Saturday, January 9
2:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
34
vs
3
Navy
Mountain Hawks show their depth as young wrestlers lead Lehigh past Navy 34-3
1/9/2016 5:19:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In it its first home dual in seven weeks, No. 10 Lehigh battled to a dominant 34-3 win over Navy Saturday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks won nine of ten bouts with three bonus wins, while the lone loss came by a single point as freshman Gordon Wolf received the loudest ovation of the day despite a losing effort.
The win is Lehigh's sixth straight dual victory and improves the Mountain Hawks' record to 8-1 overall, while Navy suffers its first dual loss (5-1).
"Overall, the effort was good," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "There were a couple matches where we stopped wrestling in the third period. That needs to be fixed and we'll address that. But a couple of those guys made weight today and then had to wrestle up, which is tough to do at any level. You're upset that your starters can't be out there but I'm excited for our young guys and how they came out and wrestled hard."
Lehigh captured the first six bouts to open up a 22-0 lead before Navy claimed its lone win. The dual began at 125 where sophomore Darian Cruz posted a 17-6 major decision over Brant Ledbeter. Cruz scored six takedowns, including three in the first period, but a third period takedown from Ledbeter halted Cruz's bid for a technical fall as he settled for the major decision.
Senior Mason Beckman made his Grace Hall debut and used a pair of first period takedowns to hold off Zack Davis 5-3 at 133. Junior Randy Cruz then made it three straight wins for the hosts with a 6-1 decision over Nicholas Gil at 141 that featured 3:11 of riding time.
The Mountain Hawks were without three starters but deferred freshmen Cortlandt Schuyler and Ian Brown picked up the slack in relief. With junior Laike Gardner out at 149, Schuyler stepped in up a weight class and held off Corey Wilding 10-9. Schuyler hit a big six-point move to go up 8-2 in the second period and thwarted a third period charge from Wilding.
Brown subbed for the injured Mitch Minotti at 157 and won 10-3 over Jonathan Carrera in his dual meet debut. Brown scored the opening takedown and added a two point near fall and a four point near fall to lead 8-0 after one period. He eventually built over four minutes of advantage time but a late penalty for stalling cost Brown the major decision. Still, Lehigh led 16-0 at intermission.
Freshman Ryan Preisch kicked off the second half of the dual with his first career pin, building a 7-1 lead over John Keck at 165 before turning Keck for the fall at 5:47.
Wolf's first Grace Hall appearance came against defending EIWA champion Jadaen Bernstein at 174. Bernstein started strong with four first period takedowns to lead 8-4 after one. Wolf methodically battled back, scoring a reversal and takedown in the second and then three takedowns in the third, the last of which tied the bout at 16-16. Bernstein reversed to go up 18-16 and after a Wolf escape, he was unable to secure the winning takedown in the final seconds as Bernstein held on 18-17.
"He got way down and then came back to 18-17," Santoro said of Wolf's effort. "It got crazy at the end. If he didn't give up the reversal at the end we were going to have him cut (Bernstein). He wrestled great, kept fighting and had a conference champ from last year on the ropes."
Senior Nathaniel Brown was also sidelined for Lehigh on Saturday so junior Elliot Riddick filled in up at 184. Riddick scored two quick first period takedowns which proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win over Robert Mannier.
At 197, a second period takedown from senior John Bolich was the difference in a 3-2 decision over Michael Woulfe.
Senior Max Wessell closed out the dual with a first period fall over Nick Mabry. There was a lengthy timeout for blood as Mabry appeared to injure his nose in the first 15 seconds of the match. When action resumed, Wessell scored two takedowns and a four point near fall and led 8-2 when he took Mabry down a third time before securing the pin in 1:31.
"We let them dictate the pace too much in the third period," Santoro said. "We got a lead and just hung on and that's not what we're about. We're about getting bonus points and to keep wrestling and that's what the second half guys did. They kept wrestling."
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday to face another EIWA rival in Penn at the Palestra beginning at 1 p.m. Audio coverage will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) and wlvr.org beginning at 12:45 p.m.
No. 10 Lehigh 34, Navy 3
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Brant Ledbeter (Navy) 17-6
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Zack Davis (Navy) 5-3
141 – Randy Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Nicholas Gil (Navy) 6-1
149 – Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Corey Wilding (Navy) 10-9
157 – Ian Brown (Lehigh) dec. Jonathan Carrera (Navy) 10-3
165 – Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) Fall John Keck (Navy) 5:47
174 – Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 18-17
184 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Robert Mannier (Navy) 5-3
197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Michael Woulfe (Navy) 3-2
285 – Max Wessell (Lehigh) Fall Nick Mabry (Navy) 1:31
Attendance – 1,618
Officials – Jim Rivello and Craig Salvatore
The win is Lehigh's sixth straight dual victory and improves the Mountain Hawks' record to 8-1 overall, while Navy suffers its first dual loss (5-1).
"Overall, the effort was good," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "There were a couple matches where we stopped wrestling in the third period. That needs to be fixed and we'll address that. But a couple of those guys made weight today and then had to wrestle up, which is tough to do at any level. You're upset that your starters can't be out there but I'm excited for our young guys and how they came out and wrestled hard."
Lehigh captured the first six bouts to open up a 22-0 lead before Navy claimed its lone win. The dual began at 125 where sophomore Darian Cruz posted a 17-6 major decision over Brant Ledbeter. Cruz scored six takedowns, including three in the first period, but a third period takedown from Ledbeter halted Cruz's bid for a technical fall as he settled for the major decision.
Senior Mason Beckman made his Grace Hall debut and used a pair of first period takedowns to hold off Zack Davis 5-3 at 133. Junior Randy Cruz then made it three straight wins for the hosts with a 6-1 decision over Nicholas Gil at 141 that featured 3:11 of riding time.
The Mountain Hawks were without three starters but deferred freshmen Cortlandt Schuyler and Ian Brown picked up the slack in relief. With junior Laike Gardner out at 149, Schuyler stepped in up a weight class and held off Corey Wilding 10-9. Schuyler hit a big six-point move to go up 8-2 in the second period and thwarted a third period charge from Wilding.
Brown subbed for the injured Mitch Minotti at 157 and won 10-3 over Jonathan Carrera in his dual meet debut. Brown scored the opening takedown and added a two point near fall and a four point near fall to lead 8-0 after one period. He eventually built over four minutes of advantage time but a late penalty for stalling cost Brown the major decision. Still, Lehigh led 16-0 at intermission.
Freshman Ryan Preisch kicked off the second half of the dual with his first career pin, building a 7-1 lead over John Keck at 165 before turning Keck for the fall at 5:47.
Wolf's first Grace Hall appearance came against defending EIWA champion Jadaen Bernstein at 174. Bernstein started strong with four first period takedowns to lead 8-4 after one. Wolf methodically battled back, scoring a reversal and takedown in the second and then three takedowns in the third, the last of which tied the bout at 16-16. Bernstein reversed to go up 18-16 and after a Wolf escape, he was unable to secure the winning takedown in the final seconds as Bernstein held on 18-17.
"He got way down and then came back to 18-17," Santoro said of Wolf's effort. "It got crazy at the end. If he didn't give up the reversal at the end we were going to have him cut (Bernstein). He wrestled great, kept fighting and had a conference champ from last year on the ropes."
Senior Nathaniel Brown was also sidelined for Lehigh on Saturday so junior Elliot Riddick filled in up at 184. Riddick scored two quick first period takedowns which proved to be the difference in a 5-3 win over Robert Mannier.
At 197, a second period takedown from senior John Bolich was the difference in a 3-2 decision over Michael Woulfe.
Senior Max Wessell closed out the dual with a first period fall over Nick Mabry. There was a lengthy timeout for blood as Mabry appeared to injure his nose in the first 15 seconds of the match. When action resumed, Wessell scored two takedowns and a four point near fall and led 8-2 when he took Mabry down a third time before securing the pin in 1:31.
"We let them dictate the pace too much in the third period," Santoro said. "We got a lead and just hung on and that's not what we're about. We're about getting bonus points and to keep wrestling and that's what the second half guys did. They kept wrestling."
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Philadelphia on Sunday to face another EIWA rival in Penn at the Palestra beginning at 1 p.m. Audio coverage will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) and wlvr.org beginning at 12:45 p.m.
No. 10 Lehigh 34, Navy 3
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Brant Ledbeter (Navy) 17-6
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Zack Davis (Navy) 5-3
141 – Randy Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Nicholas Gil (Navy) 6-1
149 – Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Corey Wilding (Navy) 10-9
157 – Ian Brown (Lehigh) dec. Jonathan Carrera (Navy) 10-3
165 – Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) Fall John Keck (Navy) 5:47
174 – Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 18-17
184 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Robert Mannier (Navy) 5-3
197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Michael Woulfe (Navy) 3-2
285 – Max Wessell (Lehigh) Fall Nick Mabry (Navy) 1:31
Attendance – 1,618
Officials – Jim Rivello and Craig Salvatore
Players Mentioned
133
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
149/157
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
174
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
174
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