Lehigh University
Harvard
Lehigh closes trip with another strong showing
2/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
 |
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 7 Lehigh won seven of ten bouts, scoring bonus points in all seven as the Mountain Hawks wrapped up their New England swing with a 37-11 win over Harvard Sunday at the Malkin Athletic Center. Senior co-captains Matt Fisk and Seth Ciasulli won by fall as did freshman Joey Napoli and sophomore Zach Rey for the Mountain Hawks, who improve to 14-3-1 on the season, 3-0-1 in the EIWA.
“The goal this week was to score as many bonus points as we could,” Mountain Hawks head coach Pat Santoro commented afterwards. “We wanted to be very aggressive and overall I think this was a step in the right direction.”
Harvard (2-12-1, 1-6 EIWA) took an early 4-0 lead with a major decision at 125 before the Mountain Hawks answered with three consecutive falls to take an 18-4 lead. Fisk used a half nelson to pin Chad Eason in just 56 seconds. Ciasulli picked up his second fall in as many days, decking Fermin Mendez in 1:14 and Napoli followed by building a 10-4 lead before pinning Spencer Friedman in 2:38.
The Crimson picked up their second bonus win of the day as top-ranked J.P. O'Connor won a 17-5 major over sophomore Brian Tanen, but Lehigh extended its lead on back-to-back majors by sophomore Brandon Hatchett and freshman Robert Hamlin.
The featured bout of the day pitted 11th ranked Louis Caputo versus No. 15 David Craig at 184. Caputo turned Craig for two three-point near falls in the second period for the only points in a 6-0 decision.
The final two bouts went Lehigh's way as sophomore Joe Kennedy picked up his second technical fall of the weekend 17-1 over Sean Murphy in 6:39. Rey closed the dual with a quick takedown followed by a cradle to pin Spencer DeSena in just 1:11.
“Joe’s been wrestling very well since mid-December on,” Santoro said. “He’s got two big matches next week and it’s not going to get any easier for him so we’ve got to get ready for those two.” He added, “Zach went out, worked hard for takedowns, and eventually got the fall.”
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Saturday when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 1 p.m. at Stabler Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office, located in Grace Hall.
Santoro offered his thoughts on the Mountain Hawks next opponent. “Rutgers is the hottest team in the country right now. They’re going to come into Bethlehem fired up. There are a lot of matches that could go either way so we’ve got our work cut out for us. We have a big week of preparation ahead of us.”
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
125 |
Steven Keith (Harvard) |
maj. dec. |
Mitch Berger (Lehigh) |
13-0 |
|
133 |
No. 13 Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Chadwick Eason (Harvard) |
0:56 |
|
141 |
No. 17 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Fermin Mendez (Harvard) |
1:14 |
|
149 |
Joey Napoli (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Spencer Friedman (Harvard) |
2:48 |
|
157 |
No. 1 J.P. O’Connor (Harvard) |
maj. dec. |
Brian Tanen (Lehigh) |
17-5 |
|
165 |
Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Michael Sadler (Harvard) |
17-5 |
|
174 |
Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
David Lalo (Harvard) |
8-0 |
|
184 |
No. 6 Louis Caputo (Harvard) |
dec. |
No. 15 David Craig (Lehigh) |
6-0 |
|
197 |
No. 20 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
tech. fall |
Sean Murphy (Harvard) |
17-1, 6:39 |
|
285 |
No. 5 Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Spencer DeSena (Harvard) |
1:11 |
Lehigh Mountain Hawks Post-Match Extra
