Lewis places to lead Midway wrestling at NUWAY College Open

After nearly a three week hiatus to celebrate the holidays with their families, the Midway University wrestling team returned to the mats on Friday to compete in the NUWAY College Open in Louisville. No team scores were kept in the event at the Kentucky Exposition Center, but Midway Coach Jake Brumbelow’s squad did have one wrestler that placed in the challenging event. Leading the way for the Eagles was Jahvar Lewis. The sophomore transfer from Euharlee, Ga. posted a 5-2 mark en route to a sixth-place finish in the 125-pound weight class. Lewis pinned Hassan Johnson of Indiana Tech in his opening match, but fell in the second round by a 3-1 decision to Logan Ninos of Ithaca. After being sent to the consolation bracket, Lewis rattled off four victories in a row to advance to the semifinals of the bracket. His first two victories came by pin over Ryan Boncamper of Chicago and Brendan McDonough of York. He followed that up with a 3-1 decision over Brandon Miller of Campbellsville before avenging his only loss of the day by defeating Ninos by an 8-2 decision to advance to the fifth-place match. By rule, Lewis was unable to compete in his fifth-place match against Nicholas Berry of Baldwin Wallace because he had already competed in six matches on the day. Wrestlers are not allowed to compete in more than six matches in one day. Finishing a couple of rounds short of placing was Austin Pumphrey. The freshman from Fort Ashby, W. Va. posted a 3-2 record at 141 pounds. He won his first three matches to advance to the quarterfinals but dropped his final two matches of the day and finished just short of placing. Carding 2-2 records at the NUWAY College Open was the duo of Robert Dominguez and Ray Karl Irving. Dominguez, a freshman from Phoenix, Ariz., competed at 141 pounds, while Irving, a freshman from Lexington competed at 197-pounds. Picking up one victory each on Friday was the quartet of Michael John Harris at 149 pounds. Lee Johnson at 157, Sterling Griffin at 174 and Gavin Hunt at 285. Nine other grapplers, James Taylor, Billy Gordy, Dymond Smith, Alex Wright, Alaeldin Gibril, Jackson Araneta, Anigius McIntyre, Isaiah McDougal, and Kevin Ixpanel also saw action. Midway returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 12, hosting Emmanuel College and University of the Cumberlands for a pair of duals inside Marshall Gymnasium. The Eagles battle Emmanuel at 3 p.m and then take on Cumberlands at 4 p.m. It will be the first-ever home wrestling duals in the inaugural season of the Midway wrestling program.