Lehigh University
Harvard
No. 8 Lehigh rolls to wins over Harvard, Brown
1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
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“It was a big difference,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro, in comparing his team’s performance on Saturday to its performance in Friday night’s win over Drexel. “They really stepped it up today. They wrestled hard and that’s what we’re looking for. They responded well. They’re competitors and they weren’t happy with their performance last night so they wrestled really well today.”
Already leading 26-3, the Mountain Hawks faithful came to their feet when No. 15 David Craig recorded the marquee win of the afternoon over No. 7 Louis Caputo. Craig trailed 2-0 in the third period, but the junior got on the board with an escape at the 1:00 mark. With eight seconds left on the clock, Craig finished off the comeback and incited the loudest ovation of the day in Leeman-Turner Arena scoring a takedown to earn the 3-2 win.
Kellen Aura recorded a victory at 125 just by making weight, as Harvard was forced to forfeit the opening bout of the afternoon. The Mountain Hawks would go on to win the next three bouts to take an 18-0 lead and never looked back.
No. 16 Matt Fisk took a 1-0 lead in the second period with an escape, and added to that advantage in the third period. Fisk slipped Thomas Picarsic into a cradle and came away with the near fall and ran away with a 7-2 victory.
At 141, Seth Ciasulli made sure not to waste any time giving Lehigh a commanding lead. The junior from
No. 4 J.P. O’Connor gave Harvard its first victory of the afternoon, but it wasn’t easy for the junior for the Crimson. Sean Bilodeau gave O’Connor his money’s worth, staying in the match throughout. Trailing 3-2 after a stalling call against O’Connor, Bilodeau made a valiant effort to score a last-second reversal, but he ran out of time and Harvard scored its first points of the day.
Brandon Hatchett came in as a late substitution for No. 14 Mike Galante, but Lehigh didn’t skip a beat with the freshman entering the lineup. Hatchett scored three takedowns in the first period, including a fireman’s carry on the third that gave him a 6-2 lead after one in what would be an easy 17-5 major decision.
No. 15 Alex Caruso continued the Lehigh dominance by recording six takedowns in the first period. The sophomore Mountain Hawk rolled to a 20-8 major decision over Patrick Ziemnik, putting Lehigh up 26-3.
After Craig’s comeback win at 184, Joe Kennedy kept the momentum rolling by recording a fall at 197. The freshman from
In the second match of the afternoon, Lehigh fell behind early when Aura took a major decision loss to Greg Einfrank. But Fisk set the Mountain Hawks back on track in the next bout, with a 15-2 major decision of his own over Ross Baldwin to tie up the overall score.
Ciasulli survived at 141 for a 4-2 decision. The junior held off a late charge by Steve DeLorenzo and used his riding time as insurance in the win.
Chinn continued his banner day – after a pin in the opening match against Harvard – by recording a techical fall at 4:52 over Dave Foxen. Chinn recorded takedown after takedown and racked up the back points as he kept Foxen on his back for much of the bout. Chinn swept in for a takedown with eight seconds left in the second period to record the 17-2 victory.
In his first match of the day, Brian Tanen filled in nicely for Bilodeau, scoring a 7-4 decision over Bryan Tracy.
Galante used a tactical approach to record a 14-4 major decision at 165. Galante continually took down Chris Musser and let him back up, looking at the official to signal the escape before immediately going in for another takedown.
Caruso won his second match of the day by scoring six points in the third period over Bran Crudden. The bout was scoreless entering the final frame, but Caruso scored an escape and two takedowns, adding riding time for the 6-1 victory at 174. Craig locked up his second victory of the day with a big takedown in the final minute to seal a 6-2 win over Matt Gevelinger at 184.
Branden Stearns broke Lehigh’s seven-bout winning streak by scoring a late reversal to knock off Joe Kennedy, 3-2, at 197. But once again, Rey ensured the fans would go home on a positive note by earning a 16-4 major decision over Leo Saniuk at 285.
Bonus points: Lehigh fans were treated to music performed by J-Wok and the Pedestrians…The Mountain Hawks’ faithful also took time to honor its historic 100 seasons by welcoming back the school’s national champion wrestlers and historic coaches. Two coaches and eight wrestlers were in attendance for the event…Lehigh is now a combined 32-1 against Harvard, Drexel and Brown in duals since 1997-98.
Lehigh 38 Harvard 3
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
125 |
Kellen Aura (Lehigh) |
W |
Forfeit |
|
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Thomas Picarsic (Harvard) |
7-2 |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
fall |
Johnny Motley (Harvard) |
0:37 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Walter Peppelman (Harvard) |
9-2 |
|
157 |
J.P. O’Connor (Harvard) |
dec. |
Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) |
4-2 |
|
165 |
Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Michael Sadler (Harvard) |
17-5 |
|
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Patrick Ziemnik (Harvard) |
20-8 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Louis Caputo (Harvard) |
3-2 |
|
197 |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
fall |
Sean Murphy (Harvard) |
2:42 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Andrew Knapp (Harvard) |
10-3 |
Referee: George Chilmonik
Lehigh 29 Brown 7
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
125 |
Greg Einfrank (Brown) |
maj. dec. |
Kellen Aura (Lehigh) |
20-8 |
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Ross Baldwin (Brown) |
15-2 |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Steve DeLorenzo (Brown) |
4-2 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
tech. fall |
Dave Foxen (Brown) |
17-2 4:52 |
|
157 |
Brian Tanen (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Bryan Tracy (Brown) |
7-4 |
|
165 |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Chris Musser (Brown) |
14-4 |
|
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Bran Crudden (Brown) |
6-1 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Matt Gevelinger (Brown) |
6-2 |
|
197 |
Branden Stearns (Brown) |
dec. |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Leo Saniuk (Brown) |
16-4 |
Referee: James Rupp
Attendance: 1,637
The Lehigh Wrestling Post-Match Show
