11/17/2017 9:58:00 PM
|
Wrestling
Mountain Hawks open home schedule with 27-14 win over No. 24 Edinboro
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Wrestling without two of its top guns, No. 10 Lehigh posted bonus points in five of six victories Friday night to knock off No. 24 Edinboro 27-14 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
Junior
Scott Parker continued to enjoy success in his recent run against ranked opposition while classmate
Gordon Wolf posted another high-scoring, come-from-behind win, this one coming against a ranked foe. The win improves Lehigh's early-season record to 2-0, while Edinboro falls to 2-1.
Three of the four freshmen wrestling their first official Lehigh bouts in Grace Hall picked up impressive victories, starting with
Jordan Wood, who opened the dual with a 9-0 win over Jon Spaulding, who was subbing for Edinboro's ranked heavyweight Billy Miller. Wood scored a takedown in each period plus a second period escape and penalty point for stalling plus a 3:29 riding time advantage to stake Lehigh to a 4-0 lead.
Freshman
Aaron Burkett, subbing for senior
Darian Cruz at 125, was upended by eighth-ranked Sean Russell, who claimed a 19-4 technical fall in 5:29 to give the Fighting Scots a 5-4 advantage.
Parker, ranked third at 133, took on 11th ranked Korbin Meyers, who struck for an early takedown to go up 2-0. Parker battled back with a takedown at the first period buzzer to go up 3-2 and led 6-2 after two periods before pancaking Myers in the third and earning his first fall of the season at the 5:33 mark.
"Scotty is going to keep wrestling the whole match," Lehigh head coach
Pat Santoro said. "That's how he's won these last two matches. He just kept wrestling. He kept the heat on his opponent tonight and you saw him wear down in the third period. That was the difference."
Freshman
Luke Karam extended Lehigh's lead to 13-5 with a 6-1 decision over Nate Hagan at 141. Karam scored takedowns in the first and third periods, and rode out after that third period score to gain a 1:44 riding time advantage.
A pair of close decision going into and coming out of intermission allowed Edinboro to creep within 13-11 with four bouts remaining. At 149, senior
Jonathan Mele scored first, but Peter Pappas answered with three takedowns in the first period and held on at the end to win 11-10. Junior
Ian Brown also scored first in his match with Andrew Shomers at 157 but two escapes plus a second period takedown and riding time gave Shomers a 13-11 lead.
Wolf got Lehigh back on track with an impressive 16-8 major over ninth-ranked Austin Matthews at 165. Matthews scored the first takedown of the bout but after a penalty point for locked hands Wolf and he traded reversals. Wolf dominated on his feet and in scrambles from there, scoring a takedown of his own in the first and adding two more both the second and third periods plus over three minutes of riding time.
"Gordon gets better as the match goes on," Santoro said. "Once he starts tightening up that first period, he can compete with anybody in the country. He's learning, he's getting better, and he's done a nice job."
Sophomore
Jordan Kutler followed with a major decision of his own, scoring three takedowns in the first and three more in the third, the last of which clinched the major in the final seconds 14-5 over Fritz Hoehn at 174.
Edinboro picked up its final win at 184 as Dylan Reynolds defeated sophomore
Andrew Price, who stepped in for junior
Ryan Preisch, by a 5-2 score.
Freshman
Jake Jakobsen ended the dual on a high note for Lehigh, scoring an early takedown against Aaron Paddock and then locking up a cradle for the fall in just 52 seconds.
"Our freshmen did great," Santoro said. "
Luke Karam did a great job too. Three freshmen came out and did what we expected them to do. They wrestled really well but overall I do want to see more attacking (from everyone) and more offense. At times we were content to hang onto leads and that's something we'll have to fix as the season goes on. We're not going to win the big ones, in March, wrestling with inconsistent techniques."
The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up their opening home weekend on Sunday when they welcome No. 4 Michigan to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for a 1 p.m. match. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or at Grace Hall prior to Sunday's match.
No. 10 Lehigh 27, No. 24 Edinboro 14
285 –
Jordan Wood (Lehigh) major dec. Jon Spaulding (Edinboro) 9-0
125 – Sean Russell (Edinboro) tech fall
Aaron Burkett (Lehigh) 19-4, 5:29
133 –
Scott Parker (Lehigh) Fall Korbin Myers (Edinboro) 5:33
141 –
Luke Karam (Lehigh) dec. Nate Hagan (Edinboro) 6-1
149 – Peter Pappas (Edinboro) dec.
Jonathan Mele (Lehigh) 11-10
157 – Andrew Shomers (Edinboro) dec.
Ian Brown (Lehigh) 5-3
165 –
Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) major dec. Austin Matthews (Edinboro) 16-8
174 –
Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) major dec. Fritz Hoehn (Edinboro) 14-5
184 – Dylan Reynolds (Edinboro) dec.
Andrew Price (Lehigh) 5-2
197 –
Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) Fall Aaron Paddock (Edinboro) 0:52
Attendance – 1,181
Official – Jim Rivello
