Lehigh University
Wrestle-Offs
Lehigh showcases depth at annual wrestle-offs
10/30/2009 8:45:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh officially opened its 2009-10 season with nine exciting bouts in the annual wrestle-offs, held Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Unofficially the Lehigh White team downed the Brown team 23-6 on the night as the Mountain Hawks showcased their depth. Seven of the nine bouts on the evening were decided by two points or less, while some tightly contested weight classes still likely will not be decided until next week.
“We had a lot of great matches tonight,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “We knew we had a lot of depth. Guys are battling every day in the room and it showed tonight. We knew there would be a lot of close matches and they didn’t disappoint.”
The night’s opening bout was a rematch from last year’s wrestle-off between sophomore John McDonald and junior Mitch Berger at 125. McDonald scored the opening takedown late in the opening period and added an escape in the second and a two-point near fall early in the third to build a lead. Berger mounted a late rally with two third-period takedowns, but McDonald held on for a 7-6 victory.
Senior co-captain Matt Fisk was a winner in the only bonus-point victory of the night. Fisk notched eight first period takedowns and a pair of three-point near falls to win by technical fall 22-7 in 2:55 over Mike Margherita at 133.
“Matt worked hard about being aggressive,” explained Santoro. “When he’s aggressive he’s at his very best. He’s strong and wrestles with good positioning.”
One of the most competitive weight classes in the preseason has been 149 and on Friday the four grapplers who took the mat did not disappoint. In the main bout, true freshman Joey Napoli reversed sophomore Brian Tanen to open the second period, but Tanen forced overtime with a pair of escapes. In the 30 second tiebreaker periods, Napoli rode out Tanen for 30 seconds and then reversed him to pick up the 4-2 victory. In an exhibition bout, junior Kyle Rosser and freshman Justin Koren were locked in a defensive battle, but a takedown from Rosser in the final eight seconds of the third period propelled him to a 3-1 win.
At 157, freshman Josh Fitch pulled a minor surprise with a 5-3 win over incumbent starter Sean Bilodeau. The sophomore Bilodeau scored the first takedown late in the first period, but Fitch scored a reversal in the second and added a third period takedown plus riding time advantage to earn the win.
“Fitch is a great kid who works hard,” said Santoro. “He’s very hungry because he didn’t have the opportunity to wrestle for a long time. He’s a competitor and he showed it tonight.”
Next up was an exhibition bout as senior Mike Galante, the incumbent starter at 165 battled strong true freshman Austin Meys, who weighed in at 174. The match had no meaning in terms of potential starting roles, but Meys used his weight advantage to secure the only takedown of the bout in the second period and added a penalty point and an escape to edge Galante 4-3.
Another highly anticipated matchup was at 174 where junior Alex Caruso met freshman Robert Hamlin, who won 30 matches in his deferred season last year. Hamlin secured the first takedown late in the opening period. Caruso answered with a similar low single-leg takedown in the second, but with escapes in the second and third periods Hamlin prevailed by a narrow 4-3 margin.
At 184, defending EIWA champion David Craig did not record a takedown, but he did build a third period riding time advantage that was the difference in a 2-1 win over Kadeem Samuels.
With the heavyweight bout a late scratch, the final bout of the evening matches sophomore Joe Kennedy against freshman Robert Prigmore at 197. Kennedy took command in the second period with an escape, takedown and two-point near fall off a tilt and held on for the 6-1 win to close the night.
“There’s a lot of hungry people on this team,” said Santoro. “Everybody wrestled hard. It’s going to be a great year in terms of guys pushing each other in the room.”
The Mountain Hawks officially open the 2009-10 season on Sunday, November 8 when they host the Rider Broncs inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The first match is set for 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office, located in Grace Hall.
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
125 |
John McDonald (Brown) |
dec. |
Mitch Berger (White) |
7-6 |
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (White) |
tech fall |
Mike Margherita (Brown) |
22-7, 2:55 |
|
149 |
Joey Napoli (White) |
dec. |
Brian Tanen (Brown) |
4-2, t.b. |
|
149 EX |
Kyle Rosser (Brown) |
dec. |
Justin Koren (White) |
3-1 |
|
157 |
Josh Fitch (White) |
dec. |
Sean Bilodeau (Brown) |
5-3 |
|
165 EX |
Austin Meys (White) |
dec. |
Mike Galante (White) |
4-3 |
|
174 |
Robert Hamlin (White) |
dec. |
Alex Caruso (Brown) |
4-3 |
|
184 |
David Craig (White) |
dec. |
Kadeem Samuels (Brown) |
2-1 |
|
197 |
Joe Kennedy (White) |
dec. |
Robert Prigmore (Brown) |
6-1 |
Attendance – 1,218
Referee – George Chilmonik
Lehigh Wrestling Post-Match Extra
