Gravina, Lewis Earn Ranked Victories in Dual Loss at No. 18 Nebraska

Sunday, January 21

Lincoln, NE

2 p.m.

Rutgers University

Nebraska

Photo by: David Nemec

Gravina, Lewis Earn Ranked Victories in Dual Loss at No. 18 Nebraska

Jan 21 | Wrestling

Scarlet Knights collect four individual wins during Sunday afternoon action in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 12 Richie Lewis (165) and No. 14 Nicholas Gravina (184) both collected wins over ranked foes, but No. 18 Nebraska (6-3, 4-1) finished the dual with four consecutive victories to defeat Rutgers wrestling (5-4, 1-3), 19-13, Sunday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

No. 2 Nick Suriano (125) and Joseph Grello (174) also produced wins against the Cornhuskers.

Lewis faced No. 11 Isaiah White, a former DII National Champion, in the first bout of the afternoon. Lewis had multiple shots at Whites' legs throughout the match, but escapes from each opponent resulted in a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. With no scoring in sudden victory, Lewis escaped in tiebreaker one and rode White out for the duration of tiebreaker two for the win.

165 | BOOM! No. 12 Richie Lewis defeats No. 11 Isaiah White, 2-1, in overtime!

No. 16 Rutgers 3, No. 18 Nebraska 0. #RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/CMEZKipZdY
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) January 21, 2018

Lewis has now captured six consecutive wins, which includes ranked victories over No. 11 White, then-No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell (Ohio State) and then-No. 13 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State).

Grello followed with a 4-2 decision over Beau Breske. The redshirt freshman contributed a takedown in the first period, then road Breske for the duration of period two. An escape from Grello and the riding time point gave him his third consecutive dual win and first in Big Ten Conference action.

Gravina kept the momentum going during his match with No. 7 Taylor Venz, who entered the dual with a 16-3 record on the season with wins over five ranked foes. Gravina dominated the entirety of the match, as he collected three takedowns and a reversal. The riding time point gave him a 9-3 win over Venz, Gravina's highest-ranked win of the season.

184 | BOOM! No. 14 Nick Gravina defeats No. 7 Taylor Venz by decision, 9-3!

No. 16 Rutgers 9, No. 18 Nebraska 0.#RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/LOsnLSwTp6
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) January 21, 2018

Nebraska recorded back-to-back wins over Kevin Mulligan (197) and Razohnn Gross (HWT) to make it a 9-6 match when Suriano took the mat. Suriano had two takedowns in each of the first three periods to work a 14-4 major decision over Mitchell Maginnis. It was Suriano's ninth dual win of the season and seventh by bonus points.

After a close 14-11 loss from No. 17 Scott DelVecchio (133) to highly regarded freshman Jason Renteria, Rutgers led 13-10 with three matches against ranked opponents to go. Michael Van Brill (141) dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 12 Chad Red Jr., while No. 10 Colton McCrystal followed with a 5-2 decision over No. 13 Eleazar DeLuca (149).

With match points tied, 47-47, and Nebraska leading Rutgers 16-13, No. 18 John Van Brill (157) faced No. 8 Tyler Berger, a 2017 NCAA All-American, in the final bout of the afternoon. Trailing 4-2 in the final period, Van Brill rode Berger for the duration of period and forced a stall call to make it 4-4 at the end of regulation. Berger would hold on in sudden victory courtesy of a takedown.

The Scarlet Knights return to action on Sunday (Jan. 28), when they host No. 1 Penn State for 2 p.m. match at the RAC. The dual will broadcast live on BTN.

No. 18 Nebraska (6-3, 4-1) 19, No. 16 Rutgers (5-4, 1-3) 13
Dual started at 165 pounds
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska (Devaney Sports Center)
Official: Jeff Cook
Attendance: 933

165: No. 12/12/11 Richie Lewis (RU) decision over No. 11/10/13 Isaiah White (NEB) 2-1 (TB1); RU leads, 3-0
174: Joseph Grello (RU) decision over Beau Breske (NEB), 4-2; RU leads, 6-0
184: No. 14/18/15 Nicholas Gravina (RU) decision over No. 7/7/7 Taylor Venz (NEB), 9-3; RU leads, 9-0
197: Eric Schultz (NEB) decision over Kevin Mulligan (RU), 3-2; RU leads, 9-3
HWT: Patrick Grayson (NEB) major decision over Razohnn Gross (RU), 10-2; RU leads, 9-7
125: No. 2/2/2 Nick Suriano (RU) major decision vs. Mitchell Maginnis (NEB), 14-4; RU leads, 13-7
133: Jason Renteria (NEB) decision over No. 17/14/12 Scott DelVecchio (RU), 14-11; RU leads, 13-10
141: No. 9/13/14 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) decision over Michael Van Brill (RU); match tied, 13-13
149: No. 9/12/8 Colton McCrystal (NEB) decision over No. 13/13/10 Eleazar DeLuca (RU) , 7-2; NU leads, 16-13
157: No. 8/8/8 Tyler Berger (NEB) decision over No. 18/17/14 John Van Brill (RU), 6-4 (SV1); NU wins dual, 19-13

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers wrestling, follow the program on Twitter (@RUWrestling) and Instagram (@RUWrestling). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.