Blake Herrin won the heavyweight title at the Brockport/Oklahoma Invitational to lead the American University wrestling team to a fourth place finish in the team standings to open the season.
Herrin posted a 9-2 decision over Keldrick Hall of Oklahoma in the championship. He began his run with an 11-5 decision over Curtis Garner of Army. Herrin advanced to the finals with a 5-2 decision over Justin Heisermen of Buffalo.
Herrin is the first American title winner at Brockport since Daniel Mitchell won the 197 lbs. weight class in 2010.
"The team wrestled very well today," said Head Coach Teague Moore. "Blake Herrin showed that he is ready to represent AU on the national scene. Overall, the coaching staff and I were happy with our performance today. We earned some positive results and have specific improvements to implement for next week."
David Terao, Phillip Barreiro and Keithen Cast all registered runner-up finishes for the Eagles at 125, 165 and 174 lbs., respectively.
Terao ended up on the short end of a 5-2 decision against Maryland's Shane Gentry in the 125 lbs. championship. He opened up the tournament with a fall, pinning Brockport State's Kevin O'Hagan in 2:23, and then posted a 10-2 major decision over Hunter Wood of Army. Terao then picked up a 6-1 decision over Buffalo's Max Soria to make it to the title match.
Barreiro started his run with a 7-4 decision over Buffalo's Dom Montesanti and recorded a 10-8 decision against Kyle Detmer of Oklahoma to advance to the finals. He then fell to No. 8 Patrick Graham of Oklahoma by a 16-6 major decision in the championship match.
Cast advanced to the 174 lbs. championship in his first match as an American wrestler. No. 3 Josh Asper of Maryland recorded a fall in the title match in 3:49. He advanced to the championship after an 11-5 decision over Maryland's Aaron Norris and 6-3 decision against Oklahoma's Matt Reed.
Thomas Barreiro also had a strong day for the Eagles, finishing third at 184 lbs. His run began when he pinned Brockport State's Jon Casper in 1:57. He fell to Collin Wittmeyer of Army in an 8-2 decision but bounced back with a 5-3 decision over Buffalo's Tony Lock and a 12-3 major decision over Tony Gardner of Maryland in the consolation finals.
Esteban Gomez-Rivera posted a fourth-place result at 133 lbs. He started with a 9-4 decision against Oklahoma's Scott Chene. He dropped his next match by fall in 2:44 to No. 16 Geoffrey Alexander of Maryland and advanced to the consolation finals after a forfeit by Erik Galloway of Buffalo. Gomez-Rivera finished the tournament on the short end of a 3-0 decision to Army's Jordan Thome.
Also making the podium for American were Kevin Tao, who placed fifth at 149 lbs., and Marcos Peralta with his sixth place result at 165 lbs.
American finished fourth in the team competition with 102 points. No. 11 Oklahoma took home the team title with 155.5 points followed by No. 21 Maryland with 127.5 points and Army with 110 points.
The Eagles return to the mat on Sunday, November 18 when they compete at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa.
