First-Ever UHSP Wrestlers Compete at Falcon Invite
Marking another historic milestone, three University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy student-athlete wrestlers competed in the Falcon Invite hosted by Friends University on Saturday in Wichita, Kan.
Davion Hill and Leroy "Carlos" Tyse both competed in the 285 weight class in the men's division and Kennis Borrowman (FR/St. George, UT) wrestled in the 143 weight class for women.
The Falcon Invite is billed as the largest coed collegiate tournament in the nation, featuring 255 men and 191 women representing teams from 24 different NAIA institutions in 10 different weight classes. Both Hill and Tyse's men's heavyweight class and Borrowman's women's draw started with 32 athletes in each bracket which fed into a consolation bracket for each class.
In their first collegiate wrestling competitions, Tyse, Hill, and Borrowman each lost their first matches and subsequent consolation round matches.
For his first collegiate wrestling match, Leroy "Carlos" Tyse, weighing in at 227.4, faced Michael Trimmell (unattached) who weighed in at 284.5. Trimmell defeated Tyse with a Fall to push Tyse into the consolation round. Davion Hill faced Trey Hudgens of Carl Albert State in his first match. Hudgens defeated Hill and advanced on in the bracket to eventually lose in the final championship match.
Both Tyse and Hill fell against Roman Saldana from Schreiner University in the backdraw.
Kennis Borrowman received a bye in the first round of 32 for women's 143, then lost with a fall to Livia Swift of Ottawa University. In the consolation bracket, Jessica Miller of Avila University defeated Kennis with a technical fall.
Head UHSP coach Marcus Cobbs was thrilled to see his athletes compete in their first matches.
"It was great to get our very first wrestlers-ever out there to compete and represent UHSP," said Cobbs. "I'm really happy with the work that they have been putting in and it showed this weekend as they competed. Even though the matches didn't go the way we wanted, I saw that they are picking up what is being put down in practice. I'm excited to see how we continue to grow and improve as the season goes on."
Tyse and Hill will be back in action next weekend at the Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa. Borrowman is scheduled to compete in the Missouri Valley Open on Nov. 18th in Marshall, Mo.