Lehigh University
Cornell
Mountain Hawks rally to earn 15-15 tie at Cornell
1/22/2010 9:00:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
ITHACA, N.Y. – Down 15-9 with two bouts remaining, sophomore Joe Kennedy upset fifth-ranked Cam Simaz and classmate Zach Rey won a decision over Josh Arnone as No. 8 Lehigh battled back to earn a 15-15 tie with No. 6 Cornell as the two schools renewed their rivalry Friday night at Newman Arena. The teams split the ten bouts on the evening, and with neither side able to muster any bonus points, the dual ended in a tie for just the fourth time in 87 career meetings.
“I don’t think any coach likes to tie,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “Cornell’s a great team. They came out and fought hard. They controlled the center much better than we did, so that’s something we have to work on. In the second half the guys picked up the pace.”
Things looked grim for Lehigh early on as Cornell raced to a 9-0 lead with wins in the first three weight classes. National Champion Troy Nickerson returned to action for the Big Red at 125, but could only muster a 5-1 decision over sophomore John McDonald. At 133, Mike Grey built an early 4-1 lead after one period and went on to defeat senior Matt Fisk 8-3. Second-ranked Kyle Dake completed the Cornell run with a 6-3 win over senior Seth Ciasulli at 141.
Lehigh picked up victories in the next two weight classes, to trail 9-6 at intermission. At 149, freshman Joey Napoli rode out Corey Manson in the second period and added a third period escape to win 2-0. At 157, sophomore Sean Bilodeau scored a reversal in the second period to defeat John Basting by the same 2-0.
Sophomore Brandon Hatchett had Lehigh in position to tie the dual after six bouts, after scoring a first period takedown on Justin Kerber at 165. Hatchett was reversed in the first period before taking a 3-2 lead with a third period escape. Hatchett was seconds away from the dual-tying victory but he was hit twice for stalling in the final ten seconds and ended up in sudden victory. In the overtime period, Kerber scored a takedown with nine seconds left to win 5-3.
At 174, top-ranked Mack Lewnes extended the Cornell lead with a 3-2 win over freshman Robert Hamlin, but senior David Craig started the Lehigh run with a 10-6 win over Nate Holley at 184. Craig gave up an early takedown but reversed and slapped on a cradle to earn three near fall points. A second period takedown and third period reversal had the Mountain Hawks looking for a major, but Holley was able to score a late takedown to avoid giving up the bonus points.
Kennedy then survived 11 grueling minutes of wrestling to pick up his third win in a month over a top-ten opponent. The match headed to sudden victory tied 1-1 after three periods. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Kennedy escaped in the first 30 second tiebreak and got around Simaz’s ankles for a takedown to take a 4-1 lead. Kennedy appeared headed to ride out the second 30 second period, but Simaz got out with nine seconds remaining and took down Kennedy at the buzzer to force a second set of overtimes. Neither man scored in the second sudden victory, and in the next set of tiebreakers, Kennedy rode out Simaz, and then was granted an escape before successfully defending from his feet to earn the upset victory 5-4.
“That match had two kids with two of the best gas tanks in the country at that weight class,” explained Santoro. “They kept coming at each other. There were some almost scores on both sides, but it was a great match, one that was worth the price of admission.”
The dual came down to the heavyweights, where Rey started slowly, but scored the only takedown of the match with 18 seconds remaining in the third period to defeat Arnone 3-1.
The Mountain Hawks will be off next weekend but will return to action on Friday February 5 when they welcome the Hokies of Virginia Tech to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The match gets underway at 7 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office located in Grace Hall.
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
125 |
Troy Nickerson (Cornell) |
dec. |
John McDonald (Lehigh) |
5-1 |
|
133 |
Mike Grey (Cornell) |
dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
8-3 |
|
141 |
Kyle Dake (Cornell) |
dec. |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
6-3 |
|
149 |
Joey Napoli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Corey Manson (Cornell) |
2-0 |
|
157 |
Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) |
dec. |
John Basting (Cornell) |
2-0 |
|
165 |
Justin Kerber (Cornell) |
dec. |
Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) |
5-3 s.v. |
|
174 |
Mack Lewnes (Cornell) |
dec. |
Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Nate Holley (Cornell) |
10-6 |
|
197 |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Cam Simaz (Cornell) |
5-4, t.b. 2 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Josh Arnone (Cornell) |
3-1 |
Mountain Hawks Wrestling Post-Match Extra with Steve Lomangino
