Saturday, February 20
Piscataway, N.J.
8:00 PM
Lehigh University
15
at
18
Rutgers
No. 13 Rutgers edges No. 7 Lehigh 18-15 to win in NWCA Dual Series
2/20/2016 10:55:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – In a tightly contested dual that came down to overtime in the final bout, a 3-2 tiebreaker win from Rutgers heavyweight Billy Smith over Lehigh senior Max Wessell gave the Scarlet Knights an 18-15 win over the Mountain Hawks Saturday in the NWCA National Championship Dual Series at the RAC. Senior John Bolich's major decision at 197, Lehigh's third of the match, tied the dual at 15-15 but Rutgers won six bouts to offset Lehigh's three bonus wins.
With the loss, Lehigh wraps up the dual meet season at 13-3.
"We got beat in one of our strengths this year, which is on the mat," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We gave up reversals. We gave up riding time. When you give up riding time it's really hard to win a match. I was disappointed with that. We were looking for reversals too much and on top we were hanging on instead of going after the turns."
Lehigh's lightweights sparked the Mountain Hawks to an early 8-0 lead before Rutgers responded with five straight victories to take a 15-8 lead.
Sophomore Darian Cruz opened the dual with a 15-7 major decision over Sean McCabe at 125, scoring a third period reversal and three takedowns to get to that eight point margin. Senior Mason Beckman took advantage of Rutgers starter Anthony Giraldo being out of action as he picked up his 98th career win, besting Josh Patrick by major decision 9-2.
The Scarlet Knights (16-5) started their run when All-American Anthony Ashnault beat junior Randy Cruz 9-2 in a matchup of ranked wrestlers at 141.
Rutgers picked up a key win in a swing bout as Tyson Dippery blanked freshman Ian Brown 6-0 at 149. Brown was subbing for the injured Laike Gardner and gave up an early takedown off a failed throw attempt. Dippery was strong on top, riding out the rest of the first period while adding a two point near fall. A second period escape plus riding time gave Dippery the 6-0.
At 157, 12th-ranked Richie Lewis gave Rutgers a 9-8 lead at intermission with a 12-7 decision over sophomore Drew Longo.
Freshman Ryan Preisch made his return to the lineup at 165 but ran into seventh-ranked Anthony Perrotti, who extended the Scarlet Knights' lead with an 8-5 decision. The Rutgers run was capped by a 9-2 decision by Phil Bakuckas over freshman Gordon Wolf at 174.
"It's tough when you lose five in a row in a hostile environment," Santoro said. "This crowd was awesome. We didn't respond the way we needed to. Maybe it's a good environment to be in before EIWAs and NCAAs. We'll learn from it. We'll improve in a couple positions and make sure we don't make those same mistakes again."
Lehigh answered with two straight wins to even the dual at 15-15. At 184 senior Nathaniel Brown made a first period takedown stand up in a 3-2 win over Nicholas Gravina. Bolich then met Hayden Hrymack at 197. After a scoreless first period, Bolich turned Hrymack for a pair of four point near falls in the second and nearly pinned the Scarlet Knight before settling for a ride out and an 8-0 lead. He added a third period takedown and riding time to win 11-0.
The dual came down to the match between No. 14 Wessell and No. 13 Smith. Through seven minutes, the score was tied 1-1 with Wessell failing to score on two quality single leg shots and Smith unable to finish his best shot in the third period. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Smith was down in the first half of the tiebreaker and hit an early standing reversal before riding out the first half of the tiebreaker. Wessell escaped in his half of the tiebreaker but couldn't score a takedown or pick up a tying point as Smith prevailed 3-2.
"You can't give up a reversal there, but otherwise (Max) did a really good job the whole match," Santoro said. "He controlled the match. I thought he out hand-fought (Smith). Both heavyweights fought hard. It was good to see some athletic heavyweights going out there and trying to score points with a lot on the line. Max is going to learn from that. He gets better every week."
Rutgers picked up just its third ever win against Lehigh, which now leads the all-time series 42-3.
"It's a tough one to swallow because it's the last match and you want to go out with a win,: Santoro. "This was a good wakeup call for our guys. This is what we have to do when we get to the postseason, dominate on top and bottom."
The Mountain Hawks will now shift focus to the 112th EIWA Championships, March 5-6 at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.
No. 13 Rutgers 18, No. 7 Lehigh 15
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Sean McCabe (Rutgers) 15-7
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) major dec. Josh Patrick (Rutgers) 19-7
141 – Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh) 9-2
149 – Tyson Dippery (Rutgers) dec. Ian Brown (Lehigh) 6-0
157 – Richie Lewis (Rutgers) dec. Drew Longo (Lehigh) 12-7
165 – Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) 8-5
174 – Phil Bakuckas (Rutgers) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 9-2
184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) dec. Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) 3-2
197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) major dec. Hayden Hrymack (Rutgers) 11-0
285 – Billy Smith (Rutgers) dec. Max Wessell (Lehigh) 3-2, tb
Attendance – 1,855
Officials – Mike Millward and Nathan Chatman
With the loss, Lehigh wraps up the dual meet season at 13-3.
"We got beat in one of our strengths this year, which is on the mat," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We gave up reversals. We gave up riding time. When you give up riding time it's really hard to win a match. I was disappointed with that. We were looking for reversals too much and on top we were hanging on instead of going after the turns."
Lehigh's lightweights sparked the Mountain Hawks to an early 8-0 lead before Rutgers responded with five straight victories to take a 15-8 lead.
Sophomore Darian Cruz opened the dual with a 15-7 major decision over Sean McCabe at 125, scoring a third period reversal and three takedowns to get to that eight point margin. Senior Mason Beckman took advantage of Rutgers starter Anthony Giraldo being out of action as he picked up his 98th career win, besting Josh Patrick by major decision 9-2.
The Scarlet Knights (16-5) started their run when All-American Anthony Ashnault beat junior Randy Cruz 9-2 in a matchup of ranked wrestlers at 141.
Rutgers picked up a key win in a swing bout as Tyson Dippery blanked freshman Ian Brown 6-0 at 149. Brown was subbing for the injured Laike Gardner and gave up an early takedown off a failed throw attempt. Dippery was strong on top, riding out the rest of the first period while adding a two point near fall. A second period escape plus riding time gave Dippery the 6-0.
At 157, 12th-ranked Richie Lewis gave Rutgers a 9-8 lead at intermission with a 12-7 decision over sophomore Drew Longo.
Freshman Ryan Preisch made his return to the lineup at 165 but ran into seventh-ranked Anthony Perrotti, who extended the Scarlet Knights' lead with an 8-5 decision. The Rutgers run was capped by a 9-2 decision by Phil Bakuckas over freshman Gordon Wolf at 174.
"It's tough when you lose five in a row in a hostile environment," Santoro said. "This crowd was awesome. We didn't respond the way we needed to. Maybe it's a good environment to be in before EIWAs and NCAAs. We'll learn from it. We'll improve in a couple positions and make sure we don't make those same mistakes again."
Lehigh answered with two straight wins to even the dual at 15-15. At 184 senior Nathaniel Brown made a first period takedown stand up in a 3-2 win over Nicholas Gravina. Bolich then met Hayden Hrymack at 197. After a scoreless first period, Bolich turned Hrymack for a pair of four point near falls in the second and nearly pinned the Scarlet Knight before settling for a ride out and an 8-0 lead. He added a third period takedown and riding time to win 11-0.
The dual came down to the match between No. 14 Wessell and No. 13 Smith. Through seven minutes, the score was tied 1-1 with Wessell failing to score on two quality single leg shots and Smith unable to finish his best shot in the third period. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Smith was down in the first half of the tiebreaker and hit an early standing reversal before riding out the first half of the tiebreaker. Wessell escaped in his half of the tiebreaker but couldn't score a takedown or pick up a tying point as Smith prevailed 3-2.
"You can't give up a reversal there, but otherwise (Max) did a really good job the whole match," Santoro said. "He controlled the match. I thought he out hand-fought (Smith). Both heavyweights fought hard. It was good to see some athletic heavyweights going out there and trying to score points with a lot on the line. Max is going to learn from that. He gets better every week."
Rutgers picked up just its third ever win against Lehigh, which now leads the all-time series 42-3.
"It's a tough one to swallow because it's the last match and you want to go out with a win,: Santoro. "This was a good wakeup call for our guys. This is what we have to do when we get to the postseason, dominate on top and bottom."
The Mountain Hawks will now shift focus to the 112th EIWA Championships, March 5-6 at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.
No. 13 Rutgers 18, No. 7 Lehigh 15
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Sean McCabe (Rutgers) 15-7
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) major dec. Josh Patrick (Rutgers) 19-7
141 – Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh) 9-2
149 – Tyson Dippery (Rutgers) dec. Ian Brown (Lehigh) 6-0
157 – Richie Lewis (Rutgers) dec. Drew Longo (Lehigh) 12-7
165 – Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) 8-5
174 – Phil Bakuckas (Rutgers) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 9-2
184 – Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) dec. Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) 3-2
197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) major dec. Hayden Hrymack (Rutgers) 11-0
285 – Billy Smith (Rutgers) dec. Max Wessell (Lehigh) 3-2, tb
Attendance – 1,855
Officials – Mike Millward and Nathan Chatman
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
149/157
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
174
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