No. 10 Lehigh sweeps first five bouts, win eight of 10 for 27-8 win over No. 4 Michigan
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by Gary Blockus, Special to TheMat.com
Action image from Lehigh vs. Michigan dual meet courtesy of Brent Hugo, Lehigh Athletics
Utilizing a packed house and full home mat advantage No. 10 Lehigh University upset No. 4 Michigan 27-8 on Sunday, winning eight of 10 bouts as the Mountain Hawk wrestlers knocked off higher-ranked opponents in three bouts.
No. 6 Ryan Preisch decisioned No. 4 Dominic Abounader 3-1 to clinch the win for Lehigh (3-0) at 184 with two bouts to go, and No. 9 Jordan Kutler edged No. 4 Myles Amine 5-4 on riding time.
In the biggest upset, unranked Ian Brown went up 7-1 over No. 8 Alec Pantaleo 7-5 as Lehigh (3-0) swept the first five bouts in front of 1,755 at a raucous Grace Hall.
“Last year, it was the other way around,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said of losing at Michigan. “All those tight matches went there way. But this is November. We have to stay focused on what our goals are in order to get better right now.
“If we think we’ve arrived, we haven’t. We’re not there yet. We have a lot of work to do. We have two good teams [Princeton and Penn State] the next two weeks.”
Michigan (1-1) struggled to get out to good starts in the opening period and finish off things in the third period of the bouts that were competitive.
“This is a tough place to wrestle and you have to give kudos to Lehigh,” said Michigan coach Joe McFarland. “Those guys earned those wins, no question. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We didn’t have the intensity level we need. We didn’t ride well. We didn’t have hand control coming up from the bottom. A lot of the basic stuff hurt us, and it steamrolled.”
Defending national champion Darian Cruz (125) just missed a major decision in the opening bout of the day. He hit on a double-leg takedown and added four back points with a tight waist tilt for a 6-0 lead in the opening period against true freshman Drew Mattin. Cruz escaped to start the middle period. Mattin chose neutral to start the final period and kept Cruz from scoring to avoid the major, losing 7-0 to put Lehigh on top 3-0.
Lehigh’s Scott Parker, ranked No. 3, scored the opening takedown against sophomore Matt Volayanuk, who was wrestling in place of second-ranked Stevan Micic, who is close to returning from injury, according to McFarland. Parker funked his way to a second takedown and built up 1:11 in riding time before the period ended. Parker escaped six seconds into the second period, then cradled up Volayanuk in the third for the fall in 5:33 and a 9-0 Lehigh lead.
Michigan scored its first offensive points at 141, when redshirt sophomore Sal Profaci scored a takedown on redshirt freshman Luke Karam with 34 seconds left in the opening period. Karam reversed off the whistle to start the second period and aggressively tried to work into a power half. Karam hit an aggressive duck under and waist drag from behind in the 22 seconds left in the third period, and then hit a cradle for a four-point tilt to end the bout with a 9-2 decision and a 15-0 Lehigh lead.
Lehigh junior Courtland Schuyler scored two opening period takedowns and reversed Malik Amine to start the second period at 149, picking up an additional point for locked hands en route to an 8-3 decision and a 15-0 lead as the Mountain Hawks swept the first four bouts.
At 157, Brown stunned No. 8 Pantaleo with a bear hug late in the opening period, taking the Michigan junior to his back for a six-point move on the way to an 18-0 Lehigh lead at the break.
At 165, No. 3 Logan Massa got Michigan on the scoreboard. Massa opened the scoring with a pair of takedowns, the second of which forced No. 18 Cole Walter to take injury time with 36 seconds left. Massa chose bottom for the restart and added another takedown. He added two more takedowns and two tilts for an 18-2 technical fall in 4:56 to cut the deficit to 18-5.
Michigan’s Myles Amine, No. 4 at 165, scored an early takedown on No. 9 Jordan Kutler and led 2-1 after the first. He chose bottom to start the second, and Kutler gave him a rough ride before escaping with about 30 seconds left for a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. Amine erased riding time to start the third, but Kutler escaped and made it 3-2 with 1:33 to go.
Kutler scored on a bull rush into a takedown with 52 seconds left to go for a 4-3 lead to deafening cheers from the crows over the final minute. Amine finally escaped with a second to go to tie it at 4, but Kutler won on riding time to put Lehigh on top 21-5.
“Coach preaches so much on getting the takedown and getting to right to a ride,” Kutler said. “That’s what I was trying to do. The more riding time you get, the better off you are.”
In yet another feature match, No. 5 Abounader and No. 6 Preisch went scoreless through the first period. Abounader escaped in the second period. Preisch took bottom to start the third period and escaped to tie it. He went in on a single leg, countered well by Abounader, but Preisch switched and scored the winning takedown at the edge of the circle with 18 seconds left to clinch the match for Lehigh, ahead 24-5 with two bouts remaining.
“I wrestled a national champ last year, so it’s not the highest-ranked guy I’ve ever wrestled, and he’s not the highest-ranked guy I’ve ever beaten, so I came in with the mindset to let it go. It’s only the fourth match of the season, so I came in trying to let it flow freely.”
At 197, Lehigh freshman Jake Jakobsen rode Jackson Striggow for the whole second period then escaped to start the third and made it stand up for a 2-0 win.
Second-ranked Adam Coon escaped in the second period to open the scoring against Lehigh freshman Jordan Wood, who tied it with an escape in the third, but Coon hit a low-diving single leg on a counter-shot for the bout’s first takedown. He released Wood and a scored takedown on a counter-shot for the 6-2 decision.
Prior to the match, Lehigh’s three-time NCAA champion and his finals opponent all three times, Michigan’s Bob Fehrs were honored at center mat. They staged historic close bouts in 1965, 66 and 1967 with Caruso winning the first two by three points, and the final by just one.
LEHIGH 27, MICHIGAN 8
125: No. 4 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Drew Mattin (Michigan), 7-0.
133: No. 3 Scott Parker (Lehigh) pin Mike Volyanuk (Michigan), 5:33.
141: Luke Karam (Lehigh) dec. Sal Profaci (Michigan), 9-2.
149: Courtlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Malik Amine (Michigan), 8-3.
157: Ian Brown (Lehigh) dec. Logan Pantaleo (Michigan), 7-5.
165: No. 3. Logan Massa (Michigan) tech. fall No. 18 Cole Walter, 18-2, 4:56.
174: No. 9 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan), 5-4.
184: No. 6 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. No. 5 Dominic Abounader (Michigan), 3-1.
197: Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) dec. Jackson Striggow (Michigan), 2-0.
285: No. 2 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. No. 13 Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 6-2.
Attendance: 1,755.
Referee: John Hnath.
Utilizing a packed house and full home mat advantage No. 10 Lehigh University upset No. 4 Michigan 27-8 on Sunday, winning eight of 10 bouts as the Mountain Hawk wrestlers knocked off higher-ranked opponents in three bouts.
No. 6 Ryan Preisch decisioned No. 4 Dominic Abounader 3-1 to clinch the win for Lehigh (3-0) at 184 with two bouts to go, and No. 9 Jordan Kutler edged No. 4 Myles Amine 5-4 on riding time.
In the biggest upset, unranked Ian Brown went up 7-1 over No. 8 Alec Pantaleo 7-5 as Lehigh (3-0) swept the first five bouts in front of 1,755 at a raucous Grace Hall.
“Last year, it was the other way around,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said of losing at Michigan. “All those tight matches went there way. But this is November. We have to stay focused on what our goals are in order to get better right now.
“If we think we’ve arrived, we haven’t. We’re not there yet. We have a lot of work to do. We have two good teams [Princeton and Penn State] the next two weeks.”
Michigan (1-1) struggled to get out to good starts in the opening period and finish off things in the third period of the bouts that were competitive.
“This is a tough place to wrestle and you have to give kudos to Lehigh,” said Michigan coach Joe McFarland. “Those guys earned those wins, no question. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We didn’t have the intensity level we need. We didn’t ride well. We didn’t have hand control coming up from the bottom. A lot of the basic stuff hurt us, and it steamrolled.”
Defending national champion Darian Cruz (125) just missed a major decision in the opening bout of the day. He hit on a double-leg takedown and added four back points with a tight waist tilt for a 6-0 lead in the opening period against true freshman Drew Mattin. Cruz escaped to start the middle period. Mattin chose neutral to start the final period and kept Cruz from scoring to avoid the major, losing 7-0 to put Lehigh on top 3-0.
Lehigh’s Scott Parker, ranked No. 3, scored the opening takedown against sophomore Matt Volayanuk, who was wrestling in place of second-ranked Stevan Micic, who is close to returning from injury, according to McFarland. Parker funked his way to a second takedown and built up 1:11 in riding time before the period ended. Parker escaped six seconds into the second period, then cradled up Volayanuk in the third for the fall in 5:33 and a 9-0 Lehigh lead.
Michigan scored its first offensive points at 141, when redshirt sophomore Sal Profaci scored a takedown on redshirt freshman Luke Karam with 34 seconds left in the opening period. Karam reversed off the whistle to start the second period and aggressively tried to work into a power half. Karam hit an aggressive duck under and waist drag from behind in the 22 seconds left in the third period, and then hit a cradle for a four-point tilt to end the bout with a 9-2 decision and a 15-0 Lehigh lead.
Lehigh junior Courtland Schuyler scored two opening period takedowns and reversed Malik Amine to start the second period at 149, picking up an additional point for locked hands en route to an 8-3 decision and a 15-0 lead as the Mountain Hawks swept the first four bouts.
At 157, Brown stunned No. 8 Pantaleo with a bear hug late in the opening period, taking the Michigan junior to his back for a six-point move on the way to an 18-0 Lehigh lead at the break.
At 165, No. 3 Logan Massa got Michigan on the scoreboard. Massa opened the scoring with a pair of takedowns, the second of which forced No. 18 Cole Walter to take injury time with 36 seconds left. Massa chose bottom for the restart and added another takedown. He added two more takedowns and two tilts for an 18-2 technical fall in 4:56 to cut the deficit to 18-5.
Michigan’s Myles Amine, No. 4 at 165, scored an early takedown on No. 9 Jordan Kutler and led 2-1 after the first. He chose bottom to start the second, and Kutler gave him a rough ride before escaping with about 30 seconds left for a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. Amine erased riding time to start the third, but Kutler escaped and made it 3-2 with 1:33 to go.
Kutler scored on a bull rush into a takedown with 52 seconds left to go for a 4-3 lead to deafening cheers from the crows over the final minute. Amine finally escaped with a second to go to tie it at 4, but Kutler won on riding time to put Lehigh on top 21-5.
“Coach preaches so much on getting the takedown and getting to right to a ride,” Kutler said. “That’s what I was trying to do. The more riding time you get, the better off you are.”
In yet another feature match, No. 5 Abounader and No. 6 Preisch went scoreless through the first period. Abounader escaped in the second period. Preisch took bottom to start the third period and escaped to tie it. He went in on a single leg, countered well by Abounader, but Preisch switched and scored the winning takedown at the edge of the circle with 18 seconds left to clinch the match for Lehigh, ahead 24-5 with two bouts remaining.
“I wrestled a national champ last year, so it’s not the highest-ranked guy I’ve ever wrestled, and he’s not the highest-ranked guy I’ve ever beaten, so I came in with the mindset to let it go. It’s only the fourth match of the season, so I came in trying to let it flow freely.”
At 197, Lehigh freshman Jake Jakobsen rode Jackson Striggow for the whole second period then escaped to start the third and made it stand up for a 2-0 win.
Second-ranked Adam Coon escaped in the second period to open the scoring against Lehigh freshman Jordan Wood, who tied it with an escape in the third, but Coon hit a low-diving single leg on a counter-shot for the bout’s first takedown. He released Wood and a scored takedown on a counter-shot for the 6-2 decision.
Prior to the match, Lehigh’s three-time NCAA champion and his finals opponent all three times, Michigan’s Bob Fehrs were honored at center mat. They staged historic close bouts in 1965, 66 and 1967 with Caruso winning the first two by three points, and the final by just one.
LEHIGH 27, MICHIGAN 8
125: No. 4 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Drew Mattin (Michigan), 7-0.
133: No. 3 Scott Parker (Lehigh) pin Mike Volyanuk (Michigan), 5:33.
141: Luke Karam (Lehigh) dec. Sal Profaci (Michigan), 9-2.
149: Courtlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Malik Amine (Michigan), 8-3.
157: Ian Brown (Lehigh) dec. Logan Pantaleo (Michigan), 7-5.
165: No. 3. Logan Massa (Michigan) tech. fall No. 18 Cole Walter, 18-2, 4:56.
174: No. 9 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. No. 4 Myles Amine (Michigan), 5-4.
184: No. 6 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. No. 5 Dominic Abounader (Michigan), 3-1.
197: Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) dec. Jackson Striggow (Michigan), 2-0.
285: No. 2 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. No. 13 Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 6-2.
Attendance: 1,755.
Referee: John Hnath.
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