East Stroudsburg 36 Franklin & Marshall 6

Warriors Down Diplomats

LANCASTER, Pa. - East Stroudsburg won the night's first seven weights en route to a 36-6 win over Franklin & Marshall in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) action Friday evening.

Heavyweight Christopher Birchler (11-3) started the Warriors (4-10, 1-0 EIWA) down the right path with a 10-3 decision of Nico Somers (6-9). That was followed by a Diplomat (2-8, 0-4 EIWA) forfeit of the 125-pound weight class putting F&M in an early 9-0 hole.

ESU rolled through F&M's lineup with back-to-back tech falls, a major decision, pin and decision to put the match out of reach, 32-0 by the time Justin Herbert took to the mat.

Herbert (13-8) broke up the East Stroudsburg shutout bid with a hard-earned 7-4 decision of Jeff Jacobs (9-12). Herbert trailed 4-3 heading into the final period, but chose bottom and managed an escape and a mid-period takedown for a 6-4 edge. He amassed 1:53 of riding time to make it the 7-4 final.

His effort was followed by freshman Matt Fullowan's  (4-7) 5-1 decision of Trevor Salvatore (1-11). Fullowan broke open a 1-0 in the third period when Salvatore elected to work from the bottom. Fullowan turned him for three points and tacked on the riding point for good measure.

That was the third in a stretch of tight bouts on the night. Prior to Herbert's victory, Anthony Bongarzone (8-13) fell 10-9 with the difference being Thad Frick's (7-4) escape at the start of the third period. That made the see-saw match 10-8, with Bongarzone owning the advantage clock.

The loss drops F&M to 2-9 (0-4 EIWA), while East Stroudsburg opens their league slate with a win to improve to 4-10 (1-0 EIWA). F&M is idle until next Friday when the Diplomats host Duquesne

East Stroudsburg 36 Franklin & Marshall 6

125            David Luthy (ESU)            For            Forfeit (F&M)          
133            Matthew Swallow (ESU)            TF5            Matt Murray (F&M)            1 - 18 (4:48)
141            Matt Rizzo (ESU)            TF5            Frank Higgins (F&M)            0 - 16 (4:18)
149            Scott Heckman (ESU)            MD            Albert Gianforti (F&M)            7 - 15
157            Ken Monarque (ESU)            FALL            David Pucci (F&M)            1:47
165            Thad Frick (ESU)            DEC            Anthony Bongarzone (F&M)            9 - 10
174            Justin Herbert (F&M)            DEC            Jeff Jacobs (ESU)            7 - 4
184            Matt Fullowan (F&M)            DEC            Trevor Salvatore (ESU)            5 - 1
197            Shane Mallory (ESU)            MD            Colin Ely (F&M)            8 - 15
285            Christopher Birchler (ESU)            DEC            Nicolas Somers (F&M)            10 - 3