Sunday, March 6
Princeton, N.J.
10:00 AM
Lehigh University
at
EIWA Championships
Darian Cruz and Max Wessell claim titles as Lehigh finishes second at EIWAs
3/6/2016 7:26:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Final Results | Saturday Recap
PRINCETON, N.J. – The bookends of Lehigh's lineup, sophomore Darian Cruz and senior Max Wessell are close friends and roommates on the road.
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On Sunday, both Mountain Hawks captured individual EIWA championships to lead Lehigh to a second place finish as the 112th EIWA Championships wrapped-up Sunday at Princeton's Jadwin Gym. Both EIWA Champions had to get over the hump against Bucknell wrestlers in the finals and both were successful. Cruz defeated Paul Petrov 2-1 at 125 thanks to 1:05 riding time advantage for his first win in four tries against the Bison wrestler. Wessell was leading 2-1 against Bucknell's Joe Stolfi at 285 when Stolfi injured his shoulder on a mat return and was unable to continue.
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Wessell's injury default win gave Lehigh a final total of 160 points, the most for the Mountain Hawks in eight seasons under Pat Santoro, who was named EIWA Coach of the Year for the third time. Cruz and Wessell's titles give Lehigh wrestlers 207 career EIWA championships. The Mountain Hawks extended their streak of consecutive seasons with at least one individual EIWA Champion to 17.
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Lehigh placed all 10 wrestlers, with eight finishing in the top four. The Mountain Hawks qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
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"It was a tournament with a lot of ups and downs," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We wanted to win more on the front side but we won a ton on the back side, which shows the heart and the character of this team. I'm proud of the way we wrestled. Obviously, we needed to put more in the finals if we're going to win this thing. These guys had a rough two weeks of testing coming into this. They didn't let it bother them, they just wrestled.
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"The biggest goal coming into this tournament was getting all 10 into the NCAAs," Santoro continued. "We have nine now and we have a decent shot of getting 10 which would be a first for us."
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In his finals match, Cruz opened the scoring with a second period escape and then used a strong ride in the third period, building up over a minute of riding time before granting Petrov an escape. Petrov was unable to score in the final seconds, giving Cruz his first EIWA title.
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Cruz outlasted David Terao of American 4-3 in the tiebreaker in the semifinals to advance to the final. The match was tied 2-2 with Cruz bidding to ride out the third period before a wild final sequence where Terao was originally given a reversal at the buzzer that was changed to an escape. Riding time for Cruz sent the match to overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Cruz rode out the first half of the tiebreaker and escaped to win 4-3.
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Wessell and Stolfi closed out the tournament with their match at 285. Stolfi led 1-0 after two periods thanks to a second period escape. Wessell chose neutral in the third and picked up a takedown when he ended up on top after a throw to go in front 2-1. Stolfi got to his feet and was returned to the mat when he landed hard on his shoulder. After exhausting all of his injury time, Stolfi had to default at 5:32 giving Wessell the title. In the semifinals, Wessell downed Hofstra's Mike Hughes 7-2.
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"It's the first wins for both of them (against Petrov and Stolfi)," Santoro said of Cruz and Wessell. "They both train hard and have been doing the right things and it has paid off. They're getting better as they move on."
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Lehigh's third finalist was senior Mason Beckman, who advanced to his third straight EIWA final at 133 with a dominant 12-4 major decision over Navy's Zack Davis. In the finals, Beckman ran into Fletcher Trophy (Career team points scored) and Coaches' Trophy (Outstanding Wrestler) winner Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, who handed Beckman a 12-1 major decision.
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Three other Mountain Hawks fell in semifinal action. Junior Randy Cruz was denied in his bid to become a three-time EIWA Champion. Cruz was scoreless in the third period with Harvard's Todd Preston at 141 when Preston turned Cruz for a four point near fall. Cruz was able to reverse but ran out of time and fell 4-2. After a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Navy's Nic Gil in the consolation semifinals, Cruz claimed third place with an 8-0 major decision over Jamel Hudson of Hofstra.
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At 165, freshman Ryan Preisch dropped a 9-3 decision to eventual champion Devon Gobbo of Harvard. He came back to blank Army West Point's Andrew Mendel 6-0 in the consolation semifinals and was awarded a medical forfeit to finish third.
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Senior Nathaniel Brown settled for fourth place at 184. Brown was upset by Navy's Mathew Miller in the semifinals, 7-1 in the tiebreaker after giving up a reversal and then a late four point near fall. A 10-4 win over Binghamton's Steve Schneider got Brown into the third place match but a third period reversal gave Penn's Lorenzo Thomas a 2-1 victory, the first for Thomas in three tries against Brown this season.
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Junior Laike Gardner was the third Mountain Hawk to claim third place, going 3-0 on the backside of the bracket on Sunday. Brown opened with a 5-1 win over Princeton's Mike D'Angelo then routed American's
Thomas Page in a 17-2 technical fall in the consolation semifinals. For third place, Gardner met Bucknell's Victor Lopez, who beat Gardner in Saturday's quarterfinals. Â Gardner scored two second period takedowns, but a late Lopez score sent the match to overtime tied 5-5. Gardner escaped in his half and then rode out Lopez to win 6-5.
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Lehigh's other fourth place finisher was senior John Bolich, who pinned Navy's Michael Woulfe in the consolation quarterfinals and then got a medical forfeit win in the consolation semifinals. Bolich fell 12-6 to Cornell's Owen Scott in the third place match.
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The Mountain Hawks' lone fifth place finisher was freshman Gordon Wolf, who secured NCAA qualification with a second period pin over Drexel's Nick Elmer, in a match Wolf was leading 10-5. Wolf was pinned by Bucknell's Rustin Barrick in the consolation semifinals but won by medical forfeit to claim fifth place.
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"Gordon brings so much energy to this team," Santoro said. "He gets better every single week and does everything right. All the little things right. He was a 157-pounder the first tournament of the year and now he's earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament (at 174). That says a lot about who he is."
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Freshman Ian Brown is the only Mountain Hawk to not earn automatic qualification for the NCAA Championships. The EIWA sent the top six at 157 and the sixth-seeded Brown finished seventh. Brown dropped a 17-4 major decision to Army West Point's Russell Parsons in the consolation quarterfinals but came back to beat Princeton's Adam Krop 9-4 in the seventh place match.
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Cornell crowned four individual champions to claim its 10th straight team title with 170.5 points. Lehigh finished 76 points ahead of third place Bucknell (84 points) with Army West Point (73.5) and Princeton (71.5) rounding out the top five.
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Lehigh's nine automatic qualifiers will now move on to the NCAA Championships, March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ian Brown will find out if he becomes the tenth Lehigh qualifier when at-large selections and brackets for the NCAA Championships will be announced Wednesday.
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125 – No. 2 Darian Cruz – 1st place
Semifinals: dec. No. 3 David Terao (American) 4-3, tb
Finals: dec. No. 1 Paul Petrov (Bucknell) 2-1
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133 – No. 2 Mason Beckman – 2nd place
Semifinals: major dec. No. 7 Zack Davis (Navy) 12-4
Finals: L by major dec. No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 12-1
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141 – No. 3 Randy Cruz – 3rd place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 2 Todd Preston (Harvard) 4-2
Consolation semifinals: dec. No. 7 Nic Gil (Navy) 6-4
Third place match: major dec. Jamel Hudson (Hofstra) 8-0
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149 – No. 3 Laike Gardner – 3rd place
Third round consolations: dec. No. 8 Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) 5-1
Consolation semifinals: tech fall Thomas Page (American) 17-2, 7:00
Third place match: dec. No. 6 Victor Lopez (Bucknell) 6-5, tb
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157 – No. 6 Ian Brown – 7th place
Third round consolations: L by major dec. No. 7 Russell Parsons (Army) 17-4
Seventh place match: dec. No. 8 Adam Krop (Princeton) 9-4
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165 – No. 2 Ryan Preisch – 3rd place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 3 Devin Gobbo (Harvard) 9-3
Consolation semifinals: dec. Andrew Mendel (Army) 6-0
Third place match: W by medical forfeit No. 4 Tyrel White (Columbia)
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174 – Gordon Wolf – 5th place
Third round consolations: Fall Nick Elmer (Drexel) 4:47
Consolation semifinals: L by fall No. 7 Rustin Barrick (Bucknell) 0:53
Fifth place match: W by medical forfeit No. 8 Josef Johnson (Harvard)
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184 – No. 2 Nathaniel Brown – 4th place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 3 Mathew Miller (Navy) 7-1, tb
Consolation semifinals: dec. No. 5 Steve Schneider (Binghamton) 10-4
Third place match: L by dec. No. 4 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn)
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197 – No. 2 John Bolich – 4th place
Third round consolations: Fall No. 3 Michael Woulfe (Navy) 3:56
Consolation semifinals: W by medical forfeit No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn)
Third place match: L by dec.No. 4 Owen Scott (Cornell) 12-6
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285 – No. 2 Max Wessell
Semifinals: dec. No. 3 Mike Hughes (Hofstra) 7-2
Finals: W by inj, default No. 1 Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) 5:32
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The bookends of Lehigh's lineup, sophomore Darian Cruz and senior Max Wessell are close friends and roommates on the road.
Â
On Sunday, both Mountain Hawks captured individual EIWA championships to lead Lehigh to a second place finish as the 112th EIWA Championships wrapped-up Sunday at Princeton's Jadwin Gym. Both EIWA Champions had to get over the hump against Bucknell wrestlers in the finals and both were successful. Cruz defeated Paul Petrov 2-1 at 125 thanks to 1:05 riding time advantage for his first win in four tries against the Bison wrestler. Wessell was leading 2-1 against Bucknell's Joe Stolfi at 285 when Stolfi injured his shoulder on a mat return and was unable to continue.
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Wessell's injury default win gave Lehigh a final total of 160 points, the most for the Mountain Hawks in eight seasons under Pat Santoro, who was named EIWA Coach of the Year for the third time. Cruz and Wessell's titles give Lehigh wrestlers 207 career EIWA championships. The Mountain Hawks extended their streak of consecutive seasons with at least one individual EIWA Champion to 17.
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Lehigh placed all 10 wrestlers, with eight finishing in the top four. The Mountain Hawks qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships.
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"It was a tournament with a lot of ups and downs," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We wanted to win more on the front side but we won a ton on the back side, which shows the heart and the character of this team. I'm proud of the way we wrestled. Obviously, we needed to put more in the finals if we're going to win this thing. These guys had a rough two weeks of testing coming into this. They didn't let it bother them, they just wrestled.
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"The biggest goal coming into this tournament was getting all 10 into the NCAAs," Santoro continued. "We have nine now and we have a decent shot of getting 10 which would be a first for us."
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In his finals match, Cruz opened the scoring with a second period escape and then used a strong ride in the third period, building up over a minute of riding time before granting Petrov an escape. Petrov was unable to score in the final seconds, giving Cruz his first EIWA title.
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Cruz outlasted David Terao of American 4-3 in the tiebreaker in the semifinals to advance to the final. The match was tied 2-2 with Cruz bidding to ride out the third period before a wild final sequence where Terao was originally given a reversal at the buzzer that was changed to an escape. Riding time for Cruz sent the match to overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Cruz rode out the first half of the tiebreaker and escaped to win 4-3.
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Wessell and Stolfi closed out the tournament with their match at 285. Stolfi led 1-0 after two periods thanks to a second period escape. Wessell chose neutral in the third and picked up a takedown when he ended up on top after a throw to go in front 2-1. Stolfi got to his feet and was returned to the mat when he landed hard on his shoulder. After exhausting all of his injury time, Stolfi had to default at 5:32 giving Wessell the title. In the semifinals, Wessell downed Hofstra's Mike Hughes 7-2.
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"It's the first wins for both of them (against Petrov and Stolfi)," Santoro said of Cruz and Wessell. "They both train hard and have been doing the right things and it has paid off. They're getting better as they move on."
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Lehigh's third finalist was senior Mason Beckman, who advanced to his third straight EIWA final at 133 with a dominant 12-4 major decision over Navy's Zack Davis. In the finals, Beckman ran into Fletcher Trophy (Career team points scored) and Coaches' Trophy (Outstanding Wrestler) winner Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, who handed Beckman a 12-1 major decision.
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Three other Mountain Hawks fell in semifinal action. Junior Randy Cruz was denied in his bid to become a three-time EIWA Champion. Cruz was scoreless in the third period with Harvard's Todd Preston at 141 when Preston turned Cruz for a four point near fall. Cruz was able to reverse but ran out of time and fell 4-2. After a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Navy's Nic Gil in the consolation semifinals, Cruz claimed third place with an 8-0 major decision over Jamel Hudson of Hofstra.
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At 165, freshman Ryan Preisch dropped a 9-3 decision to eventual champion Devon Gobbo of Harvard. He came back to blank Army West Point's Andrew Mendel 6-0 in the consolation semifinals and was awarded a medical forfeit to finish third.
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Senior Nathaniel Brown settled for fourth place at 184. Brown was upset by Navy's Mathew Miller in the semifinals, 7-1 in the tiebreaker after giving up a reversal and then a late four point near fall. A 10-4 win over Binghamton's Steve Schneider got Brown into the third place match but a third period reversal gave Penn's Lorenzo Thomas a 2-1 victory, the first for Thomas in three tries against Brown this season.
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Junior Laike Gardner was the third Mountain Hawk to claim third place, going 3-0 on the backside of the bracket on Sunday. Brown opened with a 5-1 win over Princeton's Mike D'Angelo then routed American's
Thomas Page in a 17-2 technical fall in the consolation semifinals. For third place, Gardner met Bucknell's Victor Lopez, who beat Gardner in Saturday's quarterfinals. Â Gardner scored two second period takedowns, but a late Lopez score sent the match to overtime tied 5-5. Gardner escaped in his half and then rode out Lopez to win 6-5.
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Lehigh's other fourth place finisher was senior John Bolich, who pinned Navy's Michael Woulfe in the consolation quarterfinals and then got a medical forfeit win in the consolation semifinals. Bolich fell 12-6 to Cornell's Owen Scott in the third place match.
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The Mountain Hawks' lone fifth place finisher was freshman Gordon Wolf, who secured NCAA qualification with a second period pin over Drexel's Nick Elmer, in a match Wolf was leading 10-5. Wolf was pinned by Bucknell's Rustin Barrick in the consolation semifinals but won by medical forfeit to claim fifth place.
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"Gordon brings so much energy to this team," Santoro said. "He gets better every single week and does everything right. All the little things right. He was a 157-pounder the first tournament of the year and now he's earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament (at 174). That says a lot about who he is."
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Freshman Ian Brown is the only Mountain Hawk to not earn automatic qualification for the NCAA Championships. The EIWA sent the top six at 157 and the sixth-seeded Brown finished seventh. Brown dropped a 17-4 major decision to Army West Point's Russell Parsons in the consolation quarterfinals but came back to beat Princeton's Adam Krop 9-4 in the seventh place match.
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Cornell crowned four individual champions to claim its 10th straight team title with 170.5 points. Lehigh finished 76 points ahead of third place Bucknell (84 points) with Army West Point (73.5) and Princeton (71.5) rounding out the top five.
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Lehigh's nine automatic qualifiers will now move on to the NCAA Championships, March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ian Brown will find out if he becomes the tenth Lehigh qualifier when at-large selections and brackets for the NCAA Championships will be announced Wednesday.
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125 – No. 2 Darian Cruz – 1st place
Semifinals: dec. No. 3 David Terao (American) 4-3, tb
Finals: dec. No. 1 Paul Petrov (Bucknell) 2-1
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133 – No. 2 Mason Beckman – 2nd place
Semifinals: major dec. No. 7 Zack Davis (Navy) 12-4
Finals: L by major dec. No. 1 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 12-1
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141 – No. 3 Randy Cruz – 3rd place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 2 Todd Preston (Harvard) 4-2
Consolation semifinals: dec. No. 7 Nic Gil (Navy) 6-4
Third place match: major dec. Jamel Hudson (Hofstra) 8-0
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149 – No. 3 Laike Gardner – 3rd place
Third round consolations: dec. No. 8 Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) 5-1
Consolation semifinals: tech fall Thomas Page (American) 17-2, 7:00
Third place match: dec. No. 6 Victor Lopez (Bucknell) 6-5, tb
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157 – No. 6 Ian Brown – 7th place
Third round consolations: L by major dec. No. 7 Russell Parsons (Army) 17-4
Seventh place match: dec. No. 8 Adam Krop (Princeton) 9-4
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165 – No. 2 Ryan Preisch – 3rd place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 3 Devin Gobbo (Harvard) 9-3
Consolation semifinals: dec. Andrew Mendel (Army) 6-0
Third place match: W by medical forfeit No. 4 Tyrel White (Columbia)
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174 – Gordon Wolf – 5th place
Third round consolations: Fall Nick Elmer (Drexel) 4:47
Consolation semifinals: L by fall No. 7 Rustin Barrick (Bucknell) 0:53
Fifth place match: W by medical forfeit No. 8 Josef Johnson (Harvard)
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184 – No. 2 Nathaniel Brown – 4th place
Semifinals: L by dec. No. 3 Mathew Miller (Navy) 7-1, tb
Consolation semifinals: dec. No. 5 Steve Schneider (Binghamton) 10-4
Third place match: L by dec. No. 4 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn)
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197 – No. 2 John Bolich – 4th place
Third round consolations: Fall No. 3 Michael Woulfe (Navy) 3:56
Consolation semifinals: W by medical forfeit No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn)
Third place match: L by dec.No. 4 Owen Scott (Cornell) 12-6
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285 – No. 2 Max Wessell
Semifinals: dec. No. 3 Mike Hughes (Hofstra) 7-2
Finals: W by inj, default No. 1 Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) 5:32
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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
165
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
174
/ Men's WrestlingLehigh Sports Central: Wrestling
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Wednesday, October 30
