RU opened the day with a 39-0 shutout over US Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). Redshirt heavyweight sophomore DJ Russo (Netong, N.J.), freshman 141-pounder Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.) and redshirt sophomore David Greenwald (Union, N.J.) at 149 all picked up falls for Rutgers, while freshman Matt Fusco (Belleville, N.J.) at 125, redshirt freshman Brian Bollette (Newton, N.J.) at 133, Winston at 157, senior Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) at 165, Whalen at 174 and sophomore McPaul Ogbonna (East Hanover, N.J.) at 184 all won by decision.
RU's next opponent was Army, which coming in had won six of the last seven matches in the series, including the previous four. The Black Knights jumped out to an early 6-0 lead before Fusco put RU on the board with a decision at 125. But Army rattled off three consecutive victories, including No. 12 Matt Kyler's pin of Greenwald at 149. Trailing 18-3, RU mounted an impressive comeback, starting with Winston's technical fall over Rudy Chelednik.
Pletcher followed that with a pin of Michael Gorman to bring Rutgers within four, at 18-14. Whalen came through with a huge victory at 174, defeating Erik Schott 7-1, putting the Scarlet Knights in position to win. After getting an early takedown and an early lead, Ogbonna held off a furious attack from Army's Jacob Vetter to win 3-2 and give RU the 20-18 victory.
In RU's final match of the night, the Scarlet Knights dropped the first bout, but won the rest, winning easily 44-3. Russo, Bollette, Melde, Greenwald, Winston and Orzechowski all picked up extra-point victories while sophomore Mike Demarco (Lyndhurst, N.J.) at 125, junior Matt Rigoglioso (Wayne, N.J.) at 165 and Whalen also won for Rutgers.
Army defeated BU 28-15 and USMMA 31-9 to finish 2-1 on the day. Boston defeated the Merchant Marines 20-18 to round out the wrestling action.
Rutgers returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 17, when it faces Virginia and UNC-Greensboro in Charlottesville, Va., before taking on Virginia Tech and VMI on Sunday, Jan. 18, in Blacksburg, Va.
PACK THE RAC:
On Jan. 24, Rutgers will face Rider at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Tickets for that match are on sale now. Fans can log on to www.ScarletKnights.com or call the Rutgers Ticket Office at 866-445-GORU. Reserved seating is 12 dollars, general admission is seven dollars and children under 12 and seniors are five dollars. Rutgers students enter free with their RU ID. Four of the top high school teams in the state (Queen of Peace, Howell, High Point and Long Branch) will wrestle at 3:00 p.m., followed by RU vs. Rider at 6:00 p.m.
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