No. 21 Wrestling Closes Dual Season with Dominate 28-7 Win over In-State Rival Princeton

Sunday, February 18

Princeton, NJ

1 p.m.

Rutgers University

Princeton

No. 21 Wrestling Closes Dual Season with Dominate 28-7 Win over In-State Rival Princeton

Feb 18 | Wrestling

Scarlet Knights collect eight wins en route during Sunday afternoon action inside Jadwin Gym

VICTORY! Eight Scarlet Knights pick up wins, including a pin from No. 12 Nick Gravina and a ranked decision for John Van Brill as No. 21 Rutgers muscles a 28-7 win over Princeton!#RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/EYFS75WV15
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) February 18, 2018

PRINCETON, N.J. – No. 12 Nicholas Gravina (184) joined the pin pool, John Van Brill (157) collected his second ranked victory of the weekend and No. 21 Rutgers wrestling (8-7, 3-6) defeated in-state foe Princeton (4-9, 3-2), 28-7, Sunday afternoon inside Jadwin Gymnasium.

The Scarlet Knights earned wins in eight of 10 bouts against the Tigers, which included a major decision from Michael Van Brill (141) and decisions from Shane Metzler (125), No. 20 Scott DelVecchio (133), No. 7 Richie Lewis (165), Joseph Grello (174) and Razohnn Gross (HWT).

The win secured the 12^th consecutive winning dual season for Rutgers and head coach Scott Goodale – who picked up his 161^st-career victory with the program – and also proved to be the 22 consecutive win over the Tigers.

"It's a rivalry match, so I'm proud of our guys and proud of our program," Goodale said. "I love the way we handled the travel, fought through adversity all year long with some of our best guys in and out of the lineup. It's a product of what goes on in our program and the guys in it."

We're bringing this trophy back to New Brunswick.#RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/O7PFOukihK
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) February 18, 2018

The bout of the afternoon came courtesy of John Van Brill versus No. 13 Mike D'Angelo, and Van Brill did not disappoint. With D'Angelo up, 2-1, after the first period, Van Brill caught D'Angelo with a single leg at the 50-second mark in period two and tripped his opponent for the takedown and a 3-2 lead. With D'Angelo starting on top in period three, Van Brill then worked a reversal for the 5-3 result.

It marked Van Brill's second ranked victory in as many matches, as he also collected a win over No. 14 Andrew Krone last Friday against Wisconsin.

157 | BOOM! John Van Brill earns his second ranked victory of the weekend with his 5-3 decision over No. 13 Mike D'Angelo!

No. 21 Rutgers 13, Princeton 3.#RUWR | #RelentlessPursuit pic.twitter.com/dCTB63gyka
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) February 18, 2018

Rutgers sprinted off to a quick 10-0 lead with wins in its first three bouts. Metzler, who filled in for No. 1 Nick Suriano (125), earned his second win of the weekend and his varsity career with a 9-7 decision in sudden victory over Matteo DeVincenzo. Metzler produced two takedowns in the first two periods for a 7-4 lead, but DiVincenzo was able to come back with a last-second takedown to make it 7-7 after regulation.

With the clock ticking down in sudden victory one, Metzler drove DiVincenzo into the mat for two and a 9-7 final result. Metzler's overtime victory put RU up, 3-0, to start the match.

DelVecchio followed with a strong 10-4 decision over Jonathan Gomez. With a 7-3 lead after two periods, DelVecchio muscled his second takedown of the match to extend his lead and added the riding time point.

Hungry for a win, Michael Van Brill also performed well in his match with Jordan Reich. The redshirt freshman raced out to a 6-1 lead after period one courtesy of two takedowns and two back points in the opening three minutes. A takedown with 1:05 left in the match and the riding time point gave Van Brill the 9-1 major decision.

After a tough 8-1 loss from No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca to No. 12 Matthew Kolodzik, John Van Brill followed with his upset victory to give Rutgers a 13-3 lead at intermission.

Lewis wasted no time keeping the momentum in favor of the Scarlet Knights in his bout with two-time national qualifier Jordan Schleifer. With just a 1-0 lead midway through the second period, Lewis worked a single leg for the takedown and a 3-0 lead. Lewis countered a Schleifer escape in the third period with another takedown, and walked out of Jadwin with a 5-1 decision.

Rutgers closed out the dual with wins in three of its final four bouts. Grello earned a tough 7-0 decision over Matthew Gancayco, highlighted by four near-fall points in the closing period. Gravina followed with a first-period fall over Kevin Parker, stuffing his opponent at the 1:58 mark in the match for six team points to give the Scarlet Knights a comfortable 25-3 lead.

A loss at 197 pounds followed, but Gross made sure the RU faithful in attendance left on a high note. Trailing 3-2 to Christian Araneo midway through period two, Gross spun around for the takedown and a 4-3 lead. Araneo was able to escape to make it a 4-4 score at the end of regulation, but Gross worked another takedown for the 6-4 decision in sudden victory. Gross' second win of the weekend gave Rutgers its final 28-7 tally.

Rutgers shifts its focus to the Big Ten Championships, held from March 3-4 in East Lansing, Michigan.

Knight Notes
• Rutgers is now 43-33-5 all-time against Princeton, which includes 22 straight wins over the Tigers. The Scarlet Knights have not loss to Princeton since 1991.
• The win also marked the 161^st of Goodale's career at Rutgers. He now needs just six more to surpass John Sacchi for the most in program history.
• Metzler is now 2-0 in his short varsity career for Rutgers with a pin and a decision.
• DelVecchio picked up his 81st-career varsity win with his 10-4 decision Sunday, which makes him 32nd in program history.
• Van Brill now owns wins over five ranked foes this season, which includes victories over No. 13 Mike D'Angelo (Princeton), No. 14 Andrew Krone (Wisconsin), No. 11 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) and No. 19 Larry Early (Old Dominion). Van Brill also has a medical forfeit over No. 1 Jason Nolf of Penn State, which counts as a win towards his overall record.
• The 5-3 decision over D'Angelo was the second this season for Van Brill. The redshirt junior also defeated the Tiger, 7-4, to claim third place at the Midlands Championships.
• Lewis has now captured victories in nine of his last 10 outings, which includes ranked victories over No. 11 Evan Wick (Wisconsin), then-No. 8 Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), then-No. 11 Isaiah White (Nebraska), then-No. 11 Te'shan Campbell (Ohio State) and then-No. 13 Anthony Valencia (Arizona St.). During that span, Lewis has outscored his opponents, 85-30, with three majors and a tech fall.

No. 21 Rutgers (8-7, 3-6) 28, Princeton (4-9, 3-2) 7
Dual started at 125 pounds
Location: Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.

125: Shane Metzler (RU) dec. Matteo DeVincenzo (Prin), 9-7 (SV1)| Rutgers 3, Princeton 0
133: No. 20/16/17 Scott DelVecchio (RU) dec. Jonathan Gomez (Prin), 10-4 | Rutgers 6, Princeton 0
141: Michael Van Brill (RU) major dec. Jordan Reich (Prin), 9-1 | Rutgers 10, Princeton 0
149: No. 12 /9/10 Matthew Kolodzik (Prin) dec. No. 11/11/9 Eleazar DeLuca (RU), 8-1| Rutgers 10, Princeton 3
157: John Van Brill (RU) dec. No. 13/14/11 Michael D'Angelo (Prin), 5-3 | Rutgers 13, Princeton 3
165: No. 7/5/8 Richie Lewis (RU) dec. No. NR/19/15 Jonathan Schleifer (Prin), 5-1 | Rutgers 16, Princeton 3
174: Joe Grello (RU) dec. Matthew Gancayco (Prin), 7-0 | Rutgers 19, Princeton 3
184:No. 12/13/12 Nicholas Gravina (RU) fall Kevin Parker (Prin) (1:58) | Rutgers 25, Princeton 3
197: No. 17/NR/NR Patrick Brucki (Prin) major dec. Anthony Messner (RU), 13-5 | Rutgers 25, Princeton 7
HWT: Razohnn Gross (RU) dec. Christian Araneo (Prin), 6-4 (SV1) | Rutgers 28, Princeton 7

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