"We really like wrestling at the College Ave. Gym," said Goodale. "I am very excited with how the kids are performing. They are wrestling very well, especially in the third period, and that was big for us tonight."
The two teams traded the first two bouts with Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) winning at 157-pounds 8-5 and Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) falling 5-4 at 165-pounds. Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) then won the 174-pound contest 17-2 for the technical fall, giving the Scarlet Knights an 8-3 team advantage. In the most exciting bout of the evening, Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) came from behind to defeat the Warriors' Shane Mallory 11-9 in overtime. Dobish was down 9-7 with under 10 seconds in the third period before he put Mallory to the ground, tying the bout. Then with 20 seconds left in the first overtime, Dobish again got the takedown to pick up the victory for the Scarlet Knights.
"Keith's come-from-behind win was huge for us," said Goodale. "His victory is just one example of how our kids are wrestling the right way. They never give up and that is what makes them winners."
East Stroudsburg forfeited the 197-pound match to give Rutgers a 17-3 team lead. After Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) fell 6-5 in the heavyweight bout, Ryan Jablonski (Norristown, Pa.) picked up three points for the Scarlet Knights at 125-pounds, winning 8-3 over Matthew Benedetti. At 133-pounds, Senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) looked to be headed to overtime tied 1-1 late in the third period, but a takedown by ESU's Matt Swallow with no time on the clock gave the Warriors the victory. With Rutgers up 20-9, victory became assured even though Reggie Parker (Upper Marlboro, Md.) fell 3-1 in the 141-pound contest. Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) finished off the scoring with a 9-0 major decision victory at 149 pounds.
The Scarlet Knights look to build on their winning streak on Sunday, Jan. 13, when they take on Army and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at West Point, N.Y., starting at 2:00 p.m.
"We are excited to face Army and USMMA," said Goodale. "This will be a good indication of where we are as a program. I expect that we will wrestle extremely well on Sunday."
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