After the Roadrunner Open on Sunday in Bakersfield, California, Rutgers wrestling left its mark on the West Coast. Coming off a nice 20-15 dual win over Stanford in Palo Alto the day before, Rutgers concluded their road trip by claiming three individual titles at the Roadrunner Open.
Eighteen Scarlet Knights competed in this open, six of them competing in the championship finals. Dylan Shawyer (125), Joe Heilman (133), Tony White (149), Andrew Clark (157), Brian Soldano (184), and Boone McDermott (HWT) all competed in the championship finals, but only Heilman, White, and McDermott would claim individual titles.
In his final match, Shawyer lost a close match, 2-1, to No. 10 Brandon Kaylor out of Oregon State. Shawyer forced overtime but fell short in a sudden victory to finish 2nd at 125. Soldano, wrestling at 184 pounds, suffered his first loss of the season, losing to No. 6 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) 5-3. Even though he lost in the championship match the freshman out of High Point High School in New Jersey added two more pins to his resume. Shawyer and Soldano should be proud of their performances, losing to wrestlers ranked in the top 10 nationally.
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Unfortunately, Andrew Clark advanced to the finals but had to register for a medical forfeit.
We have 6️⃣ finalist at the Roadrunner Open to close out this weekend’s action.
125: Shawver
133: Heilmann
149: White
157: Clark
184: Soldano
Hwt: McDermott#RelentlessPursuit | #GoRU pic.twitter.com/HuJMOdwY51— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) November 21, 2022
As for the three champs, Heilman, White, and McDermott dominated their weight class. Heilman, wrestling in the 133-weight class, went 5-0 on the day. The Jersey native had two tech falls and two major decisions. In his final match, Heilman beat Oregon State Jason Shaner by a 2-0 decision to capture the 133-pound title.
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As for White, he defeated Oregon State Riley Gurr by an 8-7 decision capturing the 149-pound title. On the day, White had one tech fall, a pin, and a 6-2 decision in the semifinals. McDermott, wrestling heavyweight, showed his dominance throughout the day by providing a 12-second pin in his opening match. Later on, McDermott would have another early victory, beating Chris Island (Cal Baptist) in the first period to capture the heavyweight title.
As Rutgers heads back to the east coast, the Scarlet Knights will start preparing for the Garden State Grapple on Sunday, December 4, 2022. The Garden State Grapple will be held at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, where Rutgers will face No. 21 Penn and Drexel.
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