Thursday, March 21
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12:00 PM

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NCAA Championships

Jake Jakobsen 1473

Lehigh advances five in championship bracket after session 1 of NCAA Championships

3/21/2019 4:19:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

PITTSBURGH – Five Lehigh wrestlers advanced in the championship bracket during session one of the NCAA Championships Thursday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena. All four Mountain Hawks who were seeded higher won their matches as did sophomore Jake Jakobsen, whose third meeting with Cornell's Ben Honis this season proved to be a charm. Jakobsen erased an early 3-0 deficit to win 8-5 and move into Thursday night's round of 16.
 
Lehigh went 5-3 in session one and finished with eight points, good for 11th place.
 
Jakobsen is the No. 24 seed at 197 and fell behind No. 9 seed Honis 3-0 before scoring a second period takedown and using a cradle for the go-ahead four point near fall. He gave up a takedown in the third but held on to win in his NCAA debut. He will next face No. 8 seed Nathan Traxler of Stanford.
 
EIWA champion Josh Humphreys was a winner in his debut. Humphreys won a battle of true freshmen over Justin Ruffin of SIU-Edwardsville 6-0 after using a cradle for a takedown and two point near fall in the final seconds of the first period and adding a second takedown late in the third. He will next face Christian Pagdilao of Arizona State, who he beat 6-1 at Grace Hall in late January.
 
It took just six bouts for Lehigh to surpass its team bonus point total from last year's tournament. Returning All-American Jordan Kutler opened his tournament with a 10-2 major decision over Jacob Oliver of Edinboro at 174. Kutler will next face Matt Finesilver of Duke. Senior Ryan Preisch led Purdue's Max Lyon 2-1 after one period then used a strong half nelson for near fall points in the second before turning the Boilermaker for the fall at 4:04. Next up for Preisch is Taylor Venz of Nebraska in an 8-9 matchup at 184.
 
Sophomore Jordan Wood capped the session with a 6-4 decision over Colton McKiernan of SIU-Edwardsville. Wood scored takedowns in each of the first two periods, but survived a third period where he gave up a takedown and had to escape to avoid a potential overtime. He will next face Missouri's Zach Elam in the round of 16. Wood beat Elam 2-0 at the South Beach Duals in late December.
 
The first Mountain Hawk on the mats was sophomore Brandon Paetzell, who dropped an 11-0 major decision to Austin Gomez of Iowa State. Paetzell will wrestle in the consolations at 144 against Gary Joint of Fresno State.
 
Senior Cortlandt Schuyler ran into the No. 9 seed Justin Oliver of NC State at 149 and despite takedowns in the first and third periods, dropped a 10-6 decision. Schuyler will meet Russell Rohlfing of Cal State Bakersfield in his first consolation match.
 
After a major decision loss earlier in the season, senior Gordon Wolf narrowed the gap against Missouri's Connor Flynn, but dropped a 5-4 decision at 165. Wolf will face Evan Delong of Clarion in the consolations.
 
Three-time defending national champion Penn State went 9-for-9 in session one and leads Ohio State 21-15.5 after the first session. Oklahoma State is third with 14.5 points.
 
The NCAA Championships continue Thursday evening with the championship round of 16 and first round consolations, beginning at 7 p.m. The session will be televised on ESPN and streamed online via ESPN3/the ESPN app, while audio coverage for all Lehigh matches will be available at Lehighsports.com/watch.
 
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 
133 – No. 20 Brandon Paetzell
Round of 32: L by major dec. No. 13 Austin Gomez (Iowa State) 11-0
First round consolation: No. 29 Gary Joint (Fresno State)
 
149 – No. 24 Cortlandt Schuyler
Round of 32: L by dec. No. 9 Justin Oliver (NC State) 10-6
First round consolation: No. 25 Russell Rohlfing (CSUB)
 
157 – No. 8 Josh Humphreys
Round of 32: dec. No. 25 Justin Ruffin (SIUE) 6-0
Round of 16: No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State)
 
165 – No. 18 Gordon Wolf
Round of 32: L by dec. No. 15 Connor Flynn (Missouri) 5-4
First round consolation: No. 31 Evan Delong (Clarion)
 
174 – No. 5 Jordan Kutler
Round of 32: major dec. No. 28 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) 10-2
Round of 16: No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke)
 
184 – No. 8 Ryan Preisch
Round of 32: Fall No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue) 4:04
Round of 16: No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska)
 
197 – No. 24 Jake Jakobsen
Round of 32: dec. No. 9 Ben Honis (Cornell) 8-5
Round of 16: No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford)
 
285 – No. 4 Jordan Wood
Round of 32: dec. No. 29 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) 6-4
Round of 16: No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri)
 
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