Russo, who was also named EIWA Wrestler of the Week Feb. 8, 2009 and Feb. 3, 2010, earns the award after a weekend which saw him go undefeated with a pair of dual-clinching wins at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y.
In his first matchup of the weekend, Russo met up with Stanford’s Dylan Rush in a match that would decide the RU-Stanford dual. Both wrestlers came out strong to start the first period, but Russo got on the board first when he reversed Rush. Rush didn’t flinch, reversing Russo to even the score at two. Russo then scored another reversal to gain a 4-2 edge. Rush escaped before the end of the first to cut the lead to 4-3 entering the second. Neither wrestler was able to score any points in the second or third and Russo used 2:46 of riding time to clinch the match, 5-3, and the dual, 18-13.
Russo battled Missouri’s Dom Bradley, the second ranked heavyweight in the country in his biggest contest of the day. The bout took on added importance as the RU-UM dual was even at 16-16 heading into the deciding heavyweight match. After a scoreless first period, Bradley chose to start down in the second eventually earning an escape to open the scoring. The two grapplers went toe to toe for the remainder of the second with neither able to score before the end setting up a deciding third period. In the third, Russo chose down and quickly earned an escape to square the contest at 1-1. Bradley seemed to have the upper hand when he took down Russo to regain the lead at 3-,1 but Russo kept his composure and escaped to get within a point. With 13 seconds left in the third, Russo shot low and took Bradley down off a scramble to earn the two points and take the lead at 4-3. From there, Russo was able to ride out Bradley and secure the 4-3 victory and clinch the dual for RU, 16-13.
In his final match of the Northeast Duals, Russo earned a pin fall victory over Columbia’s Kevin Lester in 2:57. The fall gave Russo a team-leading six victories by pin fall on the season and improved his overall season record to 10-0, also the best on the team.
Russo and the rest of the Scarlet Knights return to action this Saturday, Dec. 5, when they head to Happy Valley, Pa. for the Nittany Lion Open hosted by Penn State.
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