Lehigh improves to 10-1 with the victory while Franklin & Marshall falls to 3-8.
"We want our guys putting points on the board and we opportunities for some different guys to wrestle today and they didn't disappoint," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "It has been a really fun team to watch this last month or so. We just have to keep growing and getting better each week."
The dual began at 125 with sophomore Darian Cruz propelling Lehigh to the early lead with a 23-4 technical fall over Aaron Moldoff in 6:09. Cruz finished with six takedowns plus a pair of near falls and an escape in his 20th win of the season.
F&M claimed the next two bouts to take a 6-5 lead after three matches. At 133, sophomore Dean Somers subbed for senior Mason Beckman, who instead competed at the Shorty Hitchcock Memorial Classic. Somers dropped a 4-1 tiebreaker decision to Scott Stevens. Tied 1-1 after regulation and sudden victory, Stevens registered an escape and takedown in the first half of the tiebreaker and held Somers off in the second half.
The featured bout of the dual matched No. 15 Rick Durso and 18th-ranked junior Randy Cruz at 141. Cruz had a solid ride in the second period but ultimately gave up a reversal to trail 2-0 after two. A third period Cruz escape was the only other scoring as several Cruz shots were thwarted in a 2-1 Durso victory.
The Mountain Hawks took over from there with seven consecutive bonus wins. Freshman Cortlandt Schuyler, wrestling in his hometown in place of Laike Gardner registered six takedowns in a 14-6 win over Jason Bing at 149. That win gave Lehigh a 9-6 lead it would not relinquish.
At 157, freshman Ian Brown subbed for Mitch Minotti and picked up the only fall of the dual. Brown took Sharron Townsend to his back early on and after some hard work got the pin at 1:29.
The final five bouts of the dual were all Lehigh wins by technical fall. Sophomore Drew Longo moved up to 165 in place of Ryan Preisch and won 20-5 in 5:19 against Gordon Bolig. Longo scored seven takedowns before using a cradle for four near fall points. An eight takedown ended the bout early in the third period.
Freshman Gordon Wolf posted his first career dual meet win with an 18-3 technical fall over Colin Gironda at 174. Wolf totaled four takedowns and had four point near falls in the second and third periods.
"These guys just want to wrestle and are a lot of fun to watch," Santoro said of the backups who saw action on Saturday. "This is the kind of style we want to have all the time."
Senior Nathaniel Brown followed with a quick 18-0 technical fall over Josh Young at 184. After an early takedown, Brown used four four-point near falls to end the match in just 2:17.
At 197, junior Ben Haas made it four straight technical falls with a 16-1 win over Charles Kerkesner in 3:36. Haas led 12-1 after one and opened the second period with a reversal and two point near fall.
Senior Max Wessell closed the dual with a 21-3 technical fall over Antonio Pelusi at 285. Wessell's second four-point near fall ended the match in 5:36.
"We've been spending a lot of time on turning people from the top position," Santoro said. "That's going to be a difference maker when we get later in the season. The guys did a good job today."
The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up their road swing next Saturday when they travel to No. 16 Cornell for a 6:30 p.m. dual. Audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230, 1320 and 1160) as well as ESPNLV.com.
Results:
125 - Darian Cruz (Lehigh) tech fall Aaron Moldoff (F&M) 23-4, 6:09
133 - Scott Stevens (F&M) dec. Dean Somers (Lehigh) 4-1, tb
141 - Rick Durso (F&M) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh) 2-1
149 - Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) major dec. Jason Bing (F&M) 14-6
157 - Ian Brown (Lehigh) Fall Sharron Townsend (F&M) 1:29
165 - Drew Longo (Lehigh) tech fall Gordon Bolig (F&M) 20-5, 5:19
174 - Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) tech fall Colin Gironda (F&M) 18-3, 7:00
184 - Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) tech fall Josh Young (F&M) 18-0, 2:18
197 - Ben Haas (Lehigh) tech fall Charles Kerkesner (F&M) 16-1, 3:38
285 - Max Wessell (Lehigh) tech fall Antonio Pelusi (F&M) 21-3, 5:36
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