No. 17 Wrestling Collects Three Individual Victories in Dual Loss to No. 2 Ohio State

Sunday, January 7

Piscataway, NJ

Noon

Rutgers University

Ohio State

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

No. 17 Wrestling Collects Three Individual Victories in Dual Loss to No. 2 Ohio State

Jan 07 | Wrestling

Final Results Photo Gallery Post Match Press Conference

DeLuca, Lewis and Suriano all with wins against Buckeyes in front of 5,109 fans at the RAC

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Eleazar DeLuca (149) and No. 15 Richie Lewis (165) both picked up ranked victories for No. 17 Rutgers wrestling (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) in its 29-11 loss to No. 2 Ohio State (8-0, 3-0 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon at the RAC. No. 2 Nick Suriano (125) also captured an individual win against the Buckeyes, who feature 10 wrestlers within the Top 15 of their weight class.

"You try to take positives from everything," said head coach Scott Goodale. "There's some ups and downs, but Nick [Suriano] did what he needed to do, we picked off two nationally-ranked guys at 49 and 65, so that's big. That's important for us. There are little battles within those matches that you have to win and good for those guys. Now we just have to keep that momentum going."

After OSU started the dual with four consecutive victories, Suriano erupted the crowd of 5,109 in attendance with his performance against Braken Mead. Suriano collected 11 takedowns in the match, with his final one in the third period cementing a 24-9 tech fall, his third of the dual season and third in Big Ten Conference action.

After tight losses from No. 14 Scott DelVecchio (133) and Michael Van Brill (141), DeLuca took the mat against No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes. Hayes led DeLuca, 5-0, midway through the third period before DeLuca connected on a six-point throw to make it 6-5. Hayes escaped to tie the match, but DeLuca added another throw in the closing seconds to secure the 12-7 decision. Hayes entered the match with a 17-1 record and a 6-0 mark in dual action this season.

Huge win for @RUWrestling as DeLuca upsets Hayes. @ShaneSparksBTN and @JGibLacesUp with the exciting call. pic.twitter.com/JU7X7EOAKU
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) January 7, 2018

"[His match] was pretty exciting," Goodale said. "We were kind of waiting for that place to get going like that and he's capable of that type of technique. I'm glad he was able to hit it on a really good kid, the No. 5 kid in the country. That's a game changer."

Lewis closed out the dual with No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell, a two-time NCAA qualifier. Tied 1-1 with Campbell in the third period, Lewis landed a takedown with 35 seconds left for a 3-1 advantage. His takedown at the end of the period made it a 5-2 decision over Campbell, who was 13-2 and 5-0 in dual action heading into Sunday.

Big win for Richie Lewis over No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell. #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/bSqsxatmlG
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) January 7, 2018

DelVecchio enjoyed a tough showing against No. 3 Luke Pletcher, who qualified for NCAA's last season and owns a perfect 17-0 mark in 2017-18. The South Plainfield, N.J., native held a 1-0 lead on Pletcher in the third period before Pletcher escaped and recorded a takedown with 1:24 left in the match. DelVecchio escaped with 18 seconds left had a chance at Pletcher's legs in the closing moments, but Pletcher held on for the 4-2 decision.

Rutgers returns to action on Friday, Jan. 12, when they host No. 19 North Carolina at the RAC.

Knight Notes
• With his win over No. 5 Hayes, DeLuca now owns two victories over ranked Intermat foes this season. DeLuca also picked off then-No. 14 Davion Jefferies (Oklahoma), 8-2, on Nov. 11 during the Journeymen duals
• Lewis has now collected wins over ranked Intermat foes in back-to-back matches. He also defeated Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) last weekend during his third-place match at the Midlands Championships.
• Suriano has now outscored his opponents 93-24 in his six dual matches and 204-46 in his first 15 matches of 2017-18.

No. 2 Ohio State (8-0, 3-0) 29, No. 17 Rutgers (3-3, 1-2), 11
Dual started at 174 pounds
Location: Rutgers Athletic Center, Piscataway, N.J.
Official: Nick Grosso
Attendance: 5,109

174: No. 3/3/3 Bo Jordan (OSU) wins by decision over Joseph Grello (RU), 7-3; Ohio State leads, 3-0
184: No. 2/2/2 Myles Martin (OSU) wins by fall over Jordan Pagano (RU) (0:37); Ohio State leads, 9-0
197: No. 1/1/1 Kollin Moore (OSU) wins by major decision over Anthony Messner (RU), 18-7; Ohio State leads, 13-0
HWT: No. 1/1/1 Kyle Snyder (OSU) wins by fall over Razohnn Gross (RU) (1:59); Ohio State leads, 19-0
125: No. 2/2/2 Nick Suriano (RU) win by tech fall over Brakan Mead (OSU), 24-9; Ohio State leads, 19-5
133: No. 3/2/2 Luke Pletcher (OSU) wins by decision over No. 14/13/13 Scott DelVecchio (RU), 4-2; Ohio State leads, 22-5
141: No. 6/6/6 Joey McKenna (OSU) wins by major decision over Michael Van Brill (RU), 13-3; Ohio State leads, 26-5
149: No. 14/17/15 Eleazar DeLuca (RU) wins by decision over No. 5/5/5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (OSU), 12-7; Ohio State leads, 26-8
157: No. 6/6/7 Micah Jordon (OSU) wins by decision over No. NR/NR/10 John Van Brill (RU), 11-5; Ohio State leads, 29-8
165: No. 15/13/13 Richie Lewis (RU) wins by decision over No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell (OSU), 5-2; Ohio State wins, 29-11

Rankings (-/-/-): InterMat / FloWrestling/The Open Mat
NR denotes not ranked

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.