BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell hosted its annual Orange & Black over homecoming weekend, featuring its outdoor wrestle-off, as well as kickoff dinner.
The wrestle off again took place in front of the Pope Convocation Center on Saturday morning during Campbell's homecoming parade, concluding the day with the program's kickoff dinner at McCall Court, welcoming a caravan of wrestling alumni, supporters and families to Buies Creek.
"This wrestle off was one of our largest and most exciting in program history," said CU head coach
Scotti Sentes. "We challenged the team to put on a show and they accomplished that. The matches were high scoring and the crowd got larger and larger and louder and louder as the day went on. The alumni matches at the end was a great culmination of the event as we saw graduates from the late 80's and early 90's hit the mat. It was an exciting kickoff to a highly anticipated season."
The 11-match wrestle off, which including two bouts at 197 pounds, featured four former NCAA qualifiers earning victories, and 10 matches decided by decisions.
"For me, the wrestle off is a test to see how far you've come and what competition is going to look like," said redshirt junior 197-pounder
Levi Hopkins. "We look at it like the first competition of the season. You have to get in the right state of mind set, get down to weight, and emulate real competition. It's important for who's going to start, but I think of it as a trial run for our competition."
Full results from Saturday's action can be found below.
Following the wrestle off, some Campbell alums returned to the mat with three "New School vs. Old School" matchups, including Scott Amundsen ('91) against recent graduate and current volunteer assistant coach
Chris Kober.
"It was a great time," said Amundsen. "I'm on the mat a little bit here and there but nothing like that in years. Exciting. In the past when we had alumni matches and it was always older versus older, and this year the new idea was new school against old school, so it was fun and exciting to roll around with someone who just graduated."
Amundsen, who says he'd like to see fellow alums Mike Sousa or Jerry Brooks take to the mat in the near future, describes the Orange & Black as a "don't miss event" for former CU wrestlers.
"It's a big event for all of us," added Amundsen. "Shout out to the coaching staff and current wrestlers for recognizing the alumni and always taking good care of us. One of the things that has happened that is neat is getting to know the current wrestlers and the families, not only to get back and visit with other alums, but just getting a chance to mentor and get to know the current guys and families. This event gets that started, and it's something I'm super proud to be involved with, and I know my peers feel the same as well."
"It's awesome to get to talk to the alumni, just to see how much the program has grown and also to see guys that were on the team when I was a freshman, getting a chance to see old friends," added Hopkins. "It's also a good opportunity to put on a show with some high scoring matches that our friends, family and alumni can enjoy," said Hopkins. "The matchups really show how deep our room is with a bunch of action packed matches. Throughout the weekend it was awesome to see the support Campbell Wrestling has, and I'm so thankful for it."
Campbell is coming off its fourth straight Southern Conference tournament championship, and fifth conference tournament title in the last six seasons. All 10 Camels in the 2022 field wrestled for medals, with nine earning spots on the podium, including individual championships from
Shannon Hanna at 141 pounds,
Caleb Hopkins at 184 and
Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight.
The Camels have sent at least six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last four seasons.
Campbell also finished fifth in the 2021-22 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division I Scholar All-America team rankings, an all-time high for the program, and posted two Scholar All-Americans, including 2022-23 returner
Caleb Hopkins.
The Camels will begin the 2022-23 season at the Battle at the River City Duals in Jacksonville, Fla. on November 5. CU will make its home debut on Sunday, December 4 at 4:00 p.m., hosting Virginia.
Season tickets for Campbell's 2022-23 wrestling campaign are on sale now, featuring both matside and general admission options.
Tickets are available at
GoCamels.com/Tickets, or by calling the Campbell Athletics Ticket Office at 1-877-GO-HUMPS.
FULL RESULTS: 2022 ORANGE & BLACK
197: Conor Maslanak over
Brandon Hoselton Dec. 6-2
125:
Anthony Molton over
Zander Phaturos Dec. 5-3
133:
Domenic Zaccone over
Gabriel Hixenbaugh Dec. 5-2
141:
Shannon Hanna over
Chris Rivera Dec. 4-2 OT
149:
Callum Sitek over
Domenic DeFalco Dec. 8-6
157:
Troy Nation over
Jake Chisolm MD 14-5
165:
Riley Augustine over
Dom Baker Dec. 3-2
174:
Cole Rees over
Charlie Andrews Dec. 3-0
184:
Caleb Hopkins over
Shane Quick Dec. 6-3
HWT:
Taye Ghadiali over
Chad Nix Dec. 10-4
197:
Levi Hopkins over Conor Maslanak Dec. 12-2
