University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, January 1
Chattanooga, Tenn.
All Day
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Southern Scuffle
Photo by: Sam Janicki
Clothier Makes History, Three Bears Podium
1/2/2022 8:28:00 PM | Wrestling
Alan Clothier became the first UNC wrestler to podium four times at the Southern Scuffle.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – History was made to start the New Year for Northern Colorado wrestling as Alan Clothier became the first Bear to become a four-time place winner at the Southern Scuffle. Clothier was one of three UNC wrestlers to place at the tournament. Andrew Alirez and Chris Sandoval also placed at the tournament, helping the team to a 10th place finish.
Coming in as the No. 6 tournament pre-seed for the 197-pound bracket, Clothier advanced to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket before falling into the consolation bracket. He defeated Andrew Stemmet of Stanford with a 15-5 major decision to guarantee himself a fourth trip to the podium. Clothier then beat Jaron Smith of Maryland 4-1 to move into the consolation semifinals where he fell 4-0 before medically forfeiting to take sixth place.
Alirez followed up his second place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational in December with a third place spot at the Scuffle. The No. 2 pre-seed for the 141-pound bracket, he made his way to the semifinals with a pair of major decisions in the round of 16 and quarterfinals following an opening round decision. Alirez faced off against Real Woods of Stanford in the semis.
No strangers to each other, Woods entered the third period up 4-2. Alirez started on the bottom and tied the bout with a reversal and 1:06 left on the clock. Knowing he needed another point Alirez cut Woods loose and had a sprint in the final 30 seconds, just barely missing out on the takedown to win, dropping the bout 5-4.
He went on to defeat Wyatt Henson of Iowa in the consolation semifinals in a hard-fought 1-0 decision. Alirez was scheduled to take on Clay Carlson of South Dakota State in the third place match, but Carlson medically forfeited giving Alirez third place.
It is the second time in his career he has placed at the Scuffle.
Greeley native Chris Sandoval placed for the first time at the Scuffle in the 149 weight class. He earned back-to-back decisions over Austin Keal (Arkansas Little Rock) and Jeff Boyd (West Virginia) to advance to the quarterfinals. Sandoval dropped that dual to Alex Madrigal (George Mason) 9-5.
Sandoval earned a spot on the podium with a 6-1 decision against Eddie Homrock (Michigan State). He went on to battle for fifth place with a 4-2 decision against John Arceri (Buffalo) and dropping a 4-1 decision in the consolation semis. A medical forfeit from Madrigal gave him fifth place.
A few first-time Bears to the Scuffle showed well in Rudy Lopez and Branson Britten. Lopez competed at 149 pounds advancing to the round of 16. He fell to the top seed and eventual champion Josh Finesilver (Duke). In the consolation bracket, Lopez picked up another win with a 6-4 decision against Keal before bowing out.
Britten wrestled in the 184-pound bracket dropping his first match before picking up a 16-1 tech fall in the first consolation round against Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine).
Finally, an old, new face competed at heavyweight for UNC in Jacob Seely. The graduate student won his first match 4-2 over Parker McComas (Gardner Webb) before dropping two straight.
What's Ahead
The Bears return to dual action next weekend with a trip to California to face Cal Poly and CSU-Bakersfield on January 7 and 9, respectively.
To stay up to date on all things UNC Wrestling, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Coming in as the No. 6 tournament pre-seed for the 197-pound bracket, Clothier advanced to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket before falling into the consolation bracket. He defeated Andrew Stemmet of Stanford with a 15-5 major decision to guarantee himself a fourth trip to the podium. Clothier then beat Jaron Smith of Maryland 4-1 to move into the consolation semifinals where he fell 4-0 before medically forfeiting to take sixth place.
Alirez followed up his second place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational in December with a third place spot at the Scuffle. The No. 2 pre-seed for the 141-pound bracket, he made his way to the semifinals with a pair of major decisions in the round of 16 and quarterfinals following an opening round decision. Alirez faced off against Real Woods of Stanford in the semis.
No strangers to each other, Woods entered the third period up 4-2. Alirez started on the bottom and tied the bout with a reversal and 1:06 left on the clock. Knowing he needed another point Alirez cut Woods loose and had a sprint in the final 30 seconds, just barely missing out on the takedown to win, dropping the bout 5-4.
He went on to defeat Wyatt Henson of Iowa in the consolation semifinals in a hard-fought 1-0 decision. Alirez was scheduled to take on Clay Carlson of South Dakota State in the third place match, but Carlson medically forfeited giving Alirez third place.
It is the second time in his career he has placed at the Scuffle.
Greeley native Chris Sandoval placed for the first time at the Scuffle in the 149 weight class. He earned back-to-back decisions over Austin Keal (Arkansas Little Rock) and Jeff Boyd (West Virginia) to advance to the quarterfinals. Sandoval dropped that dual to Alex Madrigal (George Mason) 9-5.
Sandoval earned a spot on the podium with a 6-1 decision against Eddie Homrock (Michigan State). He went on to battle for fifth place with a 4-2 decision against John Arceri (Buffalo) and dropping a 4-1 decision in the consolation semis. A medical forfeit from Madrigal gave him fifth place.
A few first-time Bears to the Scuffle showed well in Rudy Lopez and Branson Britten. Lopez competed at 149 pounds advancing to the round of 16. He fell to the top seed and eventual champion Josh Finesilver (Duke). In the consolation bracket, Lopez picked up another win with a 6-4 decision against Keal before bowing out.
Britten wrestled in the 184-pound bracket dropping his first match before picking up a 16-1 tech fall in the first consolation round against Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine).
Finally, an old, new face competed at heavyweight for UNC in Jacob Seely. The graduate student won his first match 4-2 over Parker McComas (Gardner Webb) before dropping two straight.
What's Ahead
The Bears return to dual action next weekend with a trip to California to face Cal Poly and CSU-Bakersfield on January 7 and 9, respectively.
To stay up to date on all things UNC Wrestling, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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