Lehigh downs Edinboro 19-14 to move into finals
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
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HAMPTON, Va. – It came down to the final bout of the dual between the heavyweights, but No. 8 Lehigh moved into the finals of the Virginia Duals with a come-from-behind 19-14 win over No. 15 Edinboro Saturday afternoon at the Hampton Coliseum. Leading by two points entering the final bout, freshman Zach Rey held off 14th ranked Joey Fendone 2-1 to clinch the 800th dual victory in school history and move the Mountain Hawks (15-0) into the finals where they will face No. 12 Central Michigan on Saturday night.
The Mountain Hawks won six of the ten bouts, and gave up bonus points in just one of the four losses to keep their record-setting start to the dual season going.
The Fighting Scots raced to an early 6-0 lead, juggling their lineup in the process. Head coach Tim Flynn bumped All-American Paul Donahoe up to 133 and inserted Kyle Fluke at 125, but Fluke was only able to Muster a 3-0 win over sophomore Mitch Berger. Donahoe was then challenged by junior Matt Fisk. Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and the one-minute sudden victory period, Donahoe rode out Fisk in the first 30 second tiebreak and was credited with an escape with one second remaining in the second tiebreaker period, the difference in a 2-1 victory.
Lehigh pulled even with back to back wins at 141 and 149 as Seth Ciasulli blanked Joel Webster 5-0 and Trevor Chinn won an 8-5 decision over Torsten Gillespie.
At 157, freshman Sean Bilodeau had his hands full with top-ranked Gregor Gillespie and the former national champion displayed his prowess from the top position scoring points on a series of tilts en route to a 17-2 technical fall which put Edinboro up 11-6 at the halfway point.
Junior Mike Galante did his best to get the Mountain Hawks back in the dual as he rolled up eight takedowns in an 18-7 major decision over Chris Hrunka, who was subbing for sixth-ranked Jarrod King.
Lehigh went in front for good when Alex Caruso won a 4-2 decision over Paul Paddock at 174. After three sluggish periods of regulation, Caruso scrambled his way into a takedown in the sudden victory period, picking up the win to put the Mountain Hawks up 13-11.
At 184 David Craig converted a first period takedown, which proved to be the difference in a 4-2 win over No. 18 Chris Honeycutt.
Needing one win in the final two bouts to clinch the dual, Joe Kennedy went out and wrestled his second overtime bout in as many duals, but this time the extra periods were unkind to the Lehigh freshman as Pat Bradshaw escaped in the second series of tiebreakers to pick up a 2-1 victory.
Kennedy’s setback put the Mountain Hawks fate in the hands of Rey, who defeated his second ranked opponent in as many weeks. After a scoreless first period, Rey deferred his choice to Fendone, who chose the top position. After riding Rey for over a minute, Rey escaped for the bout’s first points. In the third period Rey chose bottom, and extended his lead to 2-0 with a second escape, and despite earning a point for riding time, Fendone was unable to overcome the deficit with a takedown.
Lehigh now moves into Saturday night’s finals against Central Michigan. The third-seeded Chippewas knocked off No. 2 seed Oklahoma State 17-14. Saturday night’s finals get underway at 8:30 p.m. and all the action can be heard on Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
Weight |
Match-up |
Results |
|
Score/Time |
125 |
Kyle Fluke (Edinboro) |
dec. |
Mitch Berger (Lehigh) |
3-0 |
133 |
Paul Donahoe (Edinboro) |
dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
2-1, t.b. |
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Joel Webster (Edinboro) |
5-0 |
149 |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro) |
8-5 |
157 |
Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) |
tech. fall |
Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) |
17-2, 7:00 |
165 |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Chris Hrunka (Edinboro) |
18-7 |
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Paul Paddock (Edinboro) |
4-2 s.v. |
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) |
4-2 |
197 |
Pat Bradshaw (Edinboro) |
dec. |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
2-1, t.b. 2 |
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Joe Fendone (Edinboro) |
2-1 |