BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In its final home dual of the season, Lehigh picked up bonus point victories in the first three bouts and never looked back as the Mountain Hawks defeated Army West Point 26-9 Saturday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Salute to Service, presented by Weis Markets. Lehigh won seven of the first eight bouts, scoring bonus points in four, to earn the victory, improving its season record to 7-9.
"It was exactly what we wanted," Lehigh head coach
Pat Santoro said. "We were fortunate to win the coin toss and everybody did what they were supposed to do. Everyone competed pretty hard. It was good to have Josh (Humphreys) back. We lost some tight ones at the end. You want to win them all, but Army has a really good team so we have something to build off right now."
On a day where Lehigh honored its eight-wrestler senior class, graduate student
Tate Samuelson opened the dual with an 8-0 major decision over Sahm Abdulrazzaq at 184. Samuelson scored a takedown in each period plus a second period escape and a 2:23 riding time advantage.
Sophomore
Michael Beard followed with a dominant 19-4 technical fall over Daniel Lawrence at 197. He racked up seven takedowns, including four in the first period, scored a four point near fall late in the second, and ended the bout with a takedown seven seconds into the third period.
First-year heavyweight
Nathan Taylor made it three consecutive bonus wins with a 17-5 major decision over Cade Carlson. Taylor finished with seven takedowns, including four in the final period to secure the major.
Army (5-6) picked up its first win at 125 as Ethan Berginc scored 30 seconds into sudden victory to edge first-year
Carter Bailey 3-1.
Sophomore
Connor McGonagle followed with an 8-0 major decision over Ryan Franco at 133 to put the Mountain Hawks up 17-3 at intermission.
Lehigh came out of the break with three consecutive wins by decision to go up 26-3 heading into the final two bouts.
At 141, sophomore
Malyke Hines narrowly missed a bonus win, settling for a 10-3 decision over Eddie Hummel. Sophomore
Max Brignola rebounded from an early 2-1 deficit with a second period reversal and fought off a shot late in the third period to force overtime. Brignola worked his way into the winning takedown 1:07 into the sudden victory period to defeat Trae McDaniel 5-3.
Senior
Josh Humphreys made his return to the mats after more than a month away. Humphreys scored takedowns in each of the first two periods and won a 6-3 decision over Nate Lukez at 157.
"He was getting some rust off and he had one of the hardest goers in the country at his weight class," Santoro said. "We knew it would be a great challenge and he survived it. He'll get better each week."
Army claimed the final two bouts with Dalton Harkins beating
Luca Frinzi 2-1 on riding time advantage at 165 and Ben Pasiuk scoring a third period takedown to defeat
Jake Logan 7-5 at 174.
Prior to Saturday's dual Lehigh recognized its senior class, which includes Samuelson, Humphreys,
AJ Burkhart,
Elijah Jones,
Jaret Lane,
Brian Meyer,
Mike Sisselberger and
Paul Watkins.
"It's really hard to imagine that they're seniors," Santoro said. "You remember when they came in on their official visits. Five years later they're graduating but they've all done a great job and have been a big part in what we've done here."
The Mountain Hawks will close out the dual season with two matches next weekend, beginning with a visit to Bucknell Friday night with match time set for 7 p.m. Audio coverage will be available on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFoxSports.com.
The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
Lehigh 26, Army West Point 9
184 –
Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) major dec. Sahm Abdulrazzaq (Army) 8-0
197 –
Michael Beard (Lehigh) tech fall Daniel Lawrence (Army) 19-4, 5:07
285 –
Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) major dec. Cade Carlson (Army) 17-5
125 – Ethan Berginc (Army) dec.
Carter Bailey (Lehigh) 3-1, sv
133 –
Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) major dec. Ryan Franco (Army) 8-0
141 –
Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec. Eddie Hummel (Army) 10-3
149 –
Max Brignola (Lehigh) dec. Trae McDaniel (Army) 5-3, sv
157 –
Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. Nate Lukez (Army) 6-3
165 – Dalton Harkins (Army) dec.
Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 2-1
174 – Ben Pasiuk (Army) dec.
Jake Logan (Lehigh) 7-5
Attendance – 1,610
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