Lehigh opened the day by downing Arizona State 24-10 before taking down Purdue 32-9. The Mountain Hawks benefitted from three forfeit wins in closing out the day with a 27-17 win over North Carolina to move to 4-2 on the dual season.
“The guys fought really hard,†said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “We had some guys wrestle up but they fought hard the whole time and that's what we wanted to see today, guys fighting hard in the third period. We won a lot of tight matches. It's a step in the right direction but we have a long way to go.â€
On a day when Lehigh went a combined 0-6 at 133 and 141, Beckman managed to give Lehigh three solid starts with three victories. Beckman's most impressive performance of the day was a 10-2 major decision over Purdue's Camden Eppert where he scored a first period takedown and two two-point near falls to build an early 6-1 lead.
In Saturday's opener against Arizona State, Lehigh used back-to-back one point victories to take control of the dual. Senior Kyle Rosser rallied to top Joel Smith 8-7 at 149 while senior Brian Tanen added 5-4 decision over Kyle DeBerry at 157 to give Lehigh a 9-7 lead over the Sun Devils at the halfway point.
Senior Brandon Hatchett had three bonus point wins on the day, opening with an impressive 21-6 technical fall over Hans Rasmusson at 165. Freshman Nate Brown followed with a thrilling sudden victory win over Eric Starks as 174. Tied 1-1 after nine minutes of wrestling, Brown took Starks down to his back for two plus a two-point near fall to win 5-1 in the second sudden victory period.
Hamlin and senior Joe Kennedy helped clinch the dual with wins at 184 and 197 respectively, but the celebration hit a snag when top-ranked senior Zach Rey was upset 5-1 by 11th-ranked Levi Cooper at heavyweight. Rey led 1-0 in the third period when Cooper reversed him onto his back for five points. Rey fought off a potential fall but dropped a 5-1 decision in his first dual meet loss since the 2009-10 season.
In its second dual of the day, Lehigh won the final seven bouts in an impressive 32-9 win over Purdue. Trailing 9-4 after three bouts, junior Shane Welsh stepped in at 149 and gave Lehigh the lead with a fall in 2:31 against Frankie Porras. Tanen followed with his second win of the day and Hatchett added win by major decision to help extend the Lehigh lead. Brown and Hamlin added wins by decision, and after a Boilermaker forfeit to Kennedy at 197, Rey bounced back with an 8-3 win over Roger Vukobratovich to close out Lehigh's second win of the day, breaking open a 3-3 match with a takedown and two-point near fall in the third period.
In its final dual, Lehigh was challenged by an undermanned North Carolina squad, but prevailed with help from Tar Heel forfeits at 165, 174 and 285. After Beckman opened the dual with a win over Brian Bokoski at 125, North Carolina posted four consecutive wins, including two technical falls and a major decision by Corey Mock over freshman Anthony Salupo, who bumped to 157 to give Tanen a rest, as the Tar Heels led 17-3 halfway. The Mountain Hawks won both bouts that were contested in the back half, which Hamlin winning a 4-2 decision over Alex Utley and Kennedy besting Nick Tenpenny 6-2.
“The key was we scored a lot on the edge of the mat today,†Santoro explained. “We scored at the end of periods. That's crucial in matches. We have to continue to improve because we have our hands full next week.â€
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Sunday, December 4 when they visit Penn in their first EIWA dual meet of the season. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start from the famed Palestra in Philadelphia. The match will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as online at Lehighsports.com.
No. 6 Lehigh 25, Arizona State 10
125: Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Dalton Miller (Arizona State), 4-2
133: Shane McGough (Arizona State) dec. Alex Abreu (Lehigh), 4-0
141: Nathan Hoffer (Arizona State) maj. dec. James Carucci (Lehigh), 10-0
149: Kyle Rosser (Lehigh) dec. Joel Smith (Arizona State), 8-7
157: Brian Tannen (Lehigh) dec. Kyle DeBerry (Arizona State), 5-4
174: Nate Brown (Lehigh) dec. Eric Starks (Arizona State), 3-1
184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) maj. dec. Kevin Radford (Arizona State), 10-2
197: No. 9 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) dec. Tommy Burriel (Arizona State), 3-2
285: No. 11 Levi Cooper (Arizona State) dec. No. 1 Zack Rey (Lehigh), 5-1
No. 6 Lehigh 32, No. 24 Purdue 9
125: Mason Beckman (Lehigh) maj. dec. Camden Eppert (Purdue), 10-2
133: Matt Fields (Purdue) pinned Chris Dinnien (Lehigh), 2:52
141: Jake Fleckenstein (Purdue) dec. James Carucci (Lehigh), 8-3
149: Shane Welsh (Lehigh) pinned Frankie Porras (Purdue), 2:30
157: Brian Tannen (Lehigh) dec. Tommy Churchard (Purdue), 6-1
165: No. 9 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) maj. dec. Kyle Mosier (Purdue), 10-2
174: Nate Brown (Lehigh) dec. Andrew Wiseman (Purdue), 4-1
184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. Braden Atwood (Purdue), 13-7
197: No. 9 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) won by forfeit
285: No. 1 Zack Rey (Lehigh) dec. Roger Vukobratovich (Purdue), 7-3
No. 6 Lehigh 27, North Carolina 17
125: Mason Beckman (Lehigh) dec. Brian Bokoski (North Carolina), 12-8
133: Brock Livorio (North Carolina) tech. fall Chris Dinnien (Lehigh), 5:00
141: No. 14 Evan Henderson (North Carolina) tech. fall James Carucci (Lehigh), 3:10
149: Jon Burns (North Carolina) dec. Kyle Rosser (Lehigh), 7-3
157: Corey Mock (North Carolina) maj. dec. Anthony Salupo (Lehigh), 13-2
165: No. 9 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) won by forfeit
174: Nate Brown (Lehigh) won by forfeit
184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. Alex Utley (North Carolina), 4-2
197: No. 9 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) dec. Nick Tenpenny (North Carolina), 6-2
285: No. 1 Zack Rey (Lehigh) won by forfeit
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