POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (Nov. 23) – The University of Mount Olive men's wrestling program featured five individuals on the podium on Saturday while competing at the Life Open hosted in the state of Georgia.

Mount Olive had 20 wrestlers compete at the event, which featured several Conference Carolinas programs. The Trojans registered over 30 victories, with a majority of the wins coming via decision (11) or fall (9).

Freshman Brent Nicolosi earned his second runner-up podium of the season after posting a 4-1 record in the gold division 165-weight class. Following an opening-round bye, he earned back-to-back victories via tech fall over Grayson Pennison of Williams Baptist and Eli Clemmons of Cumberland. Nicolosi continued forward with a 7-5 decision against Trent Mahoney of King before a 4-1 decision in the semifinals over Reese Jones of Life. In the championship bout, he dropped an 11-4 decision to Rocky Raby of St. Thomas.

In the gold division 197-weight class, sophomore Raife Smart reached a consecutive podium after placing sixth overall. Following a bye in the first round, he secured two straight decision victories over Dough Sittmer of Life and Nigel Williams of UNCP. Smart suffered a loss in the quarterfinals to Asher Ruchti of Southern Oregon via fall before rebounding with consecutive wins. In the consolation bracket, he defeated Trillyon Fils-Aime of Southeastern and Landon Williams of Life. He would suffer a loss in the next round before a double forfeit in the fifth-place match.

Senior Jake Nicolosi produced another podium finish after finishing seventh overall in the gold division 157-weight class. He dropped a 4-1 decision to Brennan Watkins of King before responding with four straight victories in the consolation bracket. He earned falls against Franko Cuccurello of St. Andrews and Cale Goss of North Georgia. Nicolosi followed up with an 8-1 decision versus Jake Hurst of Campbellsville and a 4-1 decision over Carson Freeman of Montevallo. A medical forfeit and a no-contest in the next two rounds resulted in a podium for Nicolosi.

In the gold division 184-weight class, redshirt senior Colby Teague secured a seventh-place finish while competing in Georgia. He delivered a quick 54-second fall versus Chase Bisel of Emmanuel before defeating Quintez Shipman by a 5-4 decision. Teague suffered a 19-4 loss via tech fall to Jesse Perez of Life, but countered to reach the seventh-place match and win by forfeit.

Freshman Shayden Edwards reached the podium in the silver division 149-weight class after posting a 3-3 record on Saturday. He secured a 12-1 major decision over Lucas Viana of Liberty before a 17-1 tech fall win versus Nate Deaton of Montevallo. He suffered a loss in the quarterfinals to Zachary Lee of Life via a 7-2 decision before defeating Jaimen Carey of Campbelllsville by 8-0 major decision. He dropped his next two matches via tech fall and forfeit to place eighth overall.

The Trojans are idle for a week before returning to action on Sunday, Dec. 1, for the Carolina Clash Duals hosted by Lander.
 
Gold Division
125
Champ. Round 1 - Ellis Haney (Cumberland) over Lens Mathurin (Mount Olive) (Dec 9-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Lens Mathurin (Mount Olive) over Tyler Ramos (Truett-McConnell) (Fall 4:19)
Cons. Round 2 - Aiden Scheeringa (Liberty) over Lens Mathurin (Mount Olive) (Fall 2:18)
 
133
Champ. Round 1 - Eli Pendergrass (Mount Olive) over Arlo Laxton (Lindsey Wilson) (Dec 9-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Randy Frailey (Siena Heights) over Eli Pendergrass (Mount Olive) (Dec 11-9)
Cons. Round 2 - Jerry Molina (St Thomas) over Eli Pendergrass (Mount Olive) (FF)
 
141
Champ. Round 1 - Logan Tortual (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Tyler Rhue (Southern Oregon) over Logan Tortual (Mount Olive) (Maj 15-6)
Cons. Round 2 - Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) over Logan Tortual (Mount Olive) (Maj 13-2)
 
Champ. Round 1 - Jordan Mitchell (Life) over Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) (Maj 16-2)
Cons. Round 1 - Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) over Logan Tortual (Mount Olive) (Maj 13-2)
Cons. Round 3 - Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) over Jacob Mcdonald (Campbellsville) (TF 16-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Ethan Lipsey (UTC) over Benjamin Hernandez (Mount Olive) (Maj 14-2)
 
149
Champ. Round 1 - Dylan Pepin (Mount Olive) over Anitie Akpan (Cumberland) (Fall 6:25)
Champ. Round 2 - Dylan Pepin (Mount Olive) over Charles Hayes (Emmanuel) (TF 15-0)
Champ. Round 3 - Chris Kelly (Southeastern) over Dylan Pepin (Mount Olive) (Maj 8-0)
Cons. Round 4 - Garrett Good (Liberty) over Dylan Pepin (Mount Olive) (Dec 8-4)
 
157
Champ. Round 1 - Brennan Watkins (King) over Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Franko Cuccurello (St. Andrews) (Fall 2:14)
Cons. Round 2 - Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Cale Goss (North Georgia) (Fall 1:32)
Cons. Round 3 - Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Jake Hurst (Campbellsville) (Dec 8-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Carson Freeman (Montevallo) (Dec 4-1)
Cons. Semi - Michael Shannon (Southeastern) over Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) (MFF)
7th Place Match - Jake Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Brennan Watkins (King) (NC)
 
165
Champ. Round 1 - Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Grayson Pennison (Williams Baptist) (TF 15-0)
Champ. Round 3 - Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Eli Clemmons (Cumberland) (TF 23-8)
Quarterfinal - Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Trent Mahoney (King) (Dec 7-5)
Semifinal - Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) over Reese Jones (Life University) (Dec 4-1)
1st Place Match - Rocky Raby (St Thomas) over Brent Nicolosi (Mount Olive) (Dec 11-4)
 
174
Champ. Round 1 - Calan Staub (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Alex Hernandez (Southern Oregon) over Calan Staub (Mount Olive) (TF 23-6)
Cons. Round 2 - Calan Staub (Mount Olive) received a bye
Cons. Round 3 - Logan Heckert (Campbell) over Calan Staub (Mount Olive) (Fall 0:45)
 
184
Champ. Round 1 - Colby Teague (Mount Olive) over Chase Bisel (Emmanuel) (Fall 0:54)
Champ. Round 2 - Colby Teague (Mount Olive) over Quintez Shipman (UNC Pembroke) (Dec 5-4)
Quarterfinal - Jesse Perez (Life University) over Colby Teague (Mount Olive) (TF 19-4)
Cons. Round 4 - Colby Teague (Mount Olive) over Rocco Horvath (Cumberland) (MFF)
Cons. Semi - Adrian Chavez-Morales (Southern Oregon) over Colby Teague (Mount Olive) (Dec 6-0)
7th Place Match - Colby Teague (Mount Olive) over Noah Gallardo (Southeastern) (FF)
 
197
Champ. Round 1 - Jonathan Clack (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Jonathan Clack (Mount Olive) over Gabriel Hayes (Liberty) (Fall 1:31)
Champ. Round 3 - Tre Morrisette (Life) over Jonathan Clack (Mount Olive) (TF 21-5)
Cons. Round 4 - Dough Dittmer (Life) over Jonathan Clack (Mount Olive) (MFF)
 
Champ. Round 1 - Nathan Hampton (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Greyson Stevens (Cumberlands) over Nathan Hampton (Mount Olive) (Maj 12-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Nathan Hampton (Mount Olive) over Joshua Smith (Unattached Newberry) (Dec 12-5)
Cons. Round 3 - Nathan Hampton (Mount Olive) over Gilbert Marquez (Life) (SV-1 4-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Jackson Buck (Unattached UNCP) over Nathan Hampton (Mount Olive) (Fall 3:50)
 
Champ. Round 1 - Raife Smart (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Raife Smart (Mount Olive) over Dough Dittmer (Life) (Dec 7-3)
Champ. Round 3 - Raife Smart (Mount Olive) over Nigel Williams (UNC Pembroke) (Dec 7-2)
Quarterfinal - Asher Ruchti (Southern Oregon) over Raife Smart (Mount Olive) (Fall 4:53)
Cons. Round 6 - Raife Smart (Mount Olive) over Trillyon Fils-Aime (Southeastern) (FF)
Cons. Round 7 - Raife Smart (Mount Olive) over Landon Williams (Life University) (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Semi - Cason Howle (Unattached) over Raife Smart (Mount Olive) (Dec 4-1)
5th Place Match - Anthony Lowe (Life) and Raife Smart (Mount Olive) (DFF)
 
285
Champ. Round 1 - Slade Watkins (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Wylie Dunn (Cumberlands) over Slade Watkins (Mount Olive) (Dec 2-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Samuel Bertin (Campbellsville) over Slade Watkins (Mount Olive) (MFF)
 
Silver Division
149
Champ. Round 1 - Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) over Lucas Viana (Liberty) (Maj 12-1)
Champ. Round 2 - Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) over Nate Deaton (Montevallo) (TF 17-1)
Quarterfinal - Zachery Lee (Life University) over Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) (Dec 7-2)
Cons. Round 4 - Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) over Jaimen Carey (Campbellsville) (Maj 8-0)
Cons. Semi - Troy Harris (WVU Tech) over Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) (TF 16-1)
7th Place Match - Nick Dempsey (Montevallo) over Shayden Edwards (Mount Olive) (FF)
 
Champ. Round 1 - Christian Orozco (Mount Olive) over Jaimen Carey (Campbellsville) (Dec 4-1)
Champ. Round 2 - Mason Nguyen (Central Baptist) over Christian Orozco (Mount Olive) (Dec 7-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Conner Wright (Brewton-Parker) over Christian Orozco (Mount Olive) (Fall 1:42)
 
157
Champ. Round 1 - Kodey Butler (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Zachary Lopez (Rio Grande) over Kodey Butler (Mount Olive) (Fall 1:01)
Cons. Round 2 - Kodey Butler (Mount Olive) received a bye
Cons. Round 3 - Kodey Butler (Mount Olive) over Robert Branson (Montreat) (Fall 1:17)
Cons. Round 4 - Cumberland Kines (Shorter) over Kodey Butler (Mount Olive) (Fall 1:11)
 
165
Champ. Round 1 - Toby House (Truett-McConnell) over Benjamin Taylor III (Mount Olive) (TF 20-5)
Cons. Round 1 - Benjamin Taylor III (Mount Olive) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Wyatt Johnston (Unattached) over Benjamin Taylor III (Mount Olive) (Dec 7-0)
 
174
Champ. Round 1 - Jack Willen (Unattached) over Jacob Farmer (Mount Olive) (TF 22-1)
Cons. Round 1 - Nicholas DaSilva (WVU Tech) over Jacob Farmer (Mount Olive) (Fall 2:25)
 
Champ. Round 1 - Logan Haseley (Mount Olive) over Kamryn Williams (Unattached-HS) (Fall 1:02)
Champ. Round 2 - Ryan Turney (WVU Tech) over Logan Haseley (Mount Olive) (Dec 10-7)
Cons. Round 2 - Logan Haseley (Mount Olive) over Nicholas DaSilva (WVU Tech) (Fall 6:48)
Cons. Round 3 - Eason Martin (Unattached) over Logan Haseley (Mount Olive) (Fall 6:09)
 
184
Champ. Round 1 - Diontae Smith (Mount Olive) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Diontae Smith (Mount Olive) over Hunter Goudeau (Campbellsville) (Dec 10-3)
Champ. Round 3 - Savian Graham (Montevallo) over Diontae Smith (Mount Olive) (TF 16-1)
Cons. Round 4 - Diontae Smith (Mount Olive) over Micah Woods (Huntingdon) (Maj 14-1)
Cons. Round 5 - Peyton Miles (Limestone) over Diontae Smith (Mount Olive) (Fall 4:18)