Junior Darian Cruz set the tone with a 22-4 technical fall win over Brant Leadbeter at 125. The dual win is Lehigh's third straight, improving the Mountain Hawks to 6-1 overall and 4-0 against EIWA opponents. Navy suffers its first dual loss and is now 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the EIWA.
"They out-fought us tonight," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We were trying to hang on to wins, but that's not Lehigh wrestling. That's not what we've done all year, but we did it tonight. They (Navy) were ready. We need to learn from this. We need to think about scoring points instead of winning matches."
Cruz struck for four first period takedowns then went to work on top, scoring three four-point near falls and nearly pinning Leadbeter before settling for the technical fall in 2:53.
At 133, freshman Joe Lobeck made his varsity dual debut against Cody Lambert. Lobeck controlled the match throughout, scoring a late first period takedown and then riding out the second period. A third period reversal plus riding time gave Lobeck a 5-0 win.
"Darian getting those bonus points was huge and then Joe Lobeck went out and wrestled great," Santoro said. "We got off to a great start and then we just kind of stopped wrestling a little bit it seemed."
Senior Randy Cruz opened the scoring in his match with Jared Prince at 141 with an early takedown. After trading reversals, Cruz led 4-2 after one period, but Prince battled back with takedowns in the second and third periods. Prince eliminated Cruz's riding time and gained a riding time advantage himself, holding off a late reversal bid by Cruz to win 7-5.
Lehigh won close decisions in the next three bouts to build a 17-3 advantage. At 149, senior Laike Gardner defeated Corey Wilding for the second time this month, using a second period ride out and four point near fall to win 6-1. Freshman Jordan Kutler took Zach Elvin down early at 157. A strong ride led to a 4:32 riding time advantage for Kutler, who was unable to earn Elvin and settled for a 4-1 decision. Freshman Cole Walter made his first dual meet appearance, scoring a second period takedown and surviving several third period flurries to hold off Drew Daniels 3-2 at 165.
"Cole wasn't as sharp as he was at the Scuffle," Santoro said of Walter's performance. "He wasn't on the mat much this week, but Cole is really tough and found a way to win that match. That's what he's going to do. He's going to fight until the very end. He gave a great effort."
With sophomore Ryan Preisch out of the lineup Friday, Lehigh sent freshman Chase Gallik out for his dual debut against 18th-ranked Jadaen Bernstein at 174. Bernstein led 10-5 early in the third period before Gallik countered a Bernstein shot by putting him on his back for six points. Bernstein had riding time advantage and secured a late takedown to win 15-12 to secure Navy's second win of the night.
Freshman Kyle Gentile clinched the dual for the Mountain Hawks with a 7-4 decision over Alex Benoit at 184. Gentile scored takedowns in each of the first periods but had to hold on after a late Benoit score.
Navy's third win came from Steban Cervantes at 197 after a 9-3 win over senior Ben Haas.
Senior Doug Vollaro capped the dual with a 3-0 win over Thomas Ott at 285, using a third period escape plus a takedown in the final seconds.
The Mountain Hawks will next head to Washington, D.C. to face American Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bender Arena. Video for that dual will be available via the Patriot League Network while audio coverage will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) and WLVR.org.
Results:
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) tech fall Brant Leadbeter (Navy) 22-4, 2:53
133 – Joe Lobeck (Lehigh) dec. Cody Lambert (Navy) 5-0
141 – Jared Prince (Navy) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh) 7-5
149 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Corey Wilding (Navy) 6-1
157 – Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Zach Elvin (Navy) 4-1
165 – Cole Walter (Lehigh) dec. Drew Daniels (Navy) 3-2
174 – Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) dec. Chase Gallik (Lehigh) 15-12
184 – Kyle Gentile (Lehigh) dec. Alex Benoit (Navy) 7-4
197 – Steban Cervantes (Navy) dec. Ben Haas (Lehigh) 9-3
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Thomas Ott (Navy) 3-0
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