GREENWOOD, South Carolina - With 2 straight opens after their home dual debut, the Salem men's wrestling team took the chance to get back on the mats this afternoon in 4 dual matchups at Lander University's Carolina Clash. The Tigers went 1-3 on the day including the program's first ever dual win, which came against Lincoln Memorial in the final matchup of the day. Each dual played out as follows:

Lander 52, Salem 4

In the first matchup of the day, Salem faced off with the host Lander Bearcats. The Tigers got their best performance from Seth Thomas, who scored a Major Decision win over Lander's Lucas Crosby.

Mount Olive 45, Salem 9

Next, the Tigers took on the University of Mount Olive. David Makupson got things started for the Tigers with an early pin on Mount Olive's Logan Tortual. Iran Love followed that up by grinding out a tight 10-3 win in his bout with Logan Haseley, but Salem fell overall 45-9.

Newberry 50, Salem 5

After a short break, Salem took on the Newberry Wolves. Seth Holt nabbed the lone bout win for the Tigers with an impressive performance to get the tech fall in his bout over Cole McCullough. 

Salem 29, Lincoln Memorial 15

In the final matchup of the day, Salem squared off with the Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial. David Makupson started Salem off strong by claiming a tech fall to win his bout with Andrew Overbay. Seth Thomas then added a win in his bout over James Thaxton by a close 13-9 decision. Lastly, Iran Love sealed the team win for the Tigers by squeaking out another tough win over the Railsplitters' Julian Smith via decision 10-3. 

The dual win was the first ever for Salem's men's wrestling program, and the first dual win of Cole Houser's head coaching career. 

The historic win today should energize the Tiger's as they prepare for their next round of competition. That will come on December 14th and 15th when Salem heads over to the Midwest Classic open tournament event, which is hosted by the University of Indianapolis.