Arkadelphia, Ark. – The Ouachita Tigers wrestling team traveled to Chicago, Ill. this past weekend to compete against three Division I programs in a single day. The day was highlighted by a decisive win over Southern Illinois–Edwardsville and an individual win by Tiger Sawyer Smith over an opponent from the #8 ranked University of Illinois in the 149 lb weight division.
 
The Tigers won seven of the ten matches over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville with a final score of 26-15. Bobby Williams pinned Jake Vitale at the 3:53 mark of the 157 lb weight class match. Jacob Andrew (165 lb) and Dallas Smith (184 lb) won their matches 12-2 and 31-2 respectively.
 
"There's no question it's a great win for our program," said Tiger head coach Kevin Ward. "It's kind of a milestone for us that, being we are still a young program, we are able to compete with a Division I program, and come out on top." He added, "We really gutted out a few close wins.  It wasn't pretty, but we were able to get the job done.  I'm very proud of our guys and happy for them that they were able to win that one."
 
The Tigers also went up against Arizona State University and a powerhouse squad from the University of Illinois that featured five wrestlers ranked in the top 20.
 
Eighth ranked Illinois defeated the Tigers 41-3. Sawyer Smith (149 lb) was able to get a 5-0 decision win over Illini wrestler Guy Kirby. Dallas smith was narrowly defeated 9-8 in his match against Nikko Reyes.
 
The Tigers fell to Arizona State 31-6, however Tiger wrestlers Nate Rodriguez (133 lb), Josh Myers (141 lb) and Dallas Smith (184) all came away with victories in their individual matches.
 
While the Tigers had hoped for better outcomes against the two programs, Coach Ward stressed the importance of facing a higher level of competition this early in the season.
 
"Our goal was to compete hard and learn from every match, and I think we are going to be able to do that.  That match score got a little out of hand against Illinois and ASU, but I don't think most of it was effort," said Coach Ward. ".  I think we just made too many mistakes, and you can't beat teams that are better than you if you make that many mistakes."
 
"We definitely got exposed in some areas, and we need to address that.  That's why we compete with these types of teams.  You can only grow so much every day in practice.  Now we know where we need to improve, and we are going to work on that right away," he added.
 
The Tigers will have to work quickly as they have two matches this Thursday night in Conway, Ark. against Central Baptist College and Arkansas Baptist College. They travel to St. Louis, Mo. this Saturday to participate in the Lindenwood Open.  
 
Match Results:
 
Arizona State 31, OBU 6
125- Ares Carpio (ASU) decision Garrett Evans, 11-3
133- Nate Rodriguez  (OBU) Tyler Liberator fall about. 2:40
141- Josh Myers (OBU)  dec. over Matt Kraus, 9-7
149- Nathan Hoffer (ASU) major decision over Sawyer Smith, 13-4
157- Joel Smith (ASU) decision over Bobby Williams,  14-7
165- Waters (ASU) decision over Jacob Andrews, 10-4
174- Kevin Radford (ASU) tech fall, Elyjah Crumpler 21-6
184- Dallas Smith  (OBU) def. Wesley Moore, 6-2
197- Luke Bean (ASU) major decision over Troy Mercer, 16-5
HWT- Kyle Colling (ASU) major decision over Nathan Jackson, 9-0
 
#8 Illinois 41, Ouachita Baptist 3
125 - #1 Jesse Delgado (IU) pinned Garret Evans
133 - #14 Zane Richards (IU) maj. dec. Nick Rodriguez 13-5
141 - John Fahy (IU) dec. Josh Myers 5-0
149 - Sawyer Smith (OBU) dec. Guy Kirby 5-0
157 - #16 Zac Brunson (IU) dec. Bobby Williams 9-5
165 - #10 Jackson Morse (IU) tech. fall Jacob Andrews
174 - #11 Tony Dallago (IU) pinned Elyjah Crumpler
184 - Nikko Reyes (IU) dec. Dallas Smith 9-8
197 - Jeff Koepke (IU) tech. fall Troy Mercer
HWT - Christopher Lopez (IU) pinned Nathan Jackson
 
Ouachita Baptist 26 SIUE 15
125 - Garrett Evans (OBU) def. Dakota Leach, 5-3
133 - Nick Rodriguez (OBU) def. Pat Myers, 5-3
141 - Josh Myers (OBU) def. Drew Vrbenec, 7-5
149 - Sawyer Smith (OBU) def. Karsten Van Velsor, 10-6
157 - Bobby Williams (OBU) pinned Jake Vitale, 3:53
165 - Jacob Andrew (OBU) def. Logun Taylor, 12-2
174 - Deshoun White (SIUE) pinned Elyjah Crumpler, 5:24
184 - Dallas Smith (OBU) def. Derek Nagel, 13-2
197 - Chris Johnson (SIUE) def. Troy Mercer, 2-1
HWT - David Devine (SIUE) pinned Nathan Jackson, 1:47