"They wrestled very hard tonight," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We're really coming together as a team now. It's 10 guys out there wrestling for the other 30."
The first bout of the match set the tone for an exciting evening at Stabler. Lehigh's John McDonald fell behind early in the first period, trailing by four points after a takedown and a near fall by Michael Watts gave the Wolverine the early cushion. McDonald continued to fight throughout the match, coming within inches of flipping Watts over to score a near fall, but the freshman Mountain Hawk was never able to overcome the early hole and fell 7-3.
Needing to make up for the 3-0 deficit, junior captain Matt Fisk took over in the second bout to swing the lead back over to Lehigh. Leading 3-1 at the start of the third Period, Fisk turned into a scoring machine in the final stanza. The captain controlled Michigan's Zac Stevens after moving in for a quick takedown, and never lost his position atop the Wolverine. After a near fall, riding time and multiple stalling calls against Stevens, Fisk had ran away for the 11-1 major decision.
"That was a big one," Santoro said. "It really opened up the night for us. He had that moment where it was give and take but then he opened it up."
Junior Seth Ciasulli had the cards stacked against him at 141 when he faced off with the No. 5 wrestler in the country at that weight in Kellen Russell. But Ciasulli gave the Stabler Arena fans everything they could ask for as he hung in with the Wolverine for the entire bout. Trailing 4-1 late in the match, Ciasulli scored three unanswered points in a strange sequence of events that brought the Mountain Hawks fans to their feet. On a shot attempt by the Lehigh junior, Russell tried to escape by slipping out of bounds, drawing a penalty for fleeing the mat. With the clock winding down, referee George Chilmonik called consecutive stalling penalties (one warning had already been issued) against Russell, including one in the final second of the bout to pull the wrestlers even. But in the overtime period, it was Russell who was able to shoot in and score a takedown for the 6-4 sudden victory.
Lehigh answered again at 149 win Trevor Chinn dominated Justin Chrzanowski at 149. Chinn, the No. 14 wrestler in his class executed a perfect strategy of taking down Chrzanowski and letting him escape only to take him down again. Chinn seemingly scored at will throughout the bout and racked up the points in a 17-5 major decision to give the Mountain Hawks an 8-6 lead.
"It feels great," Chinn said of his team's performance in the match. "It's a far cry from last year with all its ups and downs. We feel like we have a solid lineup and everyone is wrestling for everyone else."
At 157, the Mountain Hawks continued to pour the pressure on the Wolverines as Sean Bilodeau scored a key victory for the Brown and White. Bilodeau grabbed a big reversal at the start of the third period to move the score to 4-2. Then, the freshman from Massachusetts almost lost control as he slipped over Michigan's Aaron Hynes' shoulders, but he regained his positioning and flipped the Wolverine over for a near fall in an eventual 7-3 win heading into the intermission.
After the break, Mike Galante gave the Mountain Hawks the necessary breathing room they needed heading into the final bouts of the night by scoring an 11-5 decision over Justin Zeerip at 165. Galante scored a big takedown at the end of the second period to grab a 5-3 lead and never looked back as he became one of three Mountain Hawks to improve to 3-0 on the season.
The marquee match of the night pitted No. 13 Alex Caruso against No. 1 Steve Luke at 174. Caruso fell behind early in the match and was never able to mount an attack against the top wrestler from Michigan. Every time Caruso went in for a shot attempt, Luke was there to defend it, and the Wolverine held on for the 5-3 decision.
That put the pressure on David Craig to take care of business at 184. The junior from Brandon, Fla. was the last true favorite in the match for the Mountain Hawks, and with a five-point lead going in, Lehigh needed a win from Craig to feel good about its chances. Craig looked frustrated at the outset as his shot attempts failed, but he was able to swing in for the takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining in the first period to take the 2-0 lead. That was all the cushion Craig would need as he pulled away for the 6-0 victory.
Joe Kennedy just had to avoid a disaster at 197 to preserve the lead for the Mountain Hawks. The freshman did his part in a losing effort, avoiding a fall or a major decision against the No. 3 wrestler at that weight class, Tyrel Todd. Todd had bonus points in mind the entire match, but Kennedy fed off the enthusiastic crowd and earned a productive 8-3 loss.
All Zach Rey had to do in the final bout of the night was avoid a pin, but the freshman did even more than that. Rey grabbed a big takedown with 30 seconds left in the match to take a 3-1 lead and hold on for the victory as the Stabler Arena crowd rose to its feet to cheer on the home team in the upset.
"The crowd had a lot to do with it tonight," Chinn said. "They got behind us early and we just got rolling from there."
Lehigh returns to action Sunday afternoon when the Mountain Hawks host Princeton at 1 p.m. at Leeman-Turner Arena in Grace Hall. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Lehigh ticket office, located in Grace Hall prior to Sunday's match.
Bonus points: Lehigh welcomed back more than 50 wrestlers and coaches for a pre-match social and alumni parade before the Michigan match, honoring grapplers from every decade since the 1950s…Friday's match against Michigan marked the first time Lehigh wrestled a dual meet in Stabler Arena since Dec. 7, 2007 against Penn State…Lehigh and Michigan have now met in dual meets in 32-consecutive years…Friday's dual meet was designated the 2008-09 Sheridan Dual, in honor of Lehigh's legendary wrestling coach Billy Sheridan…During the intermission, fans were treated to two exhibition matches between women's wrestlers from the United States and Canadian wrestling federations. The Americans won both matches, with Deanna Rix (South Berwich, Maine) earning a fall over Amanda Gerhardt (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) and Elena Pirozkhov (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earning a decision over Megan Buydens (Saskatoon, Sask., Canada).
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