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#25 Wrestling Rallies Past Northwestern, Falls To #12 Lehigh In Home Opener
December 05, 2015 | Wrestling
It certainly wasn't the immediate start that head coach Chris Ayres drew up for his home opener against Northwestern, as the Tigers lost their opening three matches and only got on the scoreboard due to a forfeit at 149. Trailing 14-6, senior Judd Ziegler scored the only takedown of the 165-pound match for a 2-0 win, but the Wildcats came right back with a major decision and likely needed only one more win to secure the team victory.
Unfortunately, they were heading to a dangerous part of the Princeton lineup, and that victory never came.
The critical victory came at 184, where the 14th-ranked Ayala was aggressive from the whistle against Regis Durbin. He scored an immediate takedown and was relentless through the period, which ended when he was able to turn Dubin for the first-period pin. That win, combined with an ensuing forfeit to 10th-ranked Brett Harner, put the match on the shoulders of O'Donnell, who knocked off two nationally ranked heavyweights the previous week.
O'Donnell was up for the challenge, scoring an early takedown and securing back points in a 5-2 win over Conan Jennings. The victory was a battle, as Jennings scored a late takedown and and then scrambled in search of another, but O'Donnell fought off the late attempts to clinch Princeton's second team win of the season.
Missing Top-20 standouts Chris Perez and Jonathan Schleifer hurt the Tigers in the second match, where 12th-ranked Lehigh won the opening eight bouts en route to a 33-3 win. There were a handful of close bouts throughout, but nearly all went the way of the Mountain Hawks.
That started with a 3-1 win at 125 for 15th-ranked Darian Cruz, who topped Tiger freshman Pat D'Arcy for the second time this season — both in close matches. Laster led early at 141 against reigning EIWA champion Randy Cruz, but the Lehigh senior caught Laster on his back for a stunning fall.
Sophomore Francesco Fabozzi excited a capacity crowd with a thriller against sixth-ranked Mitch Minotti at 157. Fabozzi held a 1-0 lead going into the third period, but Minotti got the takedown he needed in a 4-2 win.
There would be two closely contested ranked showdowns late in the dual, and both teams picked up one of them. Lehigh's Nathaniel Brown scored an escape point and collected riding time for a 2-0 win over Ayala at 184, while Harner remained undefeated on the season with a 3-1 win over 12th-ranked John Bolich at 197.
Princeton will return to action Friday night when it takes on Navy at 7 pm in Jadwin Gym. The match will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
#25 Princeton 24, Northwestern 18
125 – Garrison White (N) dec. Pat D'Arcy 5-0
133 – Dominick Malone (N) TF. Jake Adkins 16-1
141 – Jameson Oster (N) dec. #17 Jordan Laster 7-6
149 – Mike D'Angelo (P) won by forfeit
157 – Bryce Brill (N) dec. Francesco Fabozzi 7-2
165 - Judd Ziegler (P) dec. Luke Norland 2-0
174 – Mitch Sliga (N) mdec. Will Lang 10-0
184 – #14 Abram Ayala (P) WBF Regis Durbin
197 – #10 Brett Harner (P) won by forfeit
285 – Ray O'Donnell (P) dec. Conan Jennings 5-2
#12 Lehigh 33, Princeton 3
125 – #15 Darian Cruz (L) dec. Pat D'Arcy 3-1
133 – #14 Mason Beckman (L) mdec. Trey Aslanian 15-5
141 – #11 Randy Cruz (L) WBF #17 Jordan Laster
149 – Laike Gardner (L) dec. Mike D'Angelo 6-3
157 – #6 Mitch Minotti (L) dec. Francesco Fabozzi 4-2
165 – Ryan Preisch (L) dec. Judd Ziegler 9-4
174 – #20 Elliot Riddick (L) WBF Nick Maselli
184 – #8 Nathaniel Brown (L) dec. #14 Abram Ayala 2-0
197 – #10 Brett Harner (P) dec. #12 John Bolich 3-1
285 – Doug Vollaro (L) dec. Ray O'Donnell 3-1, SV-1