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    Lehigh rides fast start to win at Penn

    PHILADELPHIA -- The 23rd-ranked Lehigh wrestling team won the first five bouts and held off a late Penn charge to hold off the Quakers 21-12 Sunday at the Palestra. Freshman Elliot Riddick survived a late third period flurry to hold off Casey Kent 4-3 at 174 to clinch the match for the Mountain Hawks.

    Lehigh won its fourth straight dual as the Mountain Hawks improve to 5-3 on the dual season. Penn falls to 2-2.

    Snowy conditions in Philadelphia delayed the arrival of the officials, which in turn delayed the start of the match. Once things got going, Lehigh captured the first five bouts to lead 15-0 at the halfway point.

    “We knew the first five weights were important,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “We knew they had some guys who could do some damage up top.”

    The dual started at 285 where freshman Doug Vollaro and Penn’s Steven Graziano were tied 1-1 late in the third period when Graziano took a shot and Vollaro countered putting Graziano on his back for a takedown and two point near fall to win the match 5-1.

    Lehigh made it two straight wins as Darian Cruz defeated Caleb Richardson in a battle of true freshmen at 125. Cruz scored a takedown in each period and added a second period escape to win 7-3.

    Sophomore Mason Beckman continued Lehigh’s run with a 6-2 decision over Ken Bade at 133. Beckman scored takedowns in each of the first two periods and added an escape and a 1:06 riding time advantage.

    In what has become a customary occurrence, sophomore Laike Gardner overcame a big early deficit to win, this time rallying past Jeff Canfora 8-7 at 141. Canfora took Gardner down to his back for an early 2-and-2 off a double leg, and added another double leg score to lead 6-2 after one period. Gardner rode out the second period, turning Canfora for two points in the process. In the third, Gardner escaped and then scored his first takedown to take the lead. Canfora escaped to pull even at 7-7, but 1:20 of riding time gave Gardner the win.

    Freshman Mitch Minotti capped the five-match run with a 2-0 decision over Andrew Lenzi at 149. Minotti scored an escape in the second period and rode out the third to add riding time advantage.

    With starters Joey Napoli and Brian Brill sidelined, the Mountain Hawks bumped two wrestlers up two weight classes and both men managed to keep the Quakers to regular decisions. Freshman Will Switzer moved from 141 to 157 to face Ray Bethea and actually took a 6-4 lead with a late third period takedown, but Bethea reversed to tie the match and prevailed 7-6 thanks to a 1:10 riding time advantage.

    Sophomore Mike Stepien moved up from 149 to 165 to face Penn’s Steve Robertson and avoided giving up bonus points in a 9-3 loss.

    “I thought everyone wrestled well,” Santoro said. “Mike Stepien and Will Switzer did a tremendous job. It’s a tribute to them, they’ve putting in the time in the last few years and they wrestled really well.”

    Penn bumped 13th-ranked Kent up to 174 to face Riddick, who debuted in the rankings at No. 18 this week. Riddick opened the scoring with a first period takedown and Kent escaped. A second period escape for Kent tied the match at two. In the third, Riddick chose bottom and reversed Kent to take a 4-3 lead after Kent escaped. Riddick was warned for stalling in the first period and continued to push forward to avoid a second stall call but Kent countered a Riddick shot, setting off a wild flurry where most fans in attendance thought Kent had secured the go-ahead takedown, but referee Gary Kessel indicated that control was never gained allowing Riddick to hold on for the win, which clinched the dual for the Mountain Hawks.

    “It was a really close call,” Santoro said. “Elliot came out on top at the end but we didn’t know if it would be a reversal or an escape. It could have gone to overtime. That was a crazy match. It could have gone either way but that’s part of the game I guess.”

    The Quakers took six points back at 184 as Lorenzo Thomas pinned freshman Zach Diekel at the 6:34 mark but Lehigh captured the final bout as John Bolich rode out the second period against No. 19 Frank Mattiace to win 1-0.

    The Mountain Hawks will now have a break for final exams and the holidays before returning to action at the Midlands Championships December 29-30 in Evanston, Ill.

    “We’ve been going six weekends in a row, so we haven’t had the time to work on what we really need to work on,” Santoro said. “We’re going to spend a lot of individual time during finals. The next two weeks we’re going to spend a lot individual time. It’s a good time where we can put in a lot of individual time.”

    Results:
    285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Steven Graziano (Penn) 5-1
    125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Caleb Richardson (Penn) 7-3
    133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Ken Bade (Penn) 6-2
    141 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Jeff Canfora (Penn) 8-7
    149 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Andrew Lenzi (Penn) 2-0
    157 – Ray Bethea (Penn) dec. Will Switzer (Lehigh) 7-6
    165 – Steve Robertson (Penn) dec. Mike Stepien (Lehigh) 9-3
    174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Casey Kent (Penn) 4-3
    184 – Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) Fall Zach Diekel (Lehigh) 6:34
    197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Frank Mattiace (Penn) 1-0
    Referee – Gary Kessel

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