Lehigh University
No. 4 Oklahoma State
Mountain Hawks fall in finals of Virginia Duals
1/9/2010 9:45:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
HAMPTON, Va. – No. 11 Lehigh’s run through the Virginia Duals came to an end as the third-seeded Mountain Hawks fell to top-seed and No. 4 ranked Oklahoma State 30-6 in the finals Saturday night at the Hampton Coliseum. Freshman Joey Napoli picked up his first career dual win and senior David Craig added a win as well, but the Cowboys won eight matches and picked up bonus points in two as they earned the title while dropping Lehigh to 9-3 on the season.
“Oklahoma State is just a solid team,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “They beat us in fundamentals and dominated in every position. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re wrestling hard but making a lot of mental mistakes.”
Oklahoma State (8-0-1) rolled to an early 12-0 lead as Chris Notte started things off with a 5-1 decision over sophomore John McDonald at 125; Jordan Oliver followed with a first period pin of junior Mitch Berger at 133 and at 141 Jamal Parks avenged a loss to senior Seth Ciasulli last year with a 5-2 win.
Napoli scored a pair of first period takedowns and added a second period reversal to hold off Quentin Fuentes 7-5 at 149.
After going on a six bout run to come-from-behind to beat Oklahoma earlier in the day, Lehigh found no such luck in the finals as Sean Bilodeau came up on the short end of a 9-5 score against Neil Erisman at 157. Erisman scored takedowns in each of the first two periods. Bilodeau answered with a score in the third, but his desperation takedown attempt late in the period resulted in a takedown for Erisman.
At 165, senior Mike Galante gave up an early four-point move to Alex Meade and was unable to recover as he fell 9-4. It was another battle of ranked wrestlers at 174 with No. 14 Mike Benefiel making a pair of first period takedowns stand in a 7-4 decision over 18th-ranked freshman Robert Hamlin at 174.
Craig picked up Lehigh’s second and final win of the night, making a first period takedown stand in a 5-2 triumph over Chris McNeil.
The Cowboys captured the final two bouts as Alan Gelogaev earned a 10-3 decision over sophomore Joe Kennedy at 197 and Jared Rosholt pinned sophomore Zach Rey in a battle of top-ten wrestlers at heavyweight.
“The fight was there,” said Santoro. “We’re working hard and fighting hard but you can’t forget how to wrestle. Whatever it was, it can’t happen so we have to work on getting better by March.”
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Friday when they return home for the first time since November to take on West Virginia Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. First match is set for 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 |
Chris Notte (OSU) |
dec. |
John McDonald (Lehigh) |
5-1 |
|
133 |
Jordan Oliver (OSU) |
Fall |
Mitch Berger (Lehigh) |
0:35 |
|
141 |
Jamal Parks (OSU) |
dec. |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
5-2 |
|
149 |
Joey Napoli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Quentin Fuentes (OSU) |
7-5 |
|
157 |
Neil Erisman (OSU) |
dec. |
Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) |
9-5 |
|
165 |
Alex Meade (OSU) |
dec. |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
9-4 |
|
174 |
Mike Benefiel (OSU) |
dec. |
Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) |
7-4 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Chris McNeil (OSU) |
5-2 |
|
197 |
Alan Gelogaev (OSU) |
dec. |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
10-3 |
|
285 |
Jared Rosholt (OSU) |
Fall |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
2:05 |
Lehigh Wrestling - Virginia Duals Post-Match Extra
