NEW ORLEANS – No. 19 Lehigh closed out action at the Collegiate Wrestling Duals with a 23-12 loss to No. 3 Ohio State Tuesday afternoon. The Mountain Hawks won four bouts against the Buckeyes, but Ohio State posted a pair of bonus point wins and benefitted from a forfeit to claim third place in the red pool.
Senior
Josh Humphreys completed a 3-0 event with a victory for the Mountain Hawks, who fall to 4-5 on the dual season.
The dual began with first-year
Carter Bailey winning a 6-0 decision over Andre Gonzales at 125. Bailey escaped in the second period and rode out the third, adding a late four point near fall to stake Lehigh to a 3-0 lead.
With sophomore
Connor McGonagle and senior
Jaret Lane both banged up following Monday's duals, the Mountain Hawks had to forfeit 133. Ohio State (6-1) then won the next three bouts to take a 16-3 lead.
The Buckeyes' Dylan D'Emilio won a 3-1 decision over
Malyke Hines at 141 and third-ranked Sammy Sasso won a 10-2 major over
Max Brignola at 149.
Lehigh then shuffled its lineup, sending
Manzona Bryant IV out against Gavin Brown at 157, but Brown led 2-1 after one period and went on to a 6-3 victory, adding two near fall points late before a Bryant reversal right before the final buzzer.
Humphreys moved up to 165 and defeated Isaac Wilcox 5-3. Wilcox was subbing for the injured and nationally-ranked Carson Kharchla. Humphreys conceded a takedown in the first period but scored a takedown early in the second and then rode out to lead 3-2 after two. An early escape in the third plus riding time advantage secured the 5-3 decision.
Ohio State's top 10-ranked wrestlers at 174 and 184 secured wins to put the Buckeyes up 23-6 as Ethan Smith won a 13-4 major over
Jake Logan and Kaleb Romero defeated
Tate Samuelson 10-4.
Sophomore
Michael Beard collected Lehigh's third win of the dual and his second in three bouts against ranked opponents in New Orleans with a 5-3 decision over Gavin Hoffman at 197. Beard scored takedowns in each of the first two periods and added a second period escape.
In the final bout of the dual, first-year heavyweight
Nathan Taylor defeated Mike Misita 6-2. Taylor gave up the first takedown but came back with a reversal and then added a second period escape and third period takedown plus riding time.
The Mountain Hawks will be off from dual competition until the weekend of Jan. 14-15 when they hit the road to face Cornell and Binghamton. The Jan. 14 Cornell dual will mark the 100th meeting in Lehigh's third most contested series (Penn State, Navy).
The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
No. 3 Ohio State 23, No. 19 Lehigh 12
125 –
Carter Bailey (Lehigh) dec. Andre Gonzales (OSU) 6-0
133 – Nic Bouzakis (OSU) wins by forfeit
141 – Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) dec.
Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 3-1
149 – Sammy Sasso (OSU) major dec.
Max Brignola (Lehigh) 10-2
157 – Gavin Brown (OSU) dec.
Manzona Bryant IV (Lehigh) 6-3
165 –
Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. Isaac Wilcox (OSU) 5-3
174 – Ethan Smith (OSU) major dec.
Jake Logan (Lehigh) 13-4
184 – Kaleb Romero (OSU) dec.
Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) 10-4
197 –
Michael Beard (Lehigh) dec. Gavin Hoffman (OSU) 5-3
285 –
Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) dec. Mike Misita (OSU) 6-2
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