The victory gave the Eagles a sweep of their duals this weekend. Coupled with AU's 20-14 win at Binghamton on Friday, American improved to 6-5 in duals and 3-2 in the league.
The Bison fell to 3-12 and 2-6 in the EIWA.
With the match starting at 133 pounds, a 10-1 major decision by 10th-ranked Josh Terao put the Eagles ahead. But 13th-ranked Tyler Smith earned a 4-0 win at 141 to pull Bucknell within 4-3.
Michael Sprague scored 11 points in the final period at 149 to earn a technical fall, and Hong needed just 1:38 to pin Christian Bassolino to put the hosts up 15-3.
Sprague, ranked 17th in the nation at 149, won his ninth bout in his last 12, while Hong picked up his fourth pin of the season and won back-to-back matches for the first time since November.
The Bison pulled within 15-7 after a major decision at 165, but AU's Michael Eckhart beat Nick Stephani, 5-3, at 174 to snap a losing skid, breaking a 2-2 tie with a solid third period.
The score was 18-11 after Drew Phipps scored a major decision at 184, but Kasunic needed just 52 seconds to pin Chad Reese at 197, giving the Eagles a comfortable margin.
Kasunic, also ranked 10th in the most recent NCAA Coaches Panel, won his 18th straight match, improving to 28-3, and earned his team-best sixth fall of the season.
After heavyweight Brett Dempsey won his fifth straight match in a 3-0 decision over Brandon Stokes, freshman Gage Curry turned an 8-0 first-period lead into a 16-0 technical fall at 4:22 to end the match.
Next weekend, the Eagles celebrate the induction of NCAA National Champion Josh Glenn into the Stafford "Pop" Cassell Athletic Hall of Fame. Glenn, who won the 197-pound title in 2007, will be inducted on Saturday evening, Feb. 10.
The next day, Glenn will join other former AU wrestlers on Alumni Day when the Eagles play host to Drexel at 2 p.m.
Tickets for all AU wrestling home duals can be purchased online by clicking here.
Results:
133: Josh Terao (AMER) over David Campbell (BUCK) (MD 10-1)
141: Tyler Smith (BUCK) over Jack Mutchnik (AMER) (Dec 4-0)
149: Michael Sprague (AMER) over Matt Kolonia (BUCK) (TF 18-1 6:21)
157: Eric Hong (AMER) over Christian Bassolino (BUCK) (Fall 1:38)
165: DJ Hollingshead (BUCK) over Anthony Wokasch (AMER) (MD 14-6)
174: Michael Eckhart (AMER) over Nick Stephani (BUCK) (Dec 5-3)
184: Drew Phipps (BUCK) over Connor Allshouse (AMER) (MD 10-2)
197: Jeric Kasunic (AMER) over Chad Reese (BUCK) (Fall 0:52)
285: Brett Dempsey (AMER) over Brandon Stokes (BUCK) (Dec 3-0)
125: Gage Curry (AMER) over Mike Macklin (BUCK) (TF 16-0 4:22)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now