Friday, March 18
New York, N.Y.
8:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
NCAA Championships
Lehigh crowns three All-Americans Friday night at Madison Square Garden
3/18/2016 11:42:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Brackets | Team Scores | Session 3 recap | Lehigh audio
NEW YORK – For the third straight year the Lehigh wrestling program will have three All-Americans as the Mountain Hawks shook off a tough start to the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships to win their final three All-America round matches Friday at Madison Square Garden. Junior Randy Cruz got the ball rolling with a win over Micah Jordan at 141 to earn his first All-America honor and seniors Nathaniel Brown followed with one-point victories at 184 and 285, respectively to join Cruz on the podium.
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All three Lehigh All-Americans dropped consolation quarterfinal matches on Friday and will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks finished the second day of competition in 12th place with 30 points.(3/18/2016) Wrestling at NCAA Championships, 3/1//16
"We put ourselves in a big hole last night but the guys battled hard today," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We had five guys in the All-American round and three got through. It was a good day. These guys are tired. They fought hard and they did it the hard way. They dug themselves a big hole and dug out of it. I'm proud of the way they fought and they wrestled. You want to be in the championship bracket but these guys showed a lot of fight today."
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After losing in the round of 12 last year, Cruz was able to rally for a 6-2 decision over the highly-touted Ohio State freshman. Jordan scored a first period takedown and led 2-1 after one period. He chose down to begin the second period and Cruz proceeded to use a strong ride to ride out the period, while also turning Jordan for a four point near fall to take a 5-2 lead. Cruz chose top in the third and rode out Jordan to win 6-2 with the riding time point.
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"He lost a heartbreaker last year and wasn't going to let it slip," Santoro said of Cruz. "He just did a nice job and was really solid the whole tournament. He just got better each round."
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In the consolation quarterfinals, Cruz dropped a 7-0 decision to Virginia Tech's Solomon Chishko. He will wrestle North Carolina's Joey Ward for seventh place.
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Brown became a two-time All-American with a 1:03 riding time advantage the difference in a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech's Zach Zavatsky. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods for the only other scoring.
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The 39th Lehigh wrestler to earn multiple All-America honors, Brown held a 4-3 lead early in the third period of his consolation quarterfinal against Nolan Boyd before Boyd answered with a takedown and then rode out Brown to win 6-4. Brown will wrestle No. 2 seed Sammy Brooks of Iowa for seventh place on Saturday.
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"He was on the stage last year and a lot of guys fold when they get knocked off early," Santoro said. "He didn't do that. He knew what he had to do. He did it for his teammates and because he wrestles hard all the time. That's what he came here to do. He's going to finish strong tomorrow."
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Wessell capped his Lehigh career with his first All-American medal, converting a late third period takedown to beat Billy Smith of Rutgers 3-2. It was the first win in three tries for Wessell versus Smith. Wessell broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown with 15 seconds remaining and quickly cut Smith loose before he had a chance to reverse.
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"Max had that injury last year but he does everything right," Santoro said. "If there's anyone who earned it and deserves this it's Max. I'm really happy for him."
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The sixth-year senior also fell in the consolation quarterfinals, as he dropped an 8-2 decision to Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Wessell will wrestle Minnesota's Michael Kroells in the seventh place match. Wessell is 2-1 versus Kroells this season, including a 15-7 major decision in the round of 16 on Thursday.
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Lehigh wrestlers have now won 145 All-America medals to rank eighth among Division I programs. With Randy Cruz joining his brother Darian Cruz as an All-American, they became the third set of brothers to earn All-America honors for the brown and white, joining Mike and Mark Lieberman in the 1970s and Dick and Ben Bishop in the 1930s.
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Darian Cruz came up short in his bid to become a two-time All-American, dropping a 4-2, sudden victory decision to Oklahoma's Ryan Millhof at 125. Cruz opened the scoring with a takedown but Millhof was able to ride Cruz out in the third period to send the match to sudden victory, where Millhof secured the winning takedown. The EIWA Champion at 125 finishes his sophomore campaign at 31-7.
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Senior Mason Beckman came up one point short in his bid to become a three-time All-American. Beckman looked to wrestle back from a first round loss to reach the podium for the second straight year, but fell 5-4 to Penn State's Jordan Conaway at 133. Conway scored in the first period and Beckman answered with a takedown in the second to lead 3-2 after two. The third began with Conaway escaping to tie the match as Beckman went over a minute riding time, but Conaway went in front with a takedown. Beckman escaped quickly to get back within one, but finished with 59 seconds of riding time. Beckman got on Conaway's leg late but couldn't finish the potential go-ahead takedown. Beckman's finishes his career as a two-time All-American and four-time qualifier with a 104-37 career record. His 104 wins are tied for 11th on Lehigh's career wins list.
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The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday with two more sessions of wrestling. Session five, featuring the consolation semifinals and medal matches for third, fifth and seventh begins at 11 a.m. and will be televised on ESPNU with streaming video coverage on ESPN3. Audio of Lehigh's three seventh place bouts will be available for free on Lehighsports.com.
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The final session, featuring the ten championship bouts, will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
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125 – No. 7 Darian Cruz
Rd. of 32: major dec. Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin) 11-3
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 10 Connor Schram (Stanford) 3-1
Second round consolation: major dec. Drew Templeman (Wyoming) 13-5
Third round consolation: dec. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) 2-1, tb
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. No. 5 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma) 4-2, sv
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133 – Mason Beckman
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 10-3
First round consolation: major dec. No. 16 Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers) 13-3
Second round consolation: major dec. No. 15 Josh Alber (UNI) 14-2
Third round consolation: dec. Josh Martinez (Air Force) 7-3
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. No. 5 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) 5-4
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141 – No. 16 Randy Cruz
Rd. of 32: dec. Jordan Laster (Princeton) 3-0
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma St.) 4-1
Second round consolation: Fall Tyler Smith (Bucknell) 2:31
Third round consolation: dec. No. 9 Ricky Durso (F&M) 4-0
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 6 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 6-2
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 7 Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) 7-0
Seventh place match: vs. No. 8 Joey Ward (North Carolina)
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184 – No. 10 Nathaniel Brown
Rd. of 32: dec. Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) 7-4
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 7 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) 7-3
Second round consolation: major dec. Alex Utley (North Carolina) 15-4
Third round consolation: dec. Jack Dechow (ODU) 2-1
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 5 Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 2-1
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 8 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) 6-4
Seventh place match: vs. No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)
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285 – No. 8 Max Wessell
Rd. of 32: dec. Mike Hughes (Hofstra) 6-3
Rd. of 16: major dec. No. 9 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) 15-7
Quarterfinals: L by major dec. No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 9-1
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 12 Billy Smith (Rutgers) 3-2
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 4 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State) 8-2
Seventh place match: vs. No. 9 Michael Kroells (Minnesota)
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NEW YORK – For the third straight year the Lehigh wrestling program will have three All-Americans as the Mountain Hawks shook off a tough start to the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships to win their final three All-America round matches Friday at Madison Square Garden. Junior Randy Cruz got the ball rolling with a win over Micah Jordan at 141 to earn his first All-America honor and seniors Nathaniel Brown followed with one-point victories at 184 and 285, respectively to join Cruz on the podium.
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All three Lehigh All-Americans dropped consolation quarterfinal matches on Friday and will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks finished the second day of competition in 12th place with 30 points.
"We put ourselves in a big hole last night but the guys battled hard today," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We had five guys in the All-American round and three got through. It was a good day. These guys are tired. They fought hard and they did it the hard way. They dug themselves a big hole and dug out of it. I'm proud of the way they fought and they wrestled. You want to be in the championship bracket but these guys showed a lot of fight today."
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After losing in the round of 12 last year, Cruz was able to rally for a 6-2 decision over the highly-touted Ohio State freshman. Jordan scored a first period takedown and led 2-1 after one period. He chose down to begin the second period and Cruz proceeded to use a strong ride to ride out the period, while also turning Jordan for a four point near fall to take a 5-2 lead. Cruz chose top in the third and rode out Jordan to win 6-2 with the riding time point.
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"He lost a heartbreaker last year and wasn't going to let it slip," Santoro said of Cruz. "He just did a nice job and was really solid the whole tournament. He just got better each round."
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In the consolation quarterfinals, Cruz dropped a 7-0 decision to Virginia Tech's Solomon Chishko. He will wrestle North Carolina's Joey Ward for seventh place.
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Brown became a two-time All-American with a 1:03 riding time advantage the difference in a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech's Zach Zavatsky. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods for the only other scoring.
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The 39th Lehigh wrestler to earn multiple All-America honors, Brown held a 4-3 lead early in the third period of his consolation quarterfinal against Nolan Boyd before Boyd answered with a takedown and then rode out Brown to win 6-4. Brown will wrestle No. 2 seed Sammy Brooks of Iowa for seventh place on Saturday.
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"He was on the stage last year and a lot of guys fold when they get knocked off early," Santoro said. "He didn't do that. He knew what he had to do. He did it for his teammates and because he wrestles hard all the time. That's what he came here to do. He's going to finish strong tomorrow."
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Wessell capped his Lehigh career with his first All-American medal, converting a late third period takedown to beat Billy Smith of Rutgers 3-2. It was the first win in three tries for Wessell versus Smith. Wessell broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown with 15 seconds remaining and quickly cut Smith loose before he had a chance to reverse.
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"Max had that injury last year but he does everything right," Santoro said. "If there's anyone who earned it and deserves this it's Max. I'm really happy for him."
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The sixth-year senior also fell in the consolation quarterfinals, as he dropped an 8-2 decision to Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Wessell will wrestle Minnesota's Michael Kroells in the seventh place match. Wessell is 2-1 versus Kroells this season, including a 15-7 major decision in the round of 16 on Thursday.
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Lehigh wrestlers have now won 145 All-America medals to rank eighth among Division I programs. With Randy Cruz joining his brother Darian Cruz as an All-American, they became the third set of brothers to earn All-America honors for the brown and white, joining Mike and Mark Lieberman in the 1970s and Dick and Ben Bishop in the 1930s.
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Darian Cruz came up short in his bid to become a two-time All-American, dropping a 4-2, sudden victory decision to Oklahoma's Ryan Millhof at 125. Cruz opened the scoring with a takedown but Millhof was able to ride Cruz out in the third period to send the match to sudden victory, where Millhof secured the winning takedown. The EIWA Champion at 125 finishes his sophomore campaign at 31-7.
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Senior Mason Beckman came up one point short in his bid to become a three-time All-American. Beckman looked to wrestle back from a first round loss to reach the podium for the second straight year, but fell 5-4 to Penn State's Jordan Conaway at 133. Conway scored in the first period and Beckman answered with a takedown in the second to lead 3-2 after two. The third began with Conaway escaping to tie the match as Beckman went over a minute riding time, but Conaway went in front with a takedown. Beckman escaped quickly to get back within one, but finished with 59 seconds of riding time. Beckman got on Conaway's leg late but couldn't finish the potential go-ahead takedown. Beckman's finishes his career as a two-time All-American and four-time qualifier with a 104-37 career record. His 104 wins are tied for 11th on Lehigh's career wins list.
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The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday with two more sessions of wrestling. Session five, featuring the consolation semifinals and medal matches for third, fifth and seventh begins at 11 a.m. and will be televised on ESPNU with streaming video coverage on ESPN3. Audio of Lehigh's three seventh place bouts will be available for free on Lehighsports.com.
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The final session, featuring the ten championship bouts, will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
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125 – No. 7 Darian Cruz
Rd. of 32: major dec. Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin) 11-3
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 10 Connor Schram (Stanford) 3-1
Second round consolation: major dec. Drew Templeman (Wyoming) 13-5
Third round consolation: dec. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) 2-1, tb
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. No. 5 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma) 4-2, sv
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133 – Mason Beckman
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 10-3
First round consolation: major dec. No. 16 Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers) 13-3
Second round consolation: major dec. No. 15 Josh Alber (UNI) 14-2
Third round consolation: dec. Josh Martinez (Air Force) 7-3
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. No. 5 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) 5-4
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141 – No. 16 Randy Cruz
Rd. of 32: dec. Jordan Laster (Princeton) 3-0
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma St.) 4-1
Second round consolation: Fall Tyler Smith (Bucknell) 2:31
Third round consolation: dec. No. 9 Ricky Durso (F&M) 4-0
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 6 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 6-2
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 7 Solomon Chishko (Virginia Tech) 7-0
Seventh place match: vs. No. 8 Joey Ward (North Carolina)
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184 – No. 10 Nathaniel Brown
Rd. of 32: dec. Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) 7-4
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 7 TJ Dudley (Nebraska) 7-3
Second round consolation: major dec. Alex Utley (North Carolina) 15-4
Third round consolation: dec. Jack Dechow (ODU) 2-1
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 5 Zach Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) 2-1
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 8 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) 6-4
Seventh place match: vs. No. 2 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)
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285 – No. 8 Max Wessell
Rd. of 32: dec. Mike Hughes (Hofstra) 6-3
Rd. of 16: major dec. No. 9 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) 15-7
Quarterfinals: L by major dec. No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 9-1
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 12 Billy Smith (Rutgers) 3-2
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 4 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State) 8-2
Seventh place match: vs. No. 9 Michael Kroells (Minnesota)
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Players Mentioned
133
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
285
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