Rutgers Defeats EIWA Conference Foe American 28-13
Feb 10 | Wrestling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - The Rutgers wrestling team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, returned to conference action with a 28-13 win over American on Sunday afternoon at the College Ave. Gym in New Brunswick, N.J. On a day when Rutgers (10-6, 5-2) honored former head coach John Sacchi, four Scarlet Knights earned victories over the Eagles (3-12, 1-4) to come away with the win.
American forfeited at 125-pounds, giving RU an early 6-0 lead. But the Eagles would tie up the match with consecutive wins. Matt Mariacher earned a 7-1 decision over Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) at 133 and then Kyle Borshoff, the No. 20 ranked 141-pound wrestler, defeated Steve Adamcsik (Chester, N.J.) 8-4. Sophomore Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) used 4:12 riding time advantage to earn a 10-2 major decision over Chris Clarke at 149, giving Rutgers the lead again 10-6.
"I was actually disappointed with today's match because I thought we could have competed better," said Goodale. "We had a chance to beat nationally ranked wrestlers but we didn't pull it off. But that's the sport, and we did a good job from 174-pounds and up to earn the victory."
The most exciting bout of the day came at 157-pounds, as the Eagles Christopher Stout defeated Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) 14-12. Norrell trailed 9-0 in the first period before mounting a comeback, but Stout was able to pick up a take down in the final minute of the third period to earn the victory. At 165-pounds, AU's No. 7 ranked Mike Cannon defeated Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) 11-1 to give American a 13-10 lead, but Rutgers won the last four bouts to pull away with the victory.
Junior Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) picked up a 16-0 technical fall over Jonathan Powell at 174, Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) earned a 15-4 major decision over Brooks Keefer at 184 and Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) won 9-3 over Andy Semple at 197-pounds to give Rutgers a 22-13 lead. American was without the services of its No. 1 ranked 197-pound wrestler, senior Josh Glenn. The Eagles forfeited the heavyweight bout to finish off the scoring for the Scarlet Knights.
"We are getting outhustled and out-wrestled, and that is not what you want three weeks away from the EIWA Championships," said Goodale. "If American had Glenn going for them the match might have had a different outcome. We need to come up with a better gameplan for some of our guys and we will have to wrestle much better if we want to compete against Navy on Friday."
Rutgers returns to the mat on Friday, Feb. 15, when it faces conference foe Navy at 7:00 p.m. at the College Ave. Gym. Admission is free to the public.
Rutgers 28 - American 13
125 - Ryan Fikslin (RU) wins by forfeit 6-0 RU
133 - Matt Mariacher (AU) 7-1 dec. over Dan Hilt (RU) 6-3 RU
141 - No. 20 Kyle Borshoff (AU) 8-4 dec. over Steve Adamcsik (RU) 6-6
149 - Jack Barrett (RU) 10-2 maj. dec. over Chris Clarke (AU) 10-6 RU
157 - Christopher Stout (AU) 14-12 dec. over Chris Norrell (RU) 10-9 RU
165 - No. 7 Mike Cannon (AU) 11-1 maj. dec. over Matt Pletcher (RU) 13-10 AU
174 - Mike Whalen (RU) 16-0 TF over Jonathan Powell (AU) 15-13 RU
184 - Keith Dobish (RU) 15-4 maj. dec. over Brooks Keefer (AU) 19-13 RU
197 - Lamar Brown (RU) 9-3 dec. over Andy Semple (AU) 22-13 RU
HWT - Karim Mahmoud (RU) wins by forfeit 28-13 RU
