NEWBERRY, S.C. — The Belmont Abbey wrestling team put together one of its strongest performances of the season as the Crusaders defeated Newberry 37-8 Thursday at Eleazer Arena.

The Crusaders won eight of ten bouts and clinched a berth in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, which will be held Sunday, February 15th at UNC Pembroke. The Crusaders won eight of the ten bouts to take the match and was highlighted by three straight pins.

After Newberry won the opening bout at 125 pounds, Elijah Carrington (133) won his fifth straight conference match over Caiden Pelc to get the Abbey on the board. Luke Kunath (141) got the pin streak started with his win followed by Skyler Caban at 149. William Nix rallied from an early deficit in his match and got a pin at 157 to take a 21-3 lead.

The Wolves got another victory at 165 but the Abbey answered with four straight wins to close the match. Christian Arrington (174) and Caleb Moore (197) earned tech fall wins while Kyler Pickard (184) earned a sudden-victory over John Parker-Wilson in a ranked matchup.

Edison Morales closed the match out with a 9-6 victory in the heavyweight class.

The win improves Belmont Abbey to 7-5 on the season and 7-2 in Conference Carolinas competition as well as 4-1 mark in the East Division. Newberry is 11-5 overall, 7-2 in the conference and 3-2 in the division.

Belmont Abbey 37, Newberry 8
125: Ricky Springs (NC) def. Kyle Simpson (BAC) (Dec 8-1)
133: Elijah Carrington (BAC) def. Caiden Pelc (NC) (Dec 13-9)
141: Luke Kunath (BAC) def. Cole McCullough (NC) (Fall 3:32)
149: Skyler Caban (BAC) def. Sebastian Melendez (NC) (Fall 3:38)
157: William Nix (BAC) def. Bashir Rostami (NC) (Fall 5:55)
165: Bo Perkins (NC) def. Austin Marry (BAC) (TF 19-4 7:00)
174: Christian Arrington (BAC) def. Josh Echeverria (NC) (TF 19-4 6:43)
184: Kyler Pickard (BAC) def. John Parker-Wilson (NC) (SV-1 4-1)
197: Caleb Moore (BAC) def. Benjamin Valdes (NC) (TF 17-0 3:34)
285: Edison Morales (BAC) def. Rylan Madison (NC) (Dec 9-6)

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey concludes the regular season with a match back at home against Allen on February 5.
• The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at the Wheeler Center.
• 12 seniors will be honored on Senior Night in a pre-match ceremony.