"Lock Haven finished in the top-15 in the country last year, so it's always going to be a strong opponent," head coach Steve Martin said after the win. "I've been saying all along if we can get all 10 of our wrestlers going, we can be dangerous, and this is probably the first night that I've seen all 10 get going."
The Bald Eagles started the night with a 6-0 advantage after No. 14 Luke Werner earned a 4-2 win by decision over No. 16 Killian Cardinale of ODU at 125 pounds, followed by a win by decision from No. 29 DJ Fehlman over Shannon Hanna II, 5-4 in a tie-breaker round in the 133-pound bout.
The momentum shifted in the Monarchs' favor in the very next match however, as No. 18 Sa'Derian Perry and No. 15 Kyle Shoop faced off against each other in a battle of All-Americans. Perry earned the first points of the bout with a takedown in the first period, and never relinquished the lead. He earned another takedown in the second period, added another point on a penalty and came away with a 5-4 win by decision to put ODU on the board.
In the next bout, Kenan Carter gave his team the lead with a pin over Austin Wilson after four minutes and four seconds of action. The pin, Carter's fourth of the season, gave his team six points to jump over Lock Haven on the scoreboard, 9-6.
The third of three total ranked matchups came in the 157-pound battle between No. 12 Larry Early and No. 15 Alex Klucker. The two combatants went into the second period scoreless, but that changed quickly, as Early earned a reversal over the NCAA qualifier from a year ago to take a 2-0 lead. Klucker escaped to earn a point, but that was all he'd get in the match. Early took him down for an additional two points in the third period to earn the 4-1 win by decision and to give ODU the six-point advantage.
After intermission, the Monarchs would win four of the remaining five bouts in the match. At 165 pounds, Shane Jones looked overmatched against Austin Bell after Bell accumulated 2:00 minutes of riding time in the second period. Jones managed to catch a second wind in the third period however, as he started the frame on top and never let Bell escape. He earned two four-point nearfalls in the period to earn bonus points with an 8-0 win by major decision.
At 174 pounds, No. 31 Jared Siegrist managed to stop ODU's four-bout win streak with a 6-0 win by decision over freshman Alex Cramer, but that would be the last Bald Eagle victory of the evening.
Senior Antonio Agee earned a 7-2 win by decision over Ray Benot in the 184-pound bout to give ODU a 10-point advantage at 19-9.
Tim Young's 197-pound bout proved to everyone in the home crowd that every second matters in wrestling, as the Monarch senior was facing a 1-0 loss against Lock Haven's Parker McClellan before a late reversal changed the outcome. McClellan chose the top position to start the third period, and managed to ride Young for one minute and 57 seconds before Young pulled off his reversal with three seconds on the clock to earn the 2-1 win by decision.
With the score 22-8 in favor of the Monarchs, the Bald Eagles didn't send a heavyweight combatant out to face ODU's Will Hilliard. Instead, Lock Haven forfeited the bout, to bring the final score to 28-7 in favor of ODU, after the Bald Eagles lost a point for controlling the mat, their second controlling the mat penalty of the evening.
"We've got to be ready on Sunday because we've got Rider, who is a better team than Lock Haven, and Lock Haven was pretty tough," Martin said. "We're satisfied with the win, but we continue to look forward."
Up Next
The Monarchs are right back on the mats this upcoming Sunday, January 19, when they welcome No. 25 Rider to Chartway Arena. Like Lock Haven, Rider is a MAC East Division opponent so this match will go a long way into determining the final regular season standings.
Results:
125: No. 14 Luke Werner (LHU) dec. over No. 16 Killian Cardinale (ODU) 4-2
133: No. 29 DJ Fehlman (Lock Haven) dec. over Shannon Hanna (ODU) 5-4 (TB-1)
141: No. 18 Sa`Derian Perry (ODU) dec. over #15 Kyle Shoop (LHU) 5-4
149: Kenan Carter (ODU) fall over Austin Wilson (LHU) 4:04
157: #12 Larry Early (ODU) dec. over #15 Alexander Klucker (LHU) 4-1
165: Shane Jones (ODU) MD over Austin Bell (LHU) 8-0
174: #31Jared Siegrist (LHU) dec. over #31 Alex Cramer (ODU) 6-0
184: Antonio Agee (ODU) dec. over Raymond Bernot (LHU) 7-2
197: Timothy Young (ODU) dec. over Parker McClellan (LHU) 2-1
285: William Hilliard (ODU) over Unknown (LHU) (For.)
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