BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Campbell Fighting Camels hit the road for the first time this season, as they travel to take part in the Southeast Open tomorrow, hosted by Virginia Tech.

The tournament will be held at the Cregger Center on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Va. The event will also be streamed live on FloWrestling, and it is set to begin at 9:00 a.m.

The tournament format provides different opportunities for wrestlers than dual meets. "I like tournaments because they are more individual," said redshirt sophomore Conor Maslanek.

"You still want to represent your team well and show that the team is good," continued Maslanek. "I think everyone goes into a tournament wanting to win and stay in the winner's bracket. But it's not end-all-be-all if you lose, you can move on to the next one on the consolation side. Because sometimes you can get an unlucky draw against a guy that much better than you, and instead of sleeping on in and not being able to wrestle for another week, you have a chance to redeem yourself in another 45 minutes."

True freshman Logan Heckert is excited for the opportunity to get on the mat for the first time in his collegiate career. "I just want to go out there and do my best," Heckert said. "It's my first college experience, so I don't really know what to expect. I just need to go out there, have fun, not let anything get to me, and do what I can to help the team."

The event will have two divisions: freshman/sophomore and open. Each division are double-elimination in 16/24 wrestler brackets and will place the top six finishers.

Campbell Participants
125 Pounds
Zander Phaturos
Landon Reaux
Cooper Shore
Bentley Ellison

133 Pounds
Hudson Waldrop
Logan Heil (Open Division)

141 Pounds
Wynton Denkins
Chris Rivera (Open Division)

149 Pounds
Oliver Fairchild
Hagen Heistand
Justin Rivera (Open Division)
Callum Sitek (Open Division)
Shannon Hanna (Unattached) (Open Division)

157 Pounds
Gunner Endicott
Chris Earnest

165 Pounds
Dom Baker
Brant Cracraft

174 Pounds
Logan Heckert
Austin Murphy (Open Division)
Patrick Adams (Unattached) (Open Division)

184 Pounds
Conor Maslanek (Open Division)
Caleb Hopkins (Open Division)

197 Pounds
Levi Hopkins (Open Division)

Heavyweight
Taye Ghadiali (Open Division)

QUOTABLE
Logan Heckert
On the atmosphere at the Battle at Liberty:
"It was definitely a different atmosphere, a bigger stage. It was motivating to see my teammates out there. I wasn't used to not being on the mat. I've always started, so to see my teammates out there was motivating me to get out on the mat."

On what he saw from his teammates at the Battle at Liberty he hadn't seen in practice:
"I saw more scrambling out of them. I haven't really seen the higher weights do that too much. They all seemed very calm under pressure."

Logan Heil
On the experience during the Battle at Liberty:
"Being at the army base, going against guys that are part of the Army, of course the competition is going to be tough…For us to go out there and dominate, it just shows that we're a team of mentally and physically driven guys that have goals and want to achieve more than just being your average wrestler."

On the difference between tournaments and dual meets:
"Tournaments are less stressful. You go out and wrestle a couple guys, some are ranked, and some aren't. You get to work on what you need to work on. When it comes to these open tournaments, you can work on anything you're wanting to work on. Whereas in a dual meet, you're wrestling for your team, you're wrestling to win. These tournaments, it's less about the team and more on your goals and what you're trying to improve."

On having his older brother as an assistant coach:
"It was always a battle everyday with one another, jokingly. We've always had each other's backs, and having my brother on staff shows that he's not just here for me, but he's here for everybody. He loves Campbell, and being able to be a part of the team and have him as my coach is a blessing."

Conor Maslanek
On what he saw from his teammates against Army:
"I think the biggest thing was being explosive and offensive. Most of the neutrals that I saw, we were always on the attack. There was never a point where we were on the defensive, we were always looking to score. I think that's important going into the season. Everybody can score that next point. It doesn't matter who scores the first point, just get in there and score the next point and the point after that. I think we embodied that last night, and if we keep that rolling it will help us win a lot of matches."

On the effect created by Chris Earnest beating a top-25 opponent to start the Battle at Liberty:
"I think it lit a fire under everyone else. A true freshman against a ranked guy, everybody is expecting him to lose. I can't imagine what he was thinking, I know I was nervous for him. But he went out there, he battled and showed everybody who he was and what he wanted to do. I think that set the tone for everyone that a true freshman can go out there and beat this ranked guy, we can go out there and beat everyone else on their team."

On his goals for the Southeast Open:
"I want to place in the tournament. I'm not picky on where it is, but I want to place. I think it's doable. I just have to go out there and be offensive and stick to what I know and what I'm good at."

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