BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Trailing Columbia 16-8 after seven bouts, No. 17 Lehigh battled back to capture the final three. A first period pin by senior Jordan Wood at 285 ultimately lifted the Mountain Hawks to a 20-16 victory over the upset-minded Lions Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
 
The teams split the 10 bouts 5-5 but Lehigh used a 5-1 edge in bonus points to claim its third straight victory.
 
Wood's heroics were preceded by two-point decisions by sophomore AJ Burkhart at 184 and first year JT Davis at 197. Lehigh is now 7-4 in duals this season, while Columbia falls to 1-2.
 
"We knew Columbia had a lot of good wrestlers," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We didn't do a good job of setting the tempo. We were standing around a lot in the first period. We gave them a lot of confidence. We didn't do that a week ago and that was the difference.
 
"When we're aggressive, we're a really good team," Santoro continued. "I think we've shown that. When we're not aggressive, we're average. We work way too hard to stand around and wait for things to happen. Nobody's going out there trying to lose. Our guys want to win, but we need to have a short memory and put this thing behind us and come out firing tomorrow."
 
The dual began at 125 where 20th-ranked Joe Manchio edged 15th-ranked junior Jaret Lane 4-3. Manchio had the bout's only takedown in the first period and broke a 3-3 tie with two minutes of riding time advantage.
 
Malyke Hines answered with a 12-9 win over Angelo Rini at 133 to tie the score at 3-3. Hines led 4-1 after one and added a second period reversal. A third period takedown thwarted Rini's late rally.
 
Columbia captured the next two bouts to take a 10-3 lead after four. At 141, 19th-ranked Matt Kazimir used a strong second period on top to win an 11-1 major over Connor McGonagle. Kazimir rode out the second period and turned McGonagle three times.
 
Paul Watkins earned the nod at 149 for Lehigh, but dropped a 9-3 decision to Danny Fongaro.
 
Junior Josh Humphreys gave Lehigh some momentum going into intermission with a 17-2 technical fall over Andrew Garr at 157. Humphreys led 10-0 after one period and added a takedown in each of the final two periods, plus two escapes and riding time advantage. The bout went the full seven minutes as Lehigh trailed 10-8 at the break.
 
Columbia's Josh Ogunsanya won a 7-2 decision over sophomore Brian Meyer at 165 and then Nick Fine edged first year Jake Logan at 174 to extend the Lions' lead to 16-8 with three bouts remaining.
 
Burkhart started the Lehigh comeback with a 4-2 decision over Brian Bonino. He scored a first period takedown and a second period escape plus 1:21 riding time advantage.
 
"AJ won but he was in a fight tonight," Santoro said. "I'm glad we saw Columbia in a dual meet. Our guys know how good they are now. When we see them at the conference tournament or at NCAA's, we'll have to be ready."
 
After missing last week's duals, Davis returned with a 2-0 win over Sam Wustefeld at 197. Davis rode out the second period with a strong effort on top and escaped in the third to bring Lehigh within 16-14.
 
"JT and AJ just gutted it out tonight," Santoro said. "JT hadn't wrestled in a week but he stepped up and found a way to win. He stayed with it and that was really important. He gave us a chance to win it at heavyweight."
 
In the winner-take-all heavyweight bout, Wood scored an early takedown against Jalen Stephens and added a pair of four point near falls before securing his first fall of the season at the 2:50 mark.
 
"Jordan has been special since he has been here," Santoro said. "He's a special human being and a really good wrestler. We're really fortunate to have him."
 
Lehigh now leads the all-time series against Columbia 19-1 and has won 13 straight duals in the series.
 
The Mountain Hawks are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host Navy in the annual Billy Sheridan Memorial Dual and Salute to Service. Match time is set for 2 p.m. No new tickets will be sold per Lehigh Athletics updated spectator policy, but the dual will be televised locally on Service Electric Network 2/502 and streamed on FloWrestling. Audio coverage will be available on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM in Easton and LVFoxSports.com beginning at 1:45 p.m.
 
The 2021-22 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 
No. 17 Lehigh 20, Columbia 16
125 – Joe Manchio (Columbia) dec. Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 4-3
133 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec. Angelo Rini (Columbia) 12-9
141 – Matt Kazimir (Columbia) major dec. Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 11-1
149 – Danny Fongaro (Columbia) dec. Paul Watkins (Lehigh) 9-3
157 – Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) tech fall Andrew Garr (Columbia) 17-2, 7:00
165 – Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) dec. Brian Meyer (Lehigh) 7-2
174 – Nick Fine (Columbia) dec. Jake Logan (Lehigh) 4-3
184 – AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec. Brian Bonino (Columbia) 4-2
197 – JT Davis (Lehigh) dec Sam Wustefeld (Columbia) 2-0
285 – Jordan Wood (Lehigh) Fall Jalen Stephens (Columbia) 2:50
Attendance –1,055
 
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.