"Everyone fought hard and we got back to what we had been talking about, which is getting bonus points," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "Whenever you have a week off like we did last weekend, you don't know how they're going to respond but we responded pretty well."
Junior Darian Cruz started Lehigh's run of early wins with a 22-7 technical fall win over Trey Chalifoux at 125. Cruz scored nine points in each of the first two periods, scoring two takedowns plus a four point near fall and an escape in each, and bounced back after yielding a takedown of his own in the first period. Two third-period takedowns secured the technical fall at 6:24.
At 133, sophomore Scott Parker made his first appearance since the Southern Scuffle and picked up where he left off in a 21-6 technical fall over Austin Harry. Leading 2-0 after one period, Parker opened up over the final two periods, using a four point near fall late to end the match at 6:50 and give Lehigh an early 10-0 advantage.
"You could see as the match went he started getting more comfortable and started to open up more," Santoro said of Parker. "It was 2-0 after the first period and then he really opened it up as the match went on. When you're just getting back like that part of it is getting your feelers back and he got better as the match went on."
The featured bout of the dual matched ranked seniors Randy Cruz and Logan Everett at 141. Cruz scored a first period takedown and then utilized a strong ride over the first and second period to build a 3:50 riding time advantage. Everett chose neutral in the third but could only muster a penalty point for a technical violation as Cruz prevailed 3-1. Cruz is now 3-1 all-time versus Everett.
"We needed that against a tough opponent," Santoro said. "The style matchups were similar in a lot of ways. Going out there and finding ways to win that match was important for Randy."
Gardner capped the four-match run with a 19-1 technical fall over Nick Noel in 4:59. He scored two takedowns and a four point near fall in the first period and added an escape and a takedown plus a pair of four-pointers in the second to close out the match.
Army West Point (6-4, 4-2 EIWA) notched its first win at 157 as 16th-ranked Russ Parsons posted a 15-2 major decision over sophomore Cortlandt Schuyler, who bumped up from 149 in place of freshman Jordan Kutler. The Black Knights' first win left Lehigh in front 18-4 at intermission.
Minotti sparked Lehigh out of the break with his most impressive performance in a dual so far this season, in a 12-3 major decision over Cael McCormick at 165. Leading 2-1 after one period, Minotti reversed to open the second and added two more takedowns, while tacking on one more takedown in the third, plus 3:43 of riding time advantage.
Sophomore Ryan Preisch made it six wins in seven bouts for Lehigh with a 3-1 win over Ben Harvey at 174. Harvey had some solid early opportunities but it was Preisch who scored the lone takedown of the bout late in the first period off a scramble. The wrestlers traded escapes in the final two periods and while Preisch stayed on the offensive, many of his shots over the final two periods resulted in scrambles and then stalemates.
Trailing 25-4 after seven bouts, the Black Knights came back with back-to-back victories. At 184 Jack Wedholm held off freshman Andrew Price 7-4, while at 197 a coaches challenge resulted in the decisive takedown with 12 seconds remaining as Rocco Caywood edged sophomore Thomas Murray.
Heavyweight Doug Vollaro made it 4-for-4 in terms of wins from the Lehigh seniors on Senior Night, scoring a takedown in each period to defeat Trevor Smith 8-3.
"They did a nice job on senior night," Santoro said of the four seniors. "They just kept moving forward. They did what they've been doing their whole careers, getting a little better each week. I'm happy for them. Next week it looks like we'll have a match we just have to be ready for that."
Lehigh now leads the all-time series with Army 53-9-3. Friday's dual was the first between the two longtime rivals since 2009 after the teams previously met in 59 straight seasons from 1946-47 through 2004-06.
The Mountain Hawks are expected to host a Big Ten team next weekend in the NWCA National Dual Championship Series. It is believed that Lehigh's match will be Friday at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, but that will not be confirmed until the NWCA releases matchups later this weekend.
Results:
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) tech fall Trey Chalifoux (Army) 22-7, 6:24
133 – Scott Parker (Lehigh) tech fall Austin Harry (Army) 21-6, 6:50
141 – Randy Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Logan Everett (Army) 3-1
149 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) tech fall Nick Noel (Army) 19-1, 4:59
157 – Russ Parsons (Army) major dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) 15-2
165 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) major dec. Cael McCormick (Army) 12-3
174 – Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. Ben Harvey (Army) 3-1
184 – Jack Wedholm (Army) dec. Andrew Price (Lehigh) 7-4
197 – Rocco Caywood (Army) dec. Thomas Murray (Lehigh) 4-2
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Trevor Smith (Army) 8-3
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