"We have a great group of guys who are working very hard," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "I'm very proud of how they have wrestled so hard but as a group they know that they still need to get better."
The same eight wrestlers who picked up victories earlier in the day against the Scarlet Knights emerged victorious against Rider. After dropping the opening bout at 125, junior captain Matt Fisk put Lehigh on the scoreboard with bonus points, as he earned an 11-3 major decision over Matt Bradley. Fisk's second major decision win of the day helped offset a shocking loss by sophomore Mitch Berger at 125. Berger was leading Filiberto Colon 15-4 late in the third period when Colon hit a cement job and pinned Berger at the 6:29 mark.
"That was kind of an early surprise," said Santoro. "Berger went from going for a tech fall to getting pinned, but Fisk really stepped up. He did not touch a mat for two weeks but came out and wrestled hard and found a way to win."
Fisk's win was followed by back-to-back wins by decision as Seth Ciasulli edged Fred Rodgers 3-2 at 141 and Trevor Chinn won 6-2 over Nick Weaver at 149.
Rider's second and final win came at 157, before the Mountain Hawks won the final five bouts, all by decision to cement their tenth straight win to open the season.
After junior Mike Galante and sophomore Alex Caruso earned wins by decision for Lehigh, the stage was set for the featured bout of the night between junior David Craig and Rider's Doug Umbehauer at 184. The lead went back and forth and the match ended up in overtime. After neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period, Craig rode out Umbehauer in the first 30 second tiebreaker and then reversed him in the final seconds of the second tiebreaker period en route to an 8-6 win.
The final two bouts went the Mountain Hawks way as freshman Joe Kennedy was impressive in a 12-5 win over Tyler Smith at 197 and Zach Rey closed the dual with an 8-4 win over Ed Bordas.
Earlier in the day Lehigh rolled to a 27-6 victory over Rutgers winning eight of ten bouts, including wins by major decision for Fisk, Chinn and Kennedy.
The Mountain Hawks will now have another break of nearly two weeks before they return to the mats on Friday, January 2, when Lehigh visits West Virginia. The match is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. from the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Lehigh's first dual of the new year will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as online at Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
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