“All 10 guys that we put out there won, and that's what we wanted to do,†Goodale said following RU's 34-0 blanking of Michigan State, the program's first shutout in a Big Ten Conference match. “Those first three were really, really important.â€
The victory guarantees Rutgers' 10th consecutive winning season and matches the team's Big Ten win total from a year ago.
Consecutive decisions from Sean McCabe (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.), No. 19 Anthony Giraldo (Guttenberg, N.J.), and No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) from 125-141 pounds gave RU a 9-0 lead and got things going for the 3,360 fans at the RAC.
But Tyson Dippery (Harrisburg, N.J.) sent a jolt into the crowd with an 18-0 tech fall, scoring 14 near fall points for his 11th win of the year.
Following the win by Dippery, the Scarlet Knights (11-2, 2-1 Big Ten) settled in with six more victories, including major decisions at 184 pounds from Anthony Pafumi (Westfield, N.J.) and No.16-ranked heavyweight Billy Smith (Wantage, N.J.).
“Most of these guys have been through the Big Ten, so they know what to expect,†Goodale said. “They've been through the Big Ten season and the grind. That's the biggest thing, the maturation process from all of them.â€
Pafumi (7-5), wrestling up and seeing his first dual action since Nov. 21 in Corvalis, Ore., showed no signs of rust in a 15-3 win over Schwan Shadaia. After a scoreless first period Pafumi broke things open in the final four minutes of the match.
For the second consecutive B1G dual, Smith (16-5) closed out with a win, sealing a major with a takedown in the third period before winning, 11-1. The win was the 90th of his career.
Also reaching a milestone was Hayden Hrymack (Point Pleasant, N.J.) at 197 pounds. Hrymack scored a takedown after a restart with 1:19 to go in the third and rode out Joseph Cooper for the 4-2 victory – the 50th of his career.
No. 15 Richie Lewis (Toms River, N.J.) and No. 10 Anthony Perrotti (Roseland, N.J.) improved their impressive dual records with convincing decisions at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Lewis (15-3) is now 9-1 in dual action after his 8-3 win over Joseph Johnson, while Perrotti (13-2) owns the second-best dual record at 11-1. Ashnault won his 18th match of the year to improve to a team-best 18-1 and 12-0 in dual matches.
Phillip Bakuckas (Hammonton, N.J.) stayed consistent after a fifth-place Midlands Championships showing with an 8-3 win over Shane Shadaia. Two third-period takedowns put it away, making the Hammonton, N.J., native 11-7 on the year.
Next up for Rutgers is No. 23 Minnesota. The Scarlet Knights travel to take on the Golden Gophers (5-5, 1-1) on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. The match will stream live on BTN Plus.
“I think we can wrestle with anybody in the conference,†Goodale said. “We feel good about the schedule that's out in front of us, but we feel good about what we did out of conference too. We feel like we can win all of them from here on out, but at the same time we have to wrestle really, really good to do that.â€
Results:
125: Sean McCabe (RU) dec. over Mitch Rogaliner (MSU) 3-2; Rutgers leads 3-0
133: No. 19/NR/18 Anthony Giraldo (RU) dec. over Garth Yenter (MSU) 4-0; Rutgers leads 6-0
141: No. 4/4/5 Anthony Ashnault (RU) dec. over Javier Gasca III (MSU) 4-3; Rutgers leads 9-0
149: Tyson Dippery (RU) tech fall over Kaelan Richards (MSU) 18-0; Rutgers leads 14-0
157: No. 15/15/14 Richie Lewis (RU) dec. over Joseph Johnson (MSU) 8-3; Rutgers leads 17-0
165: No. 10/6/4 Anthony Perrotti (RU) dec. over Dean Vettese (MSU) 5-1; Rutgers leads 20-0
174: No. NR/20/NR Phillip Bakuckas (RU) dec. over Shane Shadaia (MSU) 8-3; Rutgers leads 23-0
184: Anthony Pafumi (RU) dec. over Schwan Shadaia (MSU) 15-3; Rutgers leads 27-0
197: Hayden Hrymack (RU) dec. over Joseph Cooper (MSU) 4-2; Rutgers leads 30-0
285: No. 16/16/15 Billy Smith (RU) major dec. over Dimitrus Renfroe (MSU) 11-1; Rutgers wins 34-0Â
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