Lehigh wins EIWA opener 24-13 over Rutgers

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh opened up the EIWA dual season by winning seven of ten bouts in a 24-13 win over Rutgers Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks earned six wins by decisions and a quick pin from sophomore Mike Galante to win their third straight dual and improve to 3-4 on the season. Rutgers falls to 0-2 with the setback.

“To go 7-3 in bouts against this team (Rutgers) is pretty good,” said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel. “I was concerned it might be 5-5 or even 6-4 in their favor. We wanted to go out and get bonus points and Galante gave us those, and we also got six other wins in workmanlike fashion.”

The dual began at 285 and sophomore Justin Allen gave the Mountain Hawks an early lead. A second period reversal and a pair of third period takedowns gave Allen a 7-4 win over D.J. Russo.

Rutgers took six big points back at 125, where Ryan Fikslin trailed Lehigh freshman Mitch Berger 4-0 after two periods. Berger chose bottom for the third, but Fikslin was able to turn Berger and scored a fall at the 5:37 mark.

Junior Kevin Vinh tied the dual at six with a 5-2 win over Dan Hilt, avenging a loss to Hilt last season. The Scarlet Knights would regain the lead however; as No. 19 Steve Adamcsik scored an early five point move and went on to earn a 13-4 major decision over senior Jeff Santo.

Down 10-6 after four bouts, Lehigh reeled off five straight wins to take control of the dual. At 149, Trevor Chinn scored second and third period takedowns to defeat Spencer Kent 6-2. Dave Nakasone gave Lehigh the lead at 12-10 with a 5-2 win over Chris Norrell at 157.

Galante delivered the excitement, even if he was on the mat for barely thirty seconds, as he hit a cement job on Matt Rigoglioso and was able to secure a fall in 23 seconds, the fastest Lehigh fall so far this season and Galante’s second pin of the year.

Freshman Alex Caruso and sophomore David Craig completed the run, as Caruso won a 6-3 decision over Mike Whalen at 174, and Craig followed with a 4-0 blanking of Keith Dobish.

The final bout of the night went to the Scarlet Knights, with Lamar Brown winning 14-7 over Alex Iacocca, but Iacocca did score his second takedown of the bout in the final seconds to avoid yielding the major decision.

The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Sunday when they will hit the road for a pair of duals. Lehigh will travel to No. 24 Maryland at 2 p.m. and then head to Washington for an EIWA match-up with American at 6 p.m. Both duals will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports.

Weight	Match-up	Results		Score/Time
285	Justin Allen (LU)	dec.	D.J. Russo (RU)	7-4
125	Ryan Fikslin (RU)	Fall	Mitch Berger (LU)	5:37
133	Kevin Vinh (LU)	dec.	Dan Hit (RU)	5-2
141	Steve Adamcsik (RU)	maj. dec.	Jeff Santo (LU)	13-4
149	Trevor Chinn (LU)	dec.	Spencer Kent (RU)	6-2
157	Dave Nakasone (LU)	dec.	Chris Norrell (RU)	5-2
165	Mike Galante (LU)	Fall	Matt Rigoglioso (RU)	0:23
174	Alex Caruso (LU)	dec.	Mike Whalen (RU)	6-3
184	David Craig (LU)	dec.	Keith Dobish (RU)	4-0
197	Lamar Brown (RU)	dec.	Alex Iacocca (LU)	14-7

Attendance – 1,720

Referee – Anthony Zullo

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