"It was a very good day," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "The guys wrestled hard and they're continuing to get better. We realize though that we still need to get better. We want to have a good tournament team in addition to a good dual team, because at the end of the year it comes down to being a good tournament team at the EIWAs and NCAAs."
McDonald and senior Trevor Chinn led the way for the Brown and White, as each wrestler won all four of his bouts on the day.
In the day's opener against Oklahoma State, McDonald started things off for the Brown and White with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Obenson Blanc at 125. With the match deadlocked at three entering the third period, McDonald rode out the entire third period to win the match with a riding time point.
Following a Cowboy win at 133, Seth Ciasulli put Lehigh back in front, with an 8-6 sudden victory win over Jamal Parks at 141. Senior Trevor Chinn kept the run going with a 3-2 win over Luke Silver at 149.
Oklahoma State climbed within 9-6 with a win by decision at 157, but Galante started a three-bout Lehigh run, which all but cemented Lehigh's first-ever win over the nation's most storied college wrestling program. Galante trailed 3-2 late in the third period to tenth-ranked Brandon Mason at 165, but scored the go-ahead takedown on a lateral drop and rode out the final eight seconds to avoid overtime. Alex Caruso and David Craig followed with wins by decision to put Lehigh up 18-6, before the Cowboys captured the final two bouts.
"McDonald's match was really big for us early on," explained Santoro. "He had a great third period and picked up a big win. Ciasulli's win was also huge, as he beat a really good wrestler in Parks."
Santoro concluded, "And 165 was obviously a big one too. Galante went out and beat an All-American so that's a great win for him."
Following a two hour layoff, Lehigh captured eight bouts against UNC Greensboro. Chinn and freshman Sean Bilodeau helped blow the dual open with back-to-back wins by fall at 149 and 157. Lehigh's third pin came from freshman Joe Kennedy, who stuck Peter Sturgeon in 4:15 for his first career fall.
The dual started with consecutive wins for McDonald and junior Matt Fisk. McDonald put up 14 points in a decision over Mitchell Johnson, while Fisk was dominant in a 17-2 technical fall over Casey Boyle. The only drawback to the victory was that Galante suffered his first loss of the season, 5-3 against Spartan freshman Chris Bullins who is ranked nationally at 165.
The Mountain Hawks won nine bouts against Binghamton, including the second consecutive win by fall for Bilodeau, and the first fall of the season for Ciasulli, who pinned Anwar Goeres in 1:29. The featured bout of the dual was at 184 where nationally ranked Josh Patterson won by fall over David Craig. Patterson reversed Craig and scored a three-point near-fall to open the second period, then later caught Craig in a cradle, before securing the fall at the 4:30 mark.
The falls for Ciasulli and Bilodeau were the only bonus wins for Lehigh versus the Bearcats. The Mountain Hawks did take care of business in the close matches however, winning all four bouts that were decided by just one point. Junior Justin Allen saw his first dual action of the season, earning a 4-3 win over Dan Bittner at heavyweight.
In the final match of the day, Lehigh raced to a 23-0 lead with wins in the first six bouts, including a technical fall for McDonald and a pair major decisions for Fisk and Chinn. Santoro was able to get some more of his back-ups mat-time as well, as freshmen Brian Tanen (157) and Brandon Hatchett (165) and sophomore Kadeem Samuels (184) competed and won at their respective weights.
Lehigh will return to the mats next weekend when the Mountain Hawks head to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which begins Friday and runs through Saturday night.
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