating performance in a 9-2 decision victory over the Mustangs' Antonio Rivera.
 
The 141 lb weight class followed, with No. 8 Josh Myers recording the second pin of the evening on Central Baptist's David Overy. Myers was leading 10-1 at the time of the pin, but forced a quick ending to the match, just two minutes and 29 seconds in.
 
The Tiger romp continued in the 149 lb weight class, as Dexter Carter impressed the home fans by pinning CBC's Matthew McKenna. Carter jumped out to an early six point lead, but deemed it unnecessary when he pinned McKenna two minutes and 41 seconds into the first round.
 
In the 157 lb weight class, No. 3 Bobby Williams got in on the action, taking Central Baptist's Cullen Frazier to school and notching a pin with just a minute and 42 seconds expiring off of the clock. Also impressive is the fact that Williams was holding a 15-4 lead on Frazier at that point.
 
The Tigers notched their fourth straight win by fall in the 165 lb weight class, when Andrew Martin made Austin Gonzalez really comfortable with the mat. Martin took an early 4-0 lead, but pinned Gonzalez and finished things off about two minutes and 40 seconds in.
 
Next up was Aaron Butler in the 174 lb weight class, who recorded the only technical fall victory of the night for the team in a 22-4 rout of CBC's Ben Rosario. Butler took the lead early and never relented, dominating the match from the start.
 
In the 184 lb weight class, No. 4 ranked Dallas Smith added another fall to the Tigers totals, pinning Ricky Tate with 41 seconds left in the first period. Smith held a 17-5 lead on Tate at the time of the pin.
 
Moving on to the 197 lb weight class, the Tigers saw a hard fought victory for Seth Calvert. Calvert took a 5-4 decision over the Mustangs' John Lopez, notching his last two points with just a little over a minute left in the third period.
 
Unfortunately, a Tiger sweep of Central Baptist was warded off by heavyweight Aaron Jefferson. Jefferson recorded an 8-1 victory over Tiger wrestler Taylor Poe, capping off the night.
 
Ouachita will have just a couple of days to recover before they head to the Maryville Open, in St. Louis, Missouri, on this Saturday, December 1. The Tigers next, and last, home dual of the year will take place on January 18, when they host the University of Central Oklahoma at 7 p.m.

-Josh Fink, Sports Information Director