“It was a great effort this afternoon,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “A lot of matches were close. It was 28-3 in favor of us but it really could have gone either way. It was nice to have this kind of effort late in the season.”
Sophomore John McDonald gave Lehigh a big spark in his return to the lineup as he opened the dual by upsetting 21st-ranked Joseph Langel 5-4. McDonald scored takedowns in each of the first two periods to build a 4-2 lead, and then after being taken down in the third; McDonald escaped for the decisive point.
“McDonald’s win was huge,” explained Santoro. “Langel has been wrestling really well. John’s been going good but hasn’t been able to find a way to win. Today he found a way.”
In the first of six matches between ranked wrestlers, senior No. 14 Matt Fisk dominated No. 20 Bill Ashnault 8-1 at 133. Fisk built a 7-1 lead after one period with a takedown, a two-point near fall and a three-point near fall.
Senior Seth Ciasulli avenged a loss to Trevor Melde at the Midlands by winning a 6-4 decision at 141. Ciasulli led 1-0 on a penalty point in the first period but was reversed in the second to trail 3-2. In a wild third period, Ciasulli escaped to tie the bout, and then took down Melde to take the lead before being reversed. Ciasulli finally went ahead late in the bout with a reversal of his own.
A late reversal also helped out freshman Joey Napoli who rallied to defeat David Greenwald 4-2 at 149.
Rutgers (19-5-1, 6-2 EIWA) picked up its only win at 157 as Daryl Cocozzo won a 5-1 decision over sophomore Sean Bilodeau, to cut Lehigh’s lead to 12-3 at intermission.
The second half of the dual belonged to the Mountain Hawks who won all five bouts. In the first bout after intermission, sophomore Brandon Hatchett totaled four takedowns en route to an 11-4 win over Greg Zannetti at 165. Freshman Robert Hamlin then followed with a 3-1 decision over Dan Rinaldi at 174.
Craig provided bonus points with a 14-0 major decision over Jesse Boyden at 184. The senior scored early on a duckunder, before adding two three-point near falls to lead 8-0 after one period. In the second, Craig used a cradle to add three more near fall points and he rounded out his scoring with a third-period takedown.
Lehigh enjoyed more late magic at 197 where Joe Kennedy scored a takedown in the final seconds to defeat Lamar Brown 3-2. With the match tied at one late, Kennedy was penalized a point for stalling, but used an inside trip to take down Brown in the waning seconds of the bout.
The final bout of the dual was also the featured bout, as No. 6 Zach Rey faced No. 10 Domenick Russo. For the second time this season, Rey prevailed, taking Russo down to his back for a total of four points in the second period on the way to a 4-2 victory, improving his season record to 24-3.
The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up the dual season on Sunday when they visit Penn. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start from the Palestra in Philadelphia. The match can be heard on WLVR-FM (91.3) as well as online at Lehighsports.com.
The Rutgers dual will be rebroadcast nationally on Fox College Sports beginning Tuesday at 9 p.m. and Wednesday at 4 a.m.
Results:
125 John McDonald (Lehigh) dec. Joseph Langel (Rutgers) 5-4
133 Matt Fisk (Lehigh) dec. Bill Ashnault (Rutgers) 8-1
141 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) dec. Trevor Melde (Rutgers) 6-4
149 Joey Napoli (Lehigh) dec. David Greenwald (Rutgers) 4-2
157 Daryl Cocozzo (Rutgers) dec. Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) 5-1
165 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) dec. Greg Zannetti (Rutgers) 11-4
174 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers) 3-1
184 David Craig (Lehigh) maj. dec. Jesse Boyden (Rutgers) 14-0
197 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) dec. Lamar Brown (Rutgers) 3-2
285 Zach Rey (Lehigh) dec. Domenick Russo (Rutgers) 4-2
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