PITTSBURGH – The Lehigh wrestling team crowned three All-Americans on day two of the NCAA Championships at PPG Paints Arena. Sophomore Jordan Wood fell short in his bid to reach the national finals at 285 with an overtime loss in the semifinals, but junior Jordan Kutler and senior Ryan Preisch won their first bouts Friday evening to join Wood as All-Americans.
 
The Mountain Hawks have now had multiple All-Americans in six straight seasons and exactly three All-Americans in five of those six years.
 
Lehigh finished day two in 14th place with 32.5 points.
 
"It's the NCAA tournament, there are ups and downs," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "I'm proud of our guys' effort. Everyone gave great effort today. We had a great morning. Tonight we had some great effort. A couple guys were just a little out-matched in that All-American round and a couple guys who came to wrestle, and they won. We have a couple guys going for third tomorrow and we're evaluating where Kutler is and we'll go from there."
 
Wood and top seed Derek White from Oklahoma State were knotted 1-1 through regulation in an evenly matched bout, but White got on Woods lower legs in sudden victory for the decisive takedown in a 3-1 victory. The fourth-seeded Wood will now face No. 6 Amar Dhesi of Oregon State in Saturday's consolation semifinals.
 
"Jordan pushed the pace tonight, he just got stung really quick," Santoro said. "White's a great athlete and he got (Jordan), but Jordan Wood's pretty special. He's going to win this before he's done, but he has to regroup for some big matches tomorrow.
 
Kutler became a two-time All-American at 174 with a convincing 6-0 decision over Devin Kane of North Carolina. Kutler had takedowns in the first and third periods, plus an escape and riding time. In the consolation quarterfinals against David McFadden of Virginia Tech, Kutler suffered an apparent leg injury which hampered him over the final four minutes. The sixth-seeded McFadden rode out the second period and escaped early in the third to win 2-0 over No. 5 Kutler, who will now wrestle No. 9 Devin Skatzka of Minnesota for seventh place.
 
The third time in the "blood round" proved to be the charm for Preisch, who finally earned his way onto the podium in his senior season with a 3-0 decision over Lou Deprez of Binghamton. Preisch was tough on top, riding out the second period and then reversing Deprez early in the third before riding out.
 
"That was big," Santoro said. "Ryan could have been a three-time All-American. He's that good. People know, he's beaten All-American after All-American in his career. To get it done tonight was really good for him. He's a really good wrestler. He trains extremely hard. To see him on the podium, the whole team and staff are elated for him."
 
The No. 8 seed at 184 then topped Dakota Geer 5-3 in sudden victory in the consolation quarterfinals. Preisch lost a 3-0 lead but rallied to nab the winning score in the sudden victory period. He will now face No. 15 seed Chip Ness of North Carolina in the consolation semifinals.
 
"Tomorrow is about finishing as high as you can," Santoro said. "We want our guys placing with an odd number."
 
Two Mountain Hawks came up short in the All-America round of 12 Friday night. Freshman Josh Humphreys ran into the No. 3 seed Ryan Deakin of Northwestern at 157, with Deakin scoring early and riding tough on top on the way to a 9-2 decision. Humphreys finishes his true freshman season at 21-8.
 
Senior Gordon Wolf was unable to climb out of an early hole against Bryce Steiert of Northern Iowa at 165. Steiert used two takedowns and a four point near fall in the first to take an 8-1 lead on the way to a 10-2 major decision. Wolf finishes his senior season at 21-8 and caps his career as a three-time NCAA qualifier with a 64-33 record.
 
With five finalists and seven All-Americans Penn State continues to lead the field with 120.5 points. Ohio State is second at 88.5 and Oklahoma State is third at 73.5.
 
Lehigh's three All-Americans will wrestle in session five, the medal round, Saturday at 11 a.m. Session five will be televised on ESPNU and ESPN3/the ESPN App while audio of the Lehigh bouts will be available at Lehighsports.com/watch.
 
Saturday night's finals begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN3/the ESPN App.
 
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 
157 – No. 8 Josh Humphreys - Eliminated
Round of 32: dec. No. 25 Justin Ruffin (SIUE) 6-0
Round of 16: L by dec. No. 9 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) 11-7
Second round consolation: dec. No. 23 Chase Straw (Iowa State) dec. 3-1
Third round consolation: major dec. No. 16 John Van Brill (Rutgers) 11-0
Fourth round consolation: L by dec. No. 3 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 9-2
 
165 – No. 18 Gordon Wolf - Eliminated
Round of 32: L by dec. No. 15 Connor Flynn (Missouri) 5-4
First round consolation: dec. No. 31 Evan Delong (Clarion) 12-10
Second round consolation: dec. No. 16 Thomas Bullard (NC State) 12-11
Third round consolation: dec. No. 26 Joey Gunther (Illinois) 13-7
Fourth round consolation: L by major dec. No. 11 Bryce Steiert (UNI) 10-2
 
174 – No. 5 Jordan Kutler
Round of 32: major dec. No. 28 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) 10-2
Round of 16: dec. No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke) 6-2
Quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan) 4-2, sv2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 33 Devin Kane (North Carolina) 6-0
Consolation quarterfinal: L by dec. No. 6 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) 2-0
Seventh place match: No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota)
 
184 – No. 8 Ryan Preisch
Round of 32: Fall No. 25 Max Lyon (Purdue) 4:04
Round of 16: dec. No. 9 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 4-3
Quarterfinal: L by major dec. No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) 11-2
Fourth round consolation: dec. No. 11 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) 3-0
Consolation quarterfinal: dec. No. 26 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) 5-3, sv
Consolation semifinal: No. 15 Chip Ness (North Carolina)
 
285 – No. 4 Jordan Wood
Round of 32: dec. No. 29 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) 6-4
Round of 16: dec. No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) 3-0
Quarterfinal: dec. No. 28 Sam Stoll (Iowa) 2-0
Semifinal: L by dec. No. 1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) 3-1, sv
Consolation semifinal: No. 6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State)
 
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