Bucknell, which is ranked 22nd nationally, had its victory keyed by bonus points as four of its six victories were by major decision, tech fall or fall. The highlight of the day was Joe Stolfi’s first-period pin of Stephen Snyder that was the 50th of his career, tying Brian Pitzer’s school record that has stood for 15 years.
Army (2-6, 2-4 EIWA) had three nationally ranked wrestlers in its lineup and proved to be a tough test, especially early. Back-to-back wins by No. 16 Russell Parsons (157) and No. 20 Cole Gracey (165) staked the Black Knights to an early 6-4 advantage. Brian Harvey added a major decision at 174 to make it a 10-4 cushion with Bucknell’s only points at that juncture coming on an opening-match major decision by Victor Lopez at 149 pounds.
The Bison, who have already set a school record for victories in a season, then shined the rest of the way with an 11-6 decision by Tom Sleigh at 184 narrowing the initial gap. The freshman led 5-0 after the first period and never trailed on his way to his ninth win in his last 10 bouts.
Tyler Lyster then lost a hard-fought 3-2 decision on the riding time point at 197 against nationally ranked Bryce Barnes. Each of Lyster’s last three losses have been by just one point.
Then Stolfi, who is ranked 11th nationally and leads the nation in pins, took to the mat. After a slow start, he pinned Snyder in 2:57, nearly the exact time it took him to pin his opponent in a 33-6 win over Franklin & Marshall on Friday night. Stolfi improved to 33-5 on the season as he won for the 20th straight time. He now has 18 pins this year. His victory tied the score at 13-13.
Nineteenth-ranked Paul Petrov followed with a dominating 17-0 tech fall at 125. The bout against Sean Badua was scoreless after the first period, but Petrov scored three near falls in the second period and two more in the final period for the shutout victory.
Grim Gonzalez then clinched the outcome of the match with a 12-4 major decision at 133 pounds as Bucknell’s lead grew to 22-13 with just one bout remaining.
Tyler Smith closed the match with a 9-4 decision over Logan Everett at 141 pounds. He led just 4-3 entering the final period, but recorded a reversal and takedown and earned the riding time point for his 18th win of the season.
“We competed well as a team,” said Bison head coach Dan Wirnsberger. “You never know what to expect when you compete on back-to-back days. It was good to see our guys come out with maximum effort. We knew it was going to be a tough one and once we turned the corner at 184 pounds and were close, we felt confident.”
Bucknell has just two duals remaining this season. The Bison will wrap up their home schedule Friday, Feb. 20, against Binghamton and then travel to VMI Feb. 22 to conclude the regular season.
Results:
149: Victor Lopez (B) maj. dec. Javier Rodriguez (A), 16-4.
157: No. 16 Russell Parsons (A) dec. Logan Kerin (B), 9-3.
165: No. 20 Cole Gracey (A) dec. Robert Schlitt (B), 6-2.
174: Brian Harvey (A) maj. dec. Joey Krulock (B), 11-2.
184: Tom Sleigh (B) dec. Samson Imonode (A), 11-6.
197: No. 17 Bryce Barnes (A) dec. Tyler Lyster (B), 3-2.
285: No. 11 Joe Stolfi (B) pinned Stephen Snyder (A), 2:57.
125: No. 19 Paul Petrov (B) tech fall Sean Badua (A), 17-0 (6:35)
133: Grim Gonzalez (B) maj. dec. Christian Doyle (A), 12-4.
141: Tyler Smith (B) dec. Logan Everett (A), 9-4..
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now