Rutgers Goes 2-0 in Home Conference Tri-Meet
Jan 19 | Wrestling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The Rutgers wrestling program, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, defeated conference opponents Brown and Franklin & Marshall to go 2-0 in a home conference tri-meet on Saturday, Jan. 19, at the College Ave. Gym. Brown and Franklin & Marshall kicked off the tri-meet with the Bears winning 28-13. Rutgers (6-5, 4-2 in conference) then pulled out a 26-9 win over Brown (3-4, 1-2) and followed that up with a 31-10 win over Franklin & Marshall (3-6, 0-5).
"Our team is really starting to get it," said Goodale. "They are wrestling at a high level right now, and it's important to them that we win. We won a lot of close bouts today, and that is what this sport is all about. It's a one-on-one battle with your opponent, and the more we won, the more energized we became as a team, and the more energized the fans became. It was a great tri-meet for us."
In the Scarlet Knights' first match against Brown, Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) kicked off the scoring with a 10-2 major decision victory in the heavyweight division. Brown followed up with two straight wins at 125-pounds and 133-pounds, 5-3 over Mike DeMarco (Lyndhurst, N.J.) in overtime and 4-1 over Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.). The Knights then won the next five bouts to take a commanding 23-6 lead. Redshirt senior Steve Adamcsik (Chester, N.J.) won at 141-pounds 6-3 and Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) won the 149-pound bout 9-4 thanks to a takedown and a near-fall with under 30 seconds to go in the third period.
Then at 157-pounds, Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) pinned his opponent at 4:26 and Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) scored a takedown 10 seconds into overtime to win at 165-pounds 3-1. Junior Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) picked up the fifth straight victory for the Knights with a 14-0 major decision win at 174-pounds over Kasey McCurdy. After Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) fell 7-2, Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) defeated Brandon Stearns 10-3 to give the Knights the 26-9 victory.
In the Knights' second match, facing Franklin & Marshall, the teams traded the first two contests. In the heavyweight class Mahmoud won his second bout of the day 5-3 and at 135-pounds DeMarco fell for the second time of the day 9-0. The Diplomats held a 4-3 lead, but Hilt and Adamcsik each won by technical fall (Hilt at 133-pounds 16-0 at 4:05; Adamcsik at 141-pounds 17-0 at 2:35) to give the Knights a 13-4 advantage. In the 149-pound bout Barrett won a 10-6 decision over Al Gianforti to give RU a 16-4 edge. The two teams traded the next four bouts, as Norrell fell in a tight 4-3 contest at 157-pounds, Pletcher won at 165-pounds 7-1, Whalen dropped a close 4-1 bout at 174-pounds to the Diplomats No. 18 ranked Justin Herbert and Dobish pinned his opponent 24 seconds into the 184-pound contest. That made the score 25-10, and F&M forfeited at 197-pounds to give RU the 31-10 win.
"We had an unbelievable week of training leading up to this tri-meet and we have to continue our high level of preparation as we get ready for our next match," said Goodale. "We hope to get two more up in Boston."
The Scarlet Knights return to the mat on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they face non-conference opponents Delaware State and Boston University at Case Gym in Boston, Mass., starting at 1:00 p.m.
RESULTS
Brown 28 - Franklin & Marshall 13
HWT - Nico Somers (FM) 6-4 dec. over Zach Zdrada (BU) 3-0 FM
125 - Jake Bucha (FM) 5-2 dec. over Mike Piccirillo (BU) 6-0 FM
133 - Jeff Schell (BU) pin at 1:33 over Stephen Sabreen (FM) 6-6
141 - Mark Savino (BU) pin at 2:05 over Aki Aida (FM) 12-6 BU
149 - Al Gianforti (FM) 13-3 maj. dec. over Bryan Tracy (BU) 12-10 BU
157 - Tom Fazio (BU) 5-4 dec. over Anthony Bongarzone (FM) 15-10 BU
165 - Chris Musser (BU) 9-1 maj. dec. over Andrew Smith (FM) 19-10 BU
174 - Justin Herbert (FM) 11-5 dec. over Kasey McCurdy (BU) 19-13 BU
184 - Matt Gevelinger (BU) 3-0 dec. over Dan Canfield (FM) 22-13 BU
197 - Brandon Stearns (BU) wins by forfeit 28-13 BU
Rutgers 26 - Brown 9
HWT - Karim Mahmoud (RU) 10-2 maj. dec. over Zach Zdrada (BU) 4-0 RU
125 - Nathan Myers (BU) 5-3 OT dec. over Mike DeMarco (RU) 4-3 RU
133 - Jeff Schell (BU) 4-1 dec. over Dan Hilt (RU) 6-4 BU
141 - Steve Adamcsik (RU) 6-3 dec. over Mark Savino (BU) 7-6 RU
149 - Jack Barrett (RU) 9-4 dec. over Mark Bloom (BU) 10-6 RU
157 - Chris Norrell (RU) pin at 4:26 over Tom Fazio (BU) 16-6 RU
165 - Matt Pletcher (RU) 3-1 OT dec. over Chris Musser (BU) 19-6 RU
174 - Mike Whalen (RU) 14-0 maj. dec. over Kasey McCurdy (BU) 23-6 RU
184 - Matt Gevelinger (BU) 7-2 dec. over Keith Dobish (RU) 23-9 RU
197 - Lamar Brown (RU) 10-3 dec. over Brandon Stearns (BU) 26-9
Rutgers 31 - Franklin & Marshall 10
HWT - Karim Mahmoud (RU) 5-3 dec. over Nico Somers (FM) 3-0 RU
125 - Jake Bucha (FM) 9-0 maj. dec. over Mike DeMarco (RU) 4-3 FM
133 - Dan Hilt (RU) 16-0 tech. fall at 4:05 over Stephen Sabreen (FM) 8-4 RU
141 - Steve Adamcsik (RU) 17-0 tech. fall at 2:35 over Aki Aida (FM) 13-4 RU
149 - Jack Barrett (RU) 10-6 dec. over Al Gianforti (FM) 16-4 RU
157 - Anthony Bongarzone (FM) 4-3 dec. over Chris Norrell (RU) 16-7 RU
165 - Matt Pletcher (RU) 7-1 dec. over Andrew Smith (FM) 19-7 RU
174 - Justin Herbert (FM) 4-1 dec. over Mike Whalen (RU) 19-10 RU
184 - Keith Dobish (RU) pin at :24 over Dan Canfield (FM) 25-10 RU
197 - Lamar Brown (RU) wins by forfeit 31-10 RU
