Lehigh University Athletics
Sunday, February 23
Cambridge, Mass.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
29
at
12
Harvard
2/23/2014 2:07:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BOSTON – Five Mountain Hawks posted bonus point victories as No. 20 Lehigh closed out the dual meet season with a 29-12 win over Harvard Sunday inside Lavietes Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks won seven of the nine contested bouts to finish the dual meet season at 10-6 overall and 6-2 against EIWA opponents. The Mountain Hawks have now won at least ten duals in 15 consecutive seasons.
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"Our guys went out after bonus points and wrestled the whole time," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "That's what we were looking for today."
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Lehigh started the dual with back-to-back bonus wins at 125 and 133 as freshman Darian Cruz picked up a 23-6 technical fall over Max Mejia at 125 and sophomore Mason Beckman won by major decision 16-4 over Jeffrey Ott at 133. Both Mountain Hawk wrestlers scored two point near falls in the final seconds to clinch the bonus victories.
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Harvard (4-8, 3-8 EIWA) picked up its first win at 141 as Todd Preston scored a late takedown and three point near fall on the edge of the mat to defeat sophomore Laike Gardner 9-4/
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Freshman Mitch Minotti returned to the lineup at 149 after missing Saturday's dual at Brown and squashed any momentum with a first period pin over Nicholas Stager. Minotti used a cement mixer to work Stager to his back and earned the fall at 1:04 to give Lehigh a 15-3 advantage.
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"Mitch picked up where the other guys left off," Santoro said. "We lost a tough match at 141 but Mitch got us right back on track. We needed that from him."
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Junior Mike Stepien followed Minotti's pin with his first career dual meet win, 10-7 over Tyler Grimaldi at 157. Stepien scored a quick takedown and two point near fall in the first and then thwarted Grimaldi's comeback attempt with a strong finish including a late takedown to go up by two plus 2:48 of riding time advantage.
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In the first bout after intermission, sophomore Ben Haas provided another bonus point with a dominant 14-0 major decision over Brennan Smith at 165. Haas scored an early takedown and then tilted Smith three times to lead 10-0 after one. He added a three point near fall in the third to close out the win as he narrowly missed a technical fall.
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Freshman Elliot Riddick delivered Lehigh's fifth and final bonus win as he totaled five takedowns in a 12-4 major decision over Ian Roy at 174.
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With freshman Zach Diekel nursing an injury, Lehigh elected to forfeit 184. The Crimson posted their second win at 197 as James Fox gave up a late reversal to John Bolich but escaped and held riding time advantage to win 3-2.
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"We talked about the importance of winning the early bouts because we didn't want to use Zach if we didn't have to," Santoro said. "The guys stepped up and wrestled hard."
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Lehigh claimed the final bout of the dual as Doug Vollaro scored a second period escape and then rode out David Ng to win 2-0.
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The Mountain Hawks will now shift focus to the 110th EIWA Championships, March 8-9 at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
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Lehigh 29, Harvard 12
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) tech fall Max Mejia (Harvard) 23-6, 7:00
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) major dec. Jeffrey Ott (Harvard) 16-4
141 – Todd Preston (Harvard) dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh) 9-4
149 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) Fall Nicholas Stager (Harvard) 1:04
157 – Mike Stepien (Lehigh) dec. Tyler Grimaldi (Harvard) 10-7
165 – Ben Haas (Lehigh) major dec. Brennan Smith (Harvard) 14-0
174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) major dec. Ian Roy (Harvard) 12-2
184 – Samuel Ekanem (Harvard) won by forfeit
197 – James Fox (Harvard) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 3-2
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. David Ng (Harvard) 2-0
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"Our guys went out after bonus points and wrestled the whole time," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "That's what we were looking for today."
Â
Lehigh started the dual with back-to-back bonus wins at 125 and 133 as freshman Darian Cruz picked up a 23-6 technical fall over Max Mejia at 125 and sophomore Mason Beckman won by major decision 16-4 over Jeffrey Ott at 133. Both Mountain Hawk wrestlers scored two point near falls in the final seconds to clinch the bonus victories.
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Harvard (4-8, 3-8 EIWA) picked up its first win at 141 as Todd Preston scored a late takedown and three point near fall on the edge of the mat to defeat sophomore Laike Gardner 9-4/
Â
Freshman Mitch Minotti returned to the lineup at 149 after missing Saturday's dual at Brown and squashed any momentum with a first period pin over Nicholas Stager. Minotti used a cement mixer to work Stager to his back and earned the fall at 1:04 to give Lehigh a 15-3 advantage.
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"Mitch picked up where the other guys left off," Santoro said. "We lost a tough match at 141 but Mitch got us right back on track. We needed that from him."
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Junior Mike Stepien followed Minotti's pin with his first career dual meet win, 10-7 over Tyler Grimaldi at 157. Stepien scored a quick takedown and two point near fall in the first and then thwarted Grimaldi's comeback attempt with a strong finish including a late takedown to go up by two plus 2:48 of riding time advantage.
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In the first bout after intermission, sophomore Ben Haas provided another bonus point with a dominant 14-0 major decision over Brennan Smith at 165. Haas scored an early takedown and then tilted Smith three times to lead 10-0 after one. He added a three point near fall in the third to close out the win as he narrowly missed a technical fall.
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Freshman Elliot Riddick delivered Lehigh's fifth and final bonus win as he totaled five takedowns in a 12-4 major decision over Ian Roy at 174.
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With freshman Zach Diekel nursing an injury, Lehigh elected to forfeit 184. The Crimson posted their second win at 197 as James Fox gave up a late reversal to John Bolich but escaped and held riding time advantage to win 3-2.
Â
"We talked about the importance of winning the early bouts because we didn't want to use Zach if we didn't have to," Santoro said. "The guys stepped up and wrestled hard."
Â
Lehigh claimed the final bout of the dual as Doug Vollaro scored a second period escape and then rode out David Ng to win 2-0.
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The Mountain Hawks will now shift focus to the 110th EIWA Championships, March 8-9 at the Palestra in Philadelphia.
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Lehigh 29, Harvard 12
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) tech fall Max Mejia (Harvard) 23-6, 7:00
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) major dec. Jeffrey Ott (Harvard) 16-4
141 – Todd Preston (Harvard) dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh) 9-4
149 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) Fall Nicholas Stager (Harvard) 1:04
157 – Mike Stepien (Lehigh) dec. Tyler Grimaldi (Harvard) 10-7
165 – Ben Haas (Lehigh) major dec. Brennan Smith (Harvard) 14-0
174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) major dec. Ian Roy (Harvard) 12-2
184 – Samuel Ekanem (Harvard) won by forfeit
197 – James Fox (Harvard) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 3-2
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. David Ng (Harvard) 2-0
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Wednesday, October 29
