North Carolina State’s Jakob Camacho takes third at Southern Scuffle

North Carolina State freshman Jakob Camacho

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., January 2, 2019 – North Carolina State freshman Jakob Camacho fell in the quarterfinals to No. 4 Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State but Camacho won four straight bouts in the consolation round to finish third at 125 pounds at the Southern Scuffle tournament.

Piccininni earned a spot in the championship final.

Camacho, a freshman from Danbury, hasn’t been able to break into the Wolfpack varsity lineup at 125 pounds because he is redshirting this season. But he has been getting plenty of action at several collegiate tournaments. He is 19-2 in action after wrestling in four tournaments.

At the Southern Scuffle, Piccininni dominated Camacho in the quarterfinals with a 17-0 technical fall in 6:49. But Camacho wasn’t rattled.

He built up an early 7-1 lead and held off Fabian Guttierrez of Chattanooga, 9-7 in his first consolation round bout. Camacho beat Navy’s Asian Kilic, 9-4 and then outlasted Iowa State’s Alex Mackall, 5-3. Camacho used an escape with 1:48 left in the third period and a takedown with 1:33 remaining to take a commanding lead.

In the consolation final, Camacho beat Lock Haven’s Luke Werner, 10-4, thanks to a takedown in the first and third period.

Air Force junior Alec Opsal of New Fairfield also participated in the Southern Scuffle tournament, going 1-2 at 149 pounds.

Opsal began the tournament with a 6-4 win over Selwyn Porter of Citadel but was eliminated in losses to No. 16 Jarod Verkleeren of Penn State, 17-6 and No. 2 Dusty Hone of Oklahoma State, 7-0.

It’s a competitive two-day event with No. 1 Penn State, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 23 Iowa State and Stanford participating in the tournament.