"D.J. has been doing great things for us all year and he came through again," said Rutgers head wrestling coach Scott Goodale. "It doesn't get any better than that when a heavyweight earns a pin to win the match. I was proud the way the guys hung tough and battled back. Anytime you can get a win against a strong program like American, that is special."
The victory extends RU's school-record victory total to 19 as the Scarlet Knights improved to 19-5 on the season and 7-1 in the EIWA. Rutgers also handed American its first loss in the conference as the Eagles fell to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in the EIWA. The Scarlet Knights posted their eighth victory in their past nine dual meets and handed the Eagles their first loss in five matches.
Down 17-13 entering the evening's final bout at heavyweight, Russo jumped out on top early and pinned Pruett in 3:06 to give the Scarlet Knights' their first lead of the evening and the lead at the end.
American jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with victories in the first two bouts at 125 and 133 pounds. American's Thomas Williams escaped with a 6-4 decision over RU's Matt Fusco (Belleville, N.J.) at 125 pounds before American's Jasen Borshoff posted an 8-2 decision over Rutgers' Mike DeMarco (Lyndhurst, N.J.) at 133 pounds.
Freshman Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.) picked up the Scarlet Knights' first victory of the match, earning a 10-5 decision over American's Matt Mariacher at 141 pounds to cut the lead in half.
Rutgers and American traded major decisions at 149 and 157 with a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers on the winning end. At 149 pounds, American's Kyle Borshoff, ranked 12th nationally, posted an 11-0 major decision over RU's Kellen Bradley (Newton, N.J.). The Scarlet Knights got those four points right back at 157 pounds when freshman Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.), ranked 11th nationally, used a two-point takedown as time expired in the bout to earn a 9-1 major decision over Patrick Graham to cut the Eagles' lead back to three points. Winston added to his team-leading victory total with his 33rd win of the season – one of the best in the nation.
RU continued its momentum in the next bout with senior Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) earning a 6-3 decision over American's Christopher Stout at 165 pounds to tie the match up at 10-10 through six bouts.
Pletcher's win was the 71st of his career, moving him into a tie a tie for 23rd place on the Rutgers all-time wins chart. He is 71-43 in his career.
The Eagles' Mike Cannon, ranked second in the nation, put American back on top with a 14-2 major decision at 174 pounds.
The Scarlet Knights came right back with a 4-1 decision by McPaul Ogbonna (East Hanover, N.J.) over American's Andy Semple at 184 pounds to draw within one point at 14-13.
American built a four-point lead as Andrew Silber earned a 7-2 decision over Mahmoud at 197 pounds prior to set up the final-bout dramatics.
Prior to the match, the Scarlet Knights honored their three seniors – Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.), Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) and Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) – in a special ceremony.
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Annapolis, Md. next Friday to face Navy at 7:00 p.m.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now