The Kentucky Wesleyan College wrestling team opened its season on Saturday at the Kauffman/Brand Open hosted by Maryville University. Nick Ornelas and Gabe Adams highlighted the 2021-22 version of the Panthers with strong finishes through the consolation brackets.
Ornelas received an opening round bye, but fell in the quarterfinals. After three straight wins, Ornelas navigated his way into the third-place match. Ornelas won over teammate Adam Bender 6-0 in the first consolation round. Ornelas earned a sudden victory over Noah Cantu in the next round before picking-up a 7-3 win over Nick Lindley in the consolation semi-finals.
In the third-place match Ornelas made quick work of Maryville’s Austin Wadlow. Ornelas pinned Wadlow in just over two minutes of the match to finish the day 4-1 and place third at 125 pounds.
Adams finished his first event as a Panthers with a 3-2 mark at 149 pounds. Adams won his first match by technical fall before being bumped into the consolation bracket in the second round. Adams won his next two matches before Brayden Lowrey from Indianapolis stopped his run in the consolation fourth round with an 8-3 win.
At 157 pounds Dominick Ciccolella earned at sixth place finish. He received a bye in the opening round before falling to Jaime Mitchell from Labette. Ciccolella then pinned his next two opponents to get into the consolation semi-finals.
The Panthers will travel to Lebanon, Illinois on Wednesday to match-up with one of the best teams in the nation, McKendree University. The match against the No. 6 Bearcats is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Graphic by Owensboro Times
