Ohio State 22 Lehigh 12
COLUMBUS, Ohio ? No. 14 Lehigh suffered its first dual loss of the season and saw its 11-dual win streak come to an end as the Mountain Hawks fell 22-12 to No. 5 Ohio State Friday night at St. John Arena. The host Buckeyes won six of ten bouts and scored bonus points at 125 and 165, while one-point victories at 184 and 197 clinched the win for Ohio State in its home opener, while Lehigh falls to 3-1.
?We stopped attacking,? said a disappointed Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. ?We let Ohio State dictate ties and control the pace. That?s not the way we wrestle.?
The dual began at 125 and started well for sophomore John McDonald, who scored two of the first three takedowns over Nikko Triggas. With the match tied at five after two periods Triggas reversed McDonald and eventually turned him for the fall at 5:39.
At 133 senior Matt Fisk moved to 4-0 with an 8-3 decision over Ian Paddock. Fisk notched a second period takedown and added two more in the third.
Next up for Lehigh was the formidable tandem of No. 1 Reece Humphrey at 141 and No. 3 Lance Palmer at 149. Senior Seth Ciasulli had some good shots on Humphrey but was unable to finish, while Humphrey countered those attempts into three takedowns for a 7-1 victory. Sophomore Brian Tanen tried to keep things close, but Palmer picked up a first period takedown, second period reversal and third period near-fall to win 7-1.
A wild battle followed at 157, where sophomore Sean Bilodeau battled Tony Jameson. Bilodeau scored first, but then was reversed and taken down to trail 4-3 after one period. Jameson added to his lead with a reversal and three-point near fall in the second to lead 9-3 after two periods. After choosing neutral in the third, Bilodeau took Jameson down to his back for two and a two-point near fall, but Jameson reversed to extend his lead to 11-7. From there Bilodeau got two points back on a reversal and then slapped on a cradle, nearly pinning Jameson before settling for three near fall points at the buzzer to win 12-11, and leave Lehigh down 12-6 at intermission.
At 165, sophomore Brandon Hatchett earned the start in place of Mike Galante, but dropped a 19-7 major decision to No. 8 Colt Sponseller.
Freshman Robert Hamlin picked up Lehigh?s third win of the night, outlasting Dave Rella on 11 seconds of riding time, after battling Rella to a 3-3 score after two sudden victory periods and two sets of 30 second tiebreaker periods.
Ohio State capitalized on back-to-back 4-3 wins at 184 and 197 to put the dual away before Zach Rey benefitted from a late locked-hands call plus riding time to edge Corey Morrison 7-6 at heavyweight.
At 184, senior David Craig scored the initial takedown, but third-ranked Mike Pucillo scored a late third period takedown for the deciding point. Needing bonus wins at the final two weights, sophomore Joe Kennedy could not get any offense going until late in the third period, as 1:18 of riding time was the difference in a 4-3 win for the Buckeye?s Cody Magrum.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Sunday when they travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan to face the 24th-ranked Wolverines. The match will be televised in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas on WFMZ-TV. Audio of the match can be heard on WLVR-FM (91.3) as well as online at Lehighsports.com.
Weight Match-up Result Score/Time 125 Nikko Triggas (OSU) Fall John McDonald (Lehigh) 5:39 133 Matt Fisk (Lehigh) dec. Ian Paddock (OSU) 8-3 141 Reece Humphrey (OSU) dec. Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) 7-1 149 Lance Palmer (OSU) dec. Brian Tanen (Lehigh) 7-1 157 Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) dec. Tony Jameson (OSU) 12-11 165 Colt Sponseller (OSU) maj. dec. Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) 19-7 174 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. Dave Rella (OSU) 3-3 t.b. 2 184 Mike Pucillo (OSU) dec. David Craig (Lehigh) 4-3 197 Cody Magrum (OSU) dec. Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) 4-3 285 Zach Rey (Lehigh) dec. Corey Morrison (OSU) 7-6 Referees ? Tyler Wiley and Chris Shears