Saturday, March 23
Pittsburgh, Pa.
11:00 AM
Lehigh University
at
NCAA Championships
Three Lehigh All-Americans finish up at NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh
3/23/2019 3:33:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
PITTSBURGH – Lehigh wrestling's three All-Americans wrapped up their seasons Saturday afternoon in the medal round of the NCAA Championships at PPG Paints Arena. Junior Jordan Kutler won his only bout to earn seventh place at 174, while senior Ryan Preisch and sophomore Jordan Wood won consolation semifinals at 184 and 285, respectively but both wrestlers had to settle for fourth place after dropping third place bouts.
The Mountain Hawks finished the championship with 40.5 points and enter Saturday night's finals session in 12th place.
Kutler battled through an injury that affected him in Friday night's consolation quarterfinal loss to Virginia Tech's David McFadden, coming back to top Devin Skatzka 5-1 to claim seventh place. Kutler scored a first period takedown, rode out the second period and then reversed early in the third, racking up 4:22 of riding time advantage. He is now a two-time All-American, who finishes his junior campaign at 25-6.
"Jordan showed great toughness," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "He hurt his ankle last night and it really hurt him in the match. He regrouped today. He knew he had to win it on top and he did. He's just a tough kid. It was really good to see."
Preisch earned a spot in the third place match with a 3-0 decision over Chip Ness of North Carolina. He earned a third period escape and then sealed the win with a takedown.
"On day three everybody's hurt and everybody's tired," Santoro said. "Ryan had a guy who wrestles really hard. Ness is a two time All-American so you knew it was going to be a scrap. Ryan fought hard. He never panicked. He wrestled all three periods and that's how he won."
In the third place bout, Preisch gave up a pair of takedowns to fall 5-3 to top seed Myles Martin of Ohio State. Preisch still managed to place four spots higher than his No. 8 seed. He finishes his senior season 24-5 and as a four-time NCAA qualifier completes his career at 82-25.
Wood scored an early takedown in his consolation semifinal match versus Amar Dhesi of Oregon State. Leading 2-1, he rode out the second period and after Dhesi answered with a takedown in the third, the Lehigh sophomore added a score of his own late to win 7-3. In the third place match, No. 3 seed Gable Steveson scored an early first period takedown and added a second period escape plus riding time to win 4-1. Wood caps his sophomore season with a 25-5 record.
"That's a really good wrestler that Jordan beat," Santoro said of the win over Dhesi. "And Jordan beat him convincingly. Against Steveson, we learned that we need to make some adjustments. We need to get a little stronger. Jordan's willing to do all the work so I feel confident about his future."
The end of session five caps a season in which Lehigh rallied from an 0-7 start to finish with a 9-9 dual record. The Mountain Hawks won their second consecutive EIWA title with Kutler, Wood and freshman Josh Humphreys earning individual EIWA championships.
The Mountain Hawks will say goodbye to 10 seniors, including three 2019 NCAA qualifiers Preisch, Cortlandt Schuyler and Gordon Wolf.
"We had a lot of things go wrong with our team this year, but the resiliency of this group was tremendous," Santoro said. "We weren't sure how they were going to handle things but they came through.
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
174 – No. 5 Jordan Kutler – Seventh place
Round of 32: major dec. No. 28 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) 10-2
Round of 16: dec. No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke) 6-2
Quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) 4-2, sv2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) 6-0
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) 2-0
Seventh place match: dec. No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) 5-1
184 – No. 8 Ryan Preisch - Fourth place
Round of 32: Fall No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue) 4:04
Round of 16: dec. No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 4-3
Quarterfinal: L by major dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) 11-2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 11 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) 3-0
Consolation quarterfinal: dec. No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) 5-3, sv
Consolation semifinal: dec. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) 3-0
Third place match: L by dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) 5-3
285 – No. 4 Jordan Wood – Fourth place
Round of 32: dec. No. 29 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) 6-4
Round of 16: dec. No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) 3-0
Quarterfinal: dec. No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) 2-0
Semifinal: L by dec. No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) 3-1, sv
Consolation semifinal: dec. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) 7-3
Third place match: L by dec. No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 4-0
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
The Mountain Hawks finished the championship with 40.5 points and enter Saturday night's finals session in 12th place.
Kutler battled through an injury that affected him in Friday night's consolation quarterfinal loss to Virginia Tech's David McFadden, coming back to top Devin Skatzka 5-1 to claim seventh place. Kutler scored a first period takedown, rode out the second period and then reversed early in the third, racking up 4:22 of riding time advantage. He is now a two-time All-American, who finishes his junior campaign at 25-6.
"Jordan showed great toughness," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "He hurt his ankle last night and it really hurt him in the match. He regrouped today. He knew he had to win it on top and he did. He's just a tough kid. It was really good to see."
Preisch earned a spot in the third place match with a 3-0 decision over Chip Ness of North Carolina. He earned a third period escape and then sealed the win with a takedown.
"On day three everybody's hurt and everybody's tired," Santoro said. "Ryan had a guy who wrestles really hard. Ness is a two time All-American so you knew it was going to be a scrap. Ryan fought hard. He never panicked. He wrestled all three periods and that's how he won."
In the third place bout, Preisch gave up a pair of takedowns to fall 5-3 to top seed Myles Martin of Ohio State. Preisch still managed to place four spots higher than his No. 8 seed. He finishes his senior season 24-5 and as a four-time NCAA qualifier completes his career at 82-25.
Wood scored an early takedown in his consolation semifinal match versus Amar Dhesi of Oregon State. Leading 2-1, he rode out the second period and after Dhesi answered with a takedown in the third, the Lehigh sophomore added a score of his own late to win 7-3. In the third place match, No. 3 seed Gable Steveson scored an early first period takedown and added a second period escape plus riding time to win 4-1. Wood caps his sophomore season with a 25-5 record.
"That's a really good wrestler that Jordan beat," Santoro said of the win over Dhesi. "And Jordan beat him convincingly. Against Steveson, we learned that we need to make some adjustments. We need to get a little stronger. Jordan's willing to do all the work so I feel confident about his future."
The end of session five caps a season in which Lehigh rallied from an 0-7 start to finish with a 9-9 dual record. The Mountain Hawks won their second consecutive EIWA title with Kutler, Wood and freshman Josh Humphreys earning individual EIWA championships.
The Mountain Hawks will say goodbye to 10 seniors, including three 2019 NCAA qualifiers Preisch, Cortlandt Schuyler and Gordon Wolf.
"We had a lot of things go wrong with our team this year, but the resiliency of this group was tremendous," Santoro said. "We weren't sure how they were going to handle things but they came through.
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
174 – No. 5 Jordan Kutler – Seventh place
Round of 32: major dec. No. 28 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) 10-2
Round of 16: dec. No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke) 6-2
Quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) 4-2, sv2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) 6-0
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) 2-0
Seventh place match: dec. No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) 5-1
184 – No. 8 Ryan Preisch - Fourth place
Round of 32: Fall No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue) 4:04
Round of 16: dec. No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 4-3
Quarterfinal: L by major dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) 11-2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 11 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) 3-0
Consolation quarterfinal: dec. No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) 5-3, sv
Consolation semifinal: dec. No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina) 3-0
Third place match: L by dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) 5-3
285 – No. 4 Jordan Wood – Fourth place
Round of 32: dec. No. 29 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) 6-4
Round of 16: dec. No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) 3-0
Quarterfinal: dec. No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) 2-0
Semifinal: L by dec. No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) 3-1, sv
Consolation semifinal: dec. No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) 7-3
Third place match: L by dec. No. 3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 4-0
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
157
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184
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149
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285
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