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Harner Knocks Off Another All-American; Penn, Nebraska Pick Up Victories
February 21, 2015 | Wrestling
Sophomore Brett Harner brought 55 career victories to the Palestra Saturday afternoon, but none that quite caught national attention. He took care of that in impressive style, defeating the fifth-ranked Lorenzo Thomas 9-6 at 184 pounds during Princeton's close 19-12 loss at Penn.
In the nightcap, 10th-ranked Nebraska showed why it was one of the nation's top programs by posting a 38-6 victory over the Tigers.
The team match against Penn was a thriller, with six matches being decided by either one or two points. Three of those matches went into overtime, and Penn won two of them midway through the dual for critical insurance points in the win.
Following back-to-back overtime victories, Penn led 16-6 and sent Thomas, a returning All-America, to the mat. Harner, who came in with eight wins in his last nine matches, stunned the Palestra crowd by catching Thomas in a cradle early for a quick 5-0 lead. Thomas did a solid job fighting off the fall, but Harner built off the early advantage for a 9-6 win.
This was Harner's second win over a 2014 All-America this month; he defeated Brown's Ophir Bernstein during a home dual on Feb. 7. Since Midlands, Harner's only loss has come to Cornell's Gabe Dean, the nation's top-ranked wrestler.
While Harner is hoping to break into the Top 20 this week, teammate Abram Ayala has been there all season. He was challenged early by Penn's Canaan Bethea, who scored an early takedown for a 2-0 advantage. Ayala settled and scored one of his own before finding himself in a 4-4 tie, and then he scored the final one of the match to clinch the 6-5 win.
At that point, Princeton trailed 16-12, so it needed a win and bonus points to end Penn's 23-match win streak over the Tigers. Sophomore Ray O'Donnell found himself in an early hole against Patrik Garren, and he spent much of the third period on top and looking for a turn and fall. Garren held off every attempt and survived the 7-5 victory to secure the Quakers' win.
Both teams traded wins over the first four matches of the dual. Princeton senior Ryan Cash opened with a 9-5 win at 125, but nationally ranked Caleb Richardson opened a 4-3 Penn lead with a 23-12 major at 133.
That's when the excitement level went up several notches.
It started at 141, where Princeton's Jordan Laster scored an early takedown to grab a quick edge over Jeff Canfora. Canfora fought back to get within one, and then he seemed to grab a stunning win with a takedown in the final seconds. Laster never lost focus and rolled through for an escape at the buzzer; the refs discussed it and determined that the escape did come in time.
After a scoreless minute of overtime, both scored quick escapes in the 30-second tiebreakers; after Canfora's escape, Laster got in on a single before eventually taking his opponent down. Canfora managed an escape, but Laster fought off a late shot for a 7-6 win.
Penn's Charles Cobb won 6-1 at 149, and then Brooks Martino scored the only point on a third-period escape for a 1-0 victory at 157. Princeton tried to get back on track at 165 with freshman Jonathan Schleifer, who was coming off an overtime loss Friday night at Rider. Schleifer scored the first takedown over Raamiah Bethea, another former New Jersey standout, but Bethea added a takedown of his own to eventually force sudden victory. Bethea scored another takedown then for the 6-4 win.
Penn's Bradley Wukie built the lead to 16-6 with a 10-8 win over Judd Ziegler, who showed impressive resilience after falling into an early hole. Ziegler was down 6-3 and 8-4, but he scored an escape and a stall point to get within position, then got the takedown he needed to force overtime. Unfortunately, Wukie regrouped in the extra session and got the takedown for a 10-8 win.
Both Schleifer and Ayala earned decisions in the loss to No. 10 Nebraska. Schleifer defeated Austin Wilson 8-2 for the Tigers' first win of the evening, while Ayala defeated Aaron Studebaker 3-2 in a showdown of Top-15 wrestlers.
Princeton will now be off for the next two weeks before heading to Lehigh for the 2015 EIWA Championships.
PENN 19, PRINCETON 12
125 – Ryan Cash (Pr) d. Jeremy Schwartz 9-5
133 – Caleb Richardson (Pe) md. Trey Aslanian 23-12
141 – Jordan Laster (Pr) d. Jeff Canfora 7-6 TB-1
149 – Charles Cobb (Pe) d. Chris Perez 6-1
157 – Brooks Martino (Pe) d. Rich Eva 1-0
165 – Raamiah Bethea (Pe) d. Jonathan Schleifer 6-4 SV-1
174 – Bradley Wukie (Pe) d. Judd Ziegler 10-8 SV-1
184 – Brett Harner (Pr) d. Lorenzo Thomas 9-6
197 – Abram Ayala (Pr) d. Canaan Bethea 6-5
285 – Patrik Garren (Pe) d. Ray O'Donnell 7-5
NEBRASKA 38, PRINCETON 6
125 - Tim Lambert (N) tf. Ryan Cash 18-1, 6:13
133 - Eric Montoya (N) wbf. Trey Aslanian 2:39
141 - Anthony Abidin (N) md. Jordan Laster 10-0
149 - Justin Arthur (N) wbf. Chris Perez 6:15
157 - James Green (N) md. Rich Eva 17-6
165 - Jonathan Schleifer (P) d. Austin Wilson 8-2
174 - Robert Kokesh (N) tf. Judd Ziegler 20-5, 5:48
184 - Timothy Dudley (N) d. Brett Harner 9-5
197 - Abram Ayala (P) d. Aaron Studebaker 3-2
285 - Collin Jensen (N) tf. Ray O'Donnell 15-0, 4:06