The win improves Lehigh's dual record to 10-3, marking the 19th straight season that the Mountain Hawks won at least 10 duals. Arizona State falls to 10-3 with Lehigh's win snapping a 10-dual Sun Devil winning streak.
"Arizona State is a good team so we knew coming in we were going to have to wrestle well," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "It was nice having those three guys back. It had been a while since we had our full team, so it's nice to have everyone back in the lineup and healthy."
Lehigh opened the dual with four straight wins to take a 13-0 lead. At 125, senior Darian Cruz improved to 20-0 on the season and picked up career win 110 with an 8-3 decision over Ryan Millhof. Cruz scored a first period takedown and added a four point near fall in the second to build some cushion as he avenged a loss to Millhof in the round of 12 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Junior Scott Parker returned to the lineup at 133 and gutted out a 6-4 sudden victory decision over Ali Naser in a battle of ranked wrestlers. Naser scored the first takedown but Parker responded with one in the second period and scored the bout-winner off a single leg shot in the overtime period.
"Naser has been wrestling really well and this was Scotty's first dual in a long time, and it was a big matchup," Santoro said. "We knew it would be a tight match, and it was. Scotty just fought through it and found a way to win in overtime."
Freshman Luke Karam made it three straight wins for Lehigh, using a third period escape and takedown to knock off Nikko Villarreal 3-0 at 141.
Schuyler was matched up with eighth-ranked Jason Tsirtsis at 149. Tsirtsis was a NCAA Champion and two-time All-American at Northwestern, but Schuyler struck early, throwing Tsirtsis to his back for a takedown and two point near fall. The wrestlers traded reversals in the second period but Schuyler added another takedown in the third and totaled 5:11 of riding time advantage in the 11-3 major decision.
"What was really key was that he just kept wrestling the whole time," Santoro said of Schuyler's performance. "He had a four point lead and really kept trying to build that lead and ended up with a major, which is really big. Especially in this dual meet because we knew it could come down to bonus points."
Arizona State crept back into the dual with three straight victories. Sixth-ranked Josh Shields got the Sun Devils on the board, using a third period takedown to beat junior Ian Brown 3-1 at 157, putting Lehigh up 13-3 at intermission.
Coming out of the break, Anthony Valencia used three big moves to lead junior Gordon Wolf 16-4 after one period at 165. Wolf scored a takedown to open the second and spent the rest of the match furiously looking for turns from the top position. Wolf earned the riding time point but was unable score any turns as Valencia claimed a 16-7 major decision.
Top-ranked Zahid Valencia capped the ASU run with an 11-4 decision over sophomore Jordan Kutler at 174. Valencia struck for three quick takedowns in the first period, but Kutler battled in the second half of the match to avoid giving up the bonus point.
Preisch returned to dual action for the first time since mid-December with an 8-0 major decision over Kendall Norfleet. Preisch scored an early takedown and added a four point near fall to lead 6-0 after one, and added a second period escape plus riding time advantage.
"Ryan had a bit of a hard time getting to the legs," Santoro said. "That's really a time-on-the-mat thing. Once he gets on the mats more and is able to compete more, he'll get to those legs more."
Freshman Chris Weiler clinched the dual for the Mountain Hawks with an impressive 15-0 technical fall over Cade Belshay at 197. Weiler scored an early takedown and tilted Belshay four times, twice for four points and twice for two with the final two-pointer, plus a penalty point for an illegal hold, clinching the technical fall at the end of the first period.
The Sun Devils claimed the final bout by the tightest of margins as ninth-ranked Tanner Hall edged No. 12 Jordan Wood at 285. The match was tied 3-3 after 11 minutes. In the end a five second riding time advantage for Hall at the end of the second set of tiebreakers gave him the victory.
"The guys stayed focused," Santoro said. "We had some matches that stung us the last few weeks. It was important for us to come out here and have a good performance against a really good team."
The Mountain Hawks will close out the dual season with two home matches next weekend inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh will host Oklahoma Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and will then face Pitt on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets to both duals are still available and can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
Results:
125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Ryan Millhof (ASU) 8-3
133 – Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec. Ali Naser (ASU) 6-4, sv
141 – Luke Karam (Lehigh) dec. Nikko Villarreal (ASU) 3-0
149 – Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) major dec. Jason Tsirtsis (ASU) 11-3
157 – Josh Shields (ASU) dec. Ian Brown (Lehigh) 3-1
165 – Anthony Valencia (ASU) major dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) 16-7
174 – Zahid Valencia (ASU) dec. Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) 11-4
184 – Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) major dec. Kendall Norfleet (ASU) 8-0
197 – Chris Weiler (Lehigh) tech fall Cade Belshay (ASU) 15-0, 3:00
285 – Tanner Hall (ASU) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh) 3-3, tb2, rt
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