Four Mountain Hawks posted perfect 3-0 records on the day as Lehigh improves to 4-3 overall and 1-1 against EIWA opponents.
"We've been right there the last few weeks," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "It's nice to finally pull through and get big wins. We found ways to win matches late when we were down early. Our team has shown a lot of heart all year, now we're getting some 'W's to show for it."
Saturday's first dual against Central Michigan was tightly contested, with six of the ten bouts decided by one or two points. Lehigh won seven of ten bouts overall, highlighted by a first period pin by senior Joey Napoli over Luke Smith at 157. Napoli had scored a takedown and was tilting Smith for near fall points when Smith's shoulders caught the mat and the fall was called at the 2:51 mark.
Napoli went 3-0 on the day as did sophomore Mason Beckman who used riding time advantage to defeat Joe Roth 2-1 in a battle of ranked wrestlers at 133.
Freshman Elliot Riddick defeated a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers at 174 en route to a 3-0 day. Riddick started his day with a 3-1 decision over No. 14 Mike Ottinger of Central Michigan. Riddick secured a takedown in the final seconds of the second period which proved to be the difference.
Freshman Zach Diekel clinched the match with the Chippewas with a 6-2 decision over Austin Severn at 184.
The dual with Virginia, Lehigh raced to a 13-3 lead after five bouts before the Cavaliers mounted a comeback. A tiebreaker win for Zach Nye over sophomore Jon Bolich meant that the dual would come down to heavyweights. Freshman Doug Vollaro scored spin-behind takedown against Ethan Hayes for the decisive 4-2 sudden victory decision, one of his three wins on the day and the first three official victories of his college career.
Earlier against Virginia, Laike Gardner scored a takedown 24 seconds into sudden victory to defeat 11th-ranked Joe Spisak at 141. Napoli fell behind Blaise Butler 4-0 in the first period but rallied for an 8-7 win. Napoli gave up a reversal late in the third period, then reversed back and gained a 1:03 riding time advantage for the decisive point.
Riddick downed his second ranked wrestler of the day, scoring a pair of third period takedowns to defeat No. 17 Stephen Doty 4-3.
"Elliot has a great gas tank," Santoro said. "You don't see it if you make weight the wrong way. Today you saw it. He needed two takedowns in the second match and he got them. He got five takedowns in the third period of the last two matches and that was key."
Lehigh won four of the first five bouts against Columbia to lead 12-3 halfway, but the Lions battled back after Josh Houldsworth pinned Billy Ramsey, who was filling in for freshman Brian Brill at 165, to cut Lehigh's lead to 12-9.
Beginning with Riddick's third win of the day, an 8-4 decision over Shane Hughes, Lehigh captured the final four bouts of the day. Diekel delivered the only bonus points for the Mountain Hawks against the Lions as he used an eight-point second period to post a 13-5 major decision over Troy Hembury.
Bolich notched his first win of the day over Mike Fetchet at 197, using a reversal and three point near fall in the second set of tiebreakers to win 6-2 and clinch Lehigh's third win of the day. Vollaro closed things out with a 2-0 decision over Wyatt Baker at heavyweight.
"We won a lot of matches in the third period today," Santoro said. "That's something every coach wants to see. We've been so close so many times. Before we were getting on a leg late and not finishing but now we're finishing those shots.
He concluded, "We're still making mistakes, but the fight's there. That's the most important part."
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Sunday, December 8 when they visit EIWA rival Penn at 2 p.m. at the Palestra. The match will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as ESPNLV.com.
Lehigh 24, Central Michigan 9
125 – Cory Keener (CMU) dec. Artem Timchenko (Lehigh) 7-3
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Joe Roth (CMU) 2-1
141 – Zach Horan (CMU) dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh) 3-1
149 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Scott Mattingly (CMU) 5-4
157 – Joey Napoli (Lehigh) Fall Luke Smith (CMU) 2:51
165 – Brian Brill (Lehigh) dec. Nick Becker (CMU) 7-3
174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Mike Ottinger (CMU) 3-1
184 – Zach Diekel (Lehigh) dec. Austin Severn (CMU) 6-2
197 – Jackson Lewis (CMU) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 3-1
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Adam Robinson (CMU) 4-3
Lehigh 19, Virginia 14
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Nick Hermann (UVa) 4-2
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) major dec. Joe Martinez (UVa) 10-1
141 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Joe Spisak (UVa) 7-5, s.v.
149 – Gus Sako (UVa) dec. Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) 3-2
157 – Joey Napoli (Lehigh) dec. Blaise Butler (UVa) 8-7
165 – Nick Sulzer (UVa) tech fall Brian Brill (Lehigh) 20-5, 6:28
174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Stephen Doty (UVa) 4-3
184 – James Suvak (UVa) dec, Zach Diekel (Lehigh) 5-4
197 – Zach Nye (UVa) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 3-1, t.b.
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Ethan Hayes (UVa) 4-2, s.v.
Lehigh 25, Columbia 9
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Penn Gottfried (Columbia) 3-1
133 – Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Angelo Amenta (Columbia) 4-2
141 – Matt Bystol (Columbia) dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh) 3-2
149 – Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Connor Sutton (Columbia) 9-4
157 – Joey Napoli (Lehigh) dec. Markus Scheidel (Columbia) 3-2
165 – Josh Houldsworth (Columbia) Fall Billy Ramsey (Lehigh) 2:24
174 – Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Shane Hughes (Columbia) 8-4
184 – Zach Diekel (Lehigh) major dec. Troy Hembury (Columbia) 13-5
197 – John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Mike Fetchet (Columbia) 6-2, s.v. 2
285 – Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Wyatt Baker (Columbia) 2-0
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