BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Powered by six bonus point victories, No. 23 Lehigh opened its four match homestand with a 29-12 victory over Binghamton Friday on Youth Night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks led 19-3 at intermission, but the Bearcats rallied within 19-12 with two bouts remaining before junior
Michael Beard and sophomore
Nathan Taylor capped the dual with back-to-back bonus point wins over ranked opponents.
Lehigh won six of the 10 bouts with a fall, three technical falls and two major decisions. The Mountain Hawks are now 1-3 on the dual season, while Binghamton falls to 1-2.
"We had a lot of bonus point wins which is always the goal," Lehigh head coach
Pat Santoro said. "We could have won a couple more matches in there but we just have to get better. We're going to continue to get better and continue to work. We have a short turnaround with another big one tomorrow."
The Mountain Hawks were a point away from starting off the dual with three consecutive technical falls. At 125, sophomore
Sheldon Seymour finished a point short of a technical fall, settling for a 17-3 major decision over Carson Wagner. Seymour scored a takedown in each period and added six near fall points in the third, but cut Wagner loose to pursue a match-ending takedown that he wasn't able to get.
Top-ranked first-year
Ryan Crookham moved to 10-0 on the season with a 19-1 technical fall over Micah Roes at 133. Crookham led 5-0 after one, added a takedown in the second and two more in the third before ending the match at the 6:36 mark with near fall points.
Making his season dual debut, junior
Malyke Hines made it three straight bonus wins to open the dual with a 17-2 technical fall over Ivan Garcia at 141. Hines totaled five takedowns, including two in the first and third periods, and more than three minutes of riding time advantage, to earn the technical fall at the seven minute mark.
Binghamton picked up its first win at 149 as Caleb Sweet won 8-6 over junior
Drew Munch. It was Munch who opened the scoring before Sweet answered with takedowns in the first and second periods. Munch pursued a go-ahead score in the third but wasn't able to secure one.
Junior
Max Brignola capped the first half of the dual with an 22-5 technical fall over Fin Nadeau at 157. Brignola led 8-3 after two and broke things open with two early third period takedowns, the second of which was followed by a four-point near fall. Lehigh led 19-3 at the midway point.
"We knew bonus points were going to be really big early," Santoro said. "The guys did a really nice job putting up a lot of points in those first five matches."
Binghamton opened the second half of the dual with three straight decisions to climb back within seven.
At 165 Brevin Cassella won a 6-3 decision over junior
Jake Logan. Will Ebert then erased a late 4-0 deficit to knock off sophomore
Thayne Lawrence 7-4 in sudden victory at 174. Lawrence scored the first takedown and led 4-0 late before Ebert scored a takedown late in the third, which combined with riding time advantage accumulated in the second period, sent the match to sudden victory. Lawrence suffered an injury late in regulation, and rather than default, allowed Ebert to score the winning takedown seconds into sudden victory to give up three team points.
No. 13 Jacob Nolan capped the run for Binghamton with an 8-1 decision over sophomore
Jack Wilt at 184. Wilt did earn a second stall call for a point late in the third period to avoid the major decision.
Beard faced Lou DePrez in a matchup of top-15 All-Americans at 197 and dominated the Bearcat in a 12-1 major decision. Beard scored a takedown in each period and added a reversal early in the third plus riding time, for his 15th victory of the season, which clinched the dual for the Mountain Hawks.
Taylor faced No. 21 Cory Day in a battle of ranked heavyweights. Takedowns in each of the first two periods plus a pair of stalling points helped Taylor build an 8-1 lead into the third period. Taylor then reversed Day onto his back and emphatically closed out Lehigh's first dual win of the season with a fall at the 5:45 mark.
"We knew both of those matches could go either way," Santoro said of the final two. "Michael was wrestling a great opponent and a two-time All-American and Nate wrestling a guy that beat him last year. They worked hard. They did a great job going out there and really sticking to what they wanted to do. It made a difference."
The Mountain Hawks are back in Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Saturday when they host No. 9 Cornell at 2 p.m. A limited number of standing room only tickets are available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com.
The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
No. 23 Lehigh 29, Binghamton 12
125 –
Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) major dec. Carson Wagner (BU) 17-3
133 –
Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) tech fall Micah Roes (BU) 19-1, 6:36
141 –
Malyke Hines (Lehigh) tech fall Ivan Garcia (BU) 17-2, 7:00
149 – Caleb Sweet (BU) dec.
Drew Munch (Lehigh) 8-6
157 –
Max Brignola (Lehigh) tech fall Fin Nadeau (BU) 22-5, 6:31
165 – Brevin Cassella (BU) dec.
Jake Logan (Lehigh) 6-3
174 – Will Ebert (BU) dec.
Thayne Lawrence (Lehigh) 7-4, sv
184 – Jacob Nolan (BU) dec.
Jack Wilt (Lehigh) 8-1
197 –
Michael Beard (Lehigh) major dec. Lou DePrez (BU) 12-1
285 –
Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) Fall Cory Day (BU) 5:45
Attendance – 1,512
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