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    Lehigh takes down Rutgers

    BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- In its final dual of the season, No. 11 Lehigh took seven of 10 bouts from visiting Rutgers to defeat the 12th-ranked Scarlet Knights 23-10 Friday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall as part of the NWCA National Duals Championship Series. Junior Darian Cruz and senior Mitch Minotti posted wins by major decision, but it was an overtime win from freshman Andrew Price at 184 that helped Lehigh clinch its 10th win and avenge a three-point loss at Rutgers last season in the same National Duals Championship Series event.

    With the win, Lehigh closes the dual meet season at 10-4, clinching the Mountain Hawks' 18th consecutive season with at least 10 dual meet wins. Rutgers heads into the Big Ten Tournament with a 12-5 dual season.

    "It was a really good Rutgers team and they came to wrestle tonight," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "There were a lot of really good matches and our guys just fought really hard. I was really pleased with the way we wrestled. A lot of guys grew tonight."

    Lehigh claimed the first two bouts on the night and five of the first six to build a 17-3 advantage through 165, then won overtime matches in two of the final three weight classes to close out the dual campaign.
    2/17/2017 Wrestling vs. Rutgers, 2/17/17 Wrestling vs. Rutgers, 2/17/17

    Darian Cruz opened the dual with an 18-4 major decision over Brandon Paetzell at 125. Cruz scored three first period takedowns plus a two-point near fall to lead 8-2 after one period and hit a cement mixer in the third, nearly pinning Paetzell. He opted to cut Paetzell loose late in the third and couldn't pick up the one takedown that would have given him the technical fall.

    Sophomore Scott Parker made it two straight wins for the Mountain Hawks, using a third period pancake to take down Scott DelVecchio to break a 1-1 tie at 133. A 1:29 riding time advantage resulted in a 4-2 victory for Parker.

    Rutgers posted its first win at 141 as fifth-ranked Anthony Ashnault defeated 16th-ranked senior Randy Cruz 4-0 in a battle of All-Americans. Ashnault escaped in the second period and added a takedown in the same frame plus 1:08 riding time for the scoring in the bout.

    A pair of similarly-ranked fifth-year seniors met at 149 and after yielding the first takedown, Lehigh's Laike Gardner battled back for a 7-3 win over Ken Theobold. A late first period score had Gardner up 3-2 after one. He led 4-3 after two on the strength of a penalty point for stalling and then reversed Theobold early in the third and rode out for the victory.

    Junior Drew Longo gave Lehigh a 13-3 lead going into intermission with a come-from-behind 2-1 decision over No. 17 John Van Brill at 157. Trailing 1-0 in the third, Longo scored a reversal and then rode out, erasing Van Brill's riding time advantage to hold on for the one point victory.

    "Drew's such a leader on our team," Santoro said. "That's why he's one of our captains. We talked about it a month ago. He wanted to do the drop. He felt it tonight, but Drew has been there a thousand times and he can keep wrestling when he's in that situation."

    Minotti's second major decision in as many duals extended Lehigh's lead to 17-6 as he downed Willie Scott 13-5 at 165. An early cradle resulted in a six-point move for Minotti who added three more takedowns in his bout, yielding just an escape in each period plus a takedown in the final seconds with the major already secured.

    The Scarlet Knights gained hope towards a comeback following an upset win at 174 as Jordan Pagano knocked off fourth-ranked sophomore Ryan Preisch 10-4. Preisch led 2-0 early but a surprise headlock from Pagano stunned Preisch for two-and-two. Pagano kept Preisch at bay with takedowns in the second and third periods to hand Preisch just his third loss of the season.

    Within 17-6 with three bouts remaining, Rutgers bumped up No. 13 Nicholas Gravina to 197 and sent out Phil Bakuckas to face Price at 184. The match was low scoring and had minimal scoring attempts with the bout tied 1-1 through regulation with Price receiving the only warning. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Price rode Bakuckas, who had recently moved up from 174, out in the first half of the tiebreaker and then escaped early in the second half of the period and used solid defense to close out the clinching victory.

    "He did a great job," Santoro said of Price. "Things happen in dual meets. We've seen that over the years. Everybody came out and wrestled extremely hard, to a man. We were really pleased with that. It's a good way to finish up the dual season with a win like this."

    Gravina picked up the only bonus win for Rutgers, claiming an 11-2 major decision over sophomore Thomas Murray at 197.

    Senior heavyweight Doug Vollaro closed the dual with a 3-1, sudden victory win over Rahzonn Gross.

    "Any time you can get a win over a team like Rutgers it's a great win," Santoro said. "They're doing a great job. It was a fun dual. It was really good to finish with a good Big Ten team and now we move forward with our eyes on March right now."

    Lehigh will now shift focus towards the 113th EIWA Championships, March 3-4 at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion.

    Results:
    125 - Darian Cruz (Lehigh) major dec. Brandon Paetzell (Rutgers) 18-4
    133 - Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec. Scott DelVecchio (Rutgers) 4-2
    141 - Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh) 4-0
    149 - Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Ken Theobold (Rutgers) 7-3
    157 - Drew Longo (Lehigh) dec. John Van Brill (Rutgers) 2-1
    165 - Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) major dec. Willie Scott (Rutgers) 13-5
    174 - Jordan Pagano (Rutgers) dec. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) 10-4
    184 - Andrew Price (Lehigh) dec. Phil Bakuckas (Rutgers) 2-1, tb
    197 - Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) major dec. Thomas Murray (Lehigh) 11-2
    285 - Doug Vollaro (Lehigh) dec. Razohnn Gross (Rutgers) 3-1, sv

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