Army went 2-1 as the host of Sunday’s quad match and is now 3-3 on the season.
Rutgers, which allowed just 13 points in its three matches, improved to 10-4.
Starks, ranked 17th, earned a 3-1 decision against Lamar Brown, Matt Kyler cruised to a major decision and Collin Wittmeyer won a decision but Rutgers won the first three matches and never trailed on the way to its 10th victory.
In the other match, the Merchant Marine Academy defeated Boston 24-18.
“I have been saying since early in the season, we have to work harder and smarter than everyone in the country,” said Army head coach Chuck Barbee. “We wrestled hard just not too smart. Even in losing to a very good Rutgers team, we wrestled hard. We just need to get in better position and continue to work hard.”
Rutgers jumped out to an early lead as Joseph Langel collected three takedowns, an escape and riding time for an 8-0 win against Steven West at 125 pounds.
The Scarlet Knights, who scored 39 points in each of their first two wins on Sunday, extended their lead to 10-0 as #16 Billy Ashnault scored a fall in 1:33 at 133 pounds against Travis Coffey.
Rutgers’ Trevor Melde started strong and then held off Casey Thome for a 10-5 win at 141 pounds. Melde has a takedown and five back points in the first period and a reversal in the second. Melde led 9-1 after Thome escaped in the second period. Thome continued to push and scored two takedowns but lost his first match of the day.
Kyler got Army on the scoreboard with an impressive performance at 149 pounds. Ranked eighth in the latest Intermat poll, Kyler collected six takedowns, two near fall points, riding time and a penalty point when David Greenwald applied head scissors for a 16-3 major decision making the team score Rutgers 13, Army 4. Kyler won all three of his matches on Sunday with a fall, technical fall and major decision.
The Scarlet Knights extended their advantage to 16-4 when Daryl Cocozzo posted a 4-0 decision over Daniel Young at 157 pounds. Cocozzo had a first period takedown, a third period escape and two minutes of riding time to give Rutgers a 12-point lead.
Rutgers increased its lead to 19-4 when Greg Zannetti scored a 2-1 win at 165 pounds. Army’s Rudy Chelednik was wresting up a weight class and picked up riding time from the top position during a strong second period. Chelednik escaped to start the third period but Zannetti scored a takedown and erased Chelednik’s riding time advantage to bump the Rutgers lead.
Daniel Rinaldi won the third straight Rutgers match with a 5-1 decision over Jacob Vetter at 174 pounds. Rinaldi had two takedowns and an escape to give Rutgers a 22-4 lead.
Wittmeyer halted the Rutgers winning streak with a gutsy 3-2 win at 184 pounds. After Daniel Seidenberg escaped, Wittmeyer secured a takedown near the edge of the mat with 15 seconds remaining in the second period. While Seidenberg had a minute of riding time, Wittmeyer escaped in the third period for the 3-2 win that made the team score 22-7 Rutgers. Wittmeyer won all three of his matches via decision on the day.
In one of the marquee matches of the day, Starks, ranked #17 and Brown, ranked #18, felt each other out in the first three minutes with neither wrestler scoring a point. Brown chose down to start the second and needed just 13 seconds to escape for a 1-0 lead. Starks, though, went on top 2-1 with a takedown at the edge of the mat with 16 seconds left in the second period.
Starks chose down in the final period and quickly escaped for the 3-1 lead, though Rutgers led 22-10.
Dominick Russo, ranked #10 in the latest poll, closed the match with a first-period fall. Army’s Ryan Cook scored an early takedown but Russo worked a reversal and then the pin to make the final score 28-10.
Army, which wrestled four matches in the last three days, will compete at the New York State Championships, Saturday and Sunday in Ithaca, N.Y.
“Every win builds our confidence,” said Barbee. “As a team, things are slowly coming together. We have a lot of tough matches remaining and need to keep our nose to the grindstone and keep working.
Rutgers 28, Army 10
125: Joseph Langel (R) major dec. Steven West, 8-0
133: #16 Billy Ashnault (R) pinned Travis Coffey, 1:33
141: Trevor Melde (R) dec. Casey Thome, 10-5
149: #8 Matt Kyler (A) major dec. David Greenwald, 16-3
157: Daryl Cocozzo (R) dec. Daniel Young, 4-0
165: Greg Zannetti (R) dec. Rudy Chelednik, 2-1
174: Daniel Rinaldi (R) dec. Jacob Vetter 5-1
184: Collin Wittmeyer (A) dec. Daniel Seidenberg, 3-2
197: #17 Richard Starks (A) dec. #18 Lamar Brown, 3-1
285: #10 Dominick Russo (R ) pinned Ryan Cook, :47
Merchant Marine Academy 24, Boston 18
125: Jordan Alfaro (MMA) dec. Ryan Dowd, 6-4
133: Fred Santaite (B) won by forfeit
141: Abbie Rush (B) tech fall Garrick Skubon, 22-4, 6:17
149: Martin Bell (MMA) dec. Andrew Swank, 6-3
157: Dan Twito (MMA) dec. Nestor Taffur, 9-6
165: Kyle Czarnecki (B) dec. Vincent Renaut, 7-2
174: Justin Diesel (MMA) pinned Hunter Meys, 4:13
184: Brock Mantella (B) major dec. Erik Schott, 10-1
197: Eric Vincent (MMA) dec. Dan Kennedy, 5-3
285: :Judd Connell (MMA) pinned Nate Lavallee, :20
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