PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17 Rutgers wrestling (4-2) defeated Lock Haven (1-1), 34-6, on Friday night in front of 3,434 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena.
 
The Scarlet Knights worked an 8-2 match split over the Bald Eagles, which included ranked decisions from No. 20 Jackson Turley (174), Conner Harer (157) and Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184). No. 22 Brian Soldano wrestled up a weight to deliver a fall at 197 pounds, No. 9 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) added a pin and No. 19 Dean Peterson (125) and No. 24 Joseph Olivieri (141) both teched their opponents.

"It was awesome to be back at JMA," said head coach Scott Goodale, who faced off against his alma mater. "I was able to see some old friends and my former coach, so that was pretty cool. It was just good to see some of our fans back in here. I'm excited."
 
With an nontraditional start at 149 pounds, No. 31 Andrew Clark lost a tough 4-1 decision to Lucas Kapusta in sudden victory, as Lock Haven took the first lead of the night at 3-0. But Harer followed with a crucial decision over No. 33 Nick Stampoulos, using a 1-0 victory to get his hand raised at Jersey Mike's Arena for the first time and tie the team score at 3-3.
 
White got the nod against Caden Dobbins and muscled 2:45 of riding time and a reversal in the third period for the 4-1 decision. Turley followed with a dominant match against No. 31 Avery Bassett, hitting a four-point near fall on a reversal and collecting more than three minutes of riding time en route to a 10- 3 decision. Turley's ranked win made it 9-3 Rutgers through the first four bouts of the night.
 
Cartagena-Walsh earned the start against No. 28 Colin Fegley and landed a takedown in the first period before holding off Fegley for the 4-3 decision. It was Cartagena-Walsh's second win over a ranked foe in as many matches, as he earned victory over TJ Stewart two weeks prior at No. 7 Virginia Tech.
 
With four wins in their first five matches, the Scarlet Knights took a 12-3 lead into intermission.
 
Soldano bumped up a weight out of the break to face Tucker Hogan at 197 pounds, hitting a headlock from his back for the pin in the first period.

"Oh, that's my classic move. I've hit it since I was in second grade," Soldano said. They call it the Soldano."

Slavikouski added the second fall of the night, this one coming early in the third period over Ethan Miller to put the dual out of reach at 24-3 with three matches left.
 
In his first match since November 17, Peterson faced Lucas Fye and landed three takedowns and two near-fall points for a quick 11-3 lead after the first period. Peterson continued to attack and finished off Fye with a 20-5 tech fall.
 
No. 5 Dylan Shawver (133) faced two-time All-American No. 14 Anthony Noto and wrestled a back-and-forth match with the Bald Eagle. After Noto landed the first takedown, Shawver responded with one of his own for a 4-3 lead in the first period. However, Noto landed an escape and four-near fall at the buzzer for a 9-3 lead after one. Shawver kept at it down the stretch but lost 10-7 for his first defeat of the season.
 
Olivieri closed the night with Conner Heckman and jumped out to an early 9-2 lead before finishing with a 19-3 tech fall in the third period. RU's fourth bonus-point victory of the night made it a 34-6 final.
 
Up Next
Rutgers faces Princeton on Sunday at Jadwin Gymnasium. The match is set for a noon start on ESPN+.
 
Box Score
No. 17 Rutgers 34, Lock Haven 6
149: Lucas Kapusta (LHU) over 31/25 Andrew Clark (RU) by SV1, 4-1; Lock Haven leads, 3-0
157: Conner Harer (RU) over 33/NR Nick Stampoulos (LHU) by dec., 1-0; match tied, 3-3
165: 31/30 Anthony White (RU) over Caden Dobbins (LHU) by dec., 4-1; RU leads, 6-3
174: 20/20 Jackson Turley (RU) over 33/NR Avery Bassett (LHU) by dec., 10-3; RU leads, 9-3
184: Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) over 28/31 Colin Fegley (LHU) by dec., 4-3; RU leads, 12-3
197: 22/20 Brian Soldano (RU) over Tucker Hogan (LHU) by fall (0:52); RU leads, 18-3
HWT: 9/6 Yaraslau Slavikouski (RU) over Ethan Miller (LHU) by fall (5:28); RU leads, 24-3
125: 19/13 Dean Peterson (RU) over Lucas Fye (LHU) by TF, 20-5 (4:47); RU leads, 29-3
133: 14/13 Anthony Noto (LHU) over 5/7 Dylan Shawver (RU) by dec., 10-7; RU leads, 29-6
141: 24/32 Joseph Olivieri (RU) over Conner Heckman (LHU) by TF, 19-3 (6:32); RU wins, 34-6
Rankings Intermat/Flo

Postmatch Quotes
Head Coach Scott Goodale
Opening Statement: "It was awesome to be back at JMA. I was able to see some old friends and my former coach, so that was pretty cool. It was just good to see some of our fans back in here. I'm excited." Kinda didn't like to, obviously, the way it started. It wasn't great. Slow all the way up really until we totally did a big reversal. But then once we got going down through the upper weights, huge. So that obviously is huge. We got that place all jacked up and in even Yara with a bonus point win and Peterson scoring points again. So it's good to get back in the flow. That is a very tough team." 

On moving Brian Soldano up a weight: "I'll make it real simple. He's [Soldano] an 84-pounder right here, and this is what we needed to do for the team today. We knew he would give an incredible effort, a great spark, and that's exactly what we got out of him. So, we'll probably have to pause for Sunday, just a little tinged up and didn't need to do it. So he wanted to bump up and wrestle and obviously I'm confident in that approach and that's kind of what happened."

On Shane Cartagena-Walsh delivering second consecutive ranked win: "I find he over wrestled to be honest with you. He has such a great motor and a great pace, sometimes you just have to wrestle instead of trying to get somebody tired. He gets into that a little bit where he over wrestles a little bit, and next thing you know, he's tired and he loses a little bit of focus. So I know he didn't like the performance, but he beat a kid who beat him earlier in the year, another ranked win. A great bounce back, I know he wanted that, so good for him, but there's a lot we can get better at in that way and he understands that." 

Brian Soldano
On wrestling up a weight: "We talked about it yesterday and I felt big. You don't think I look big? No, I felt healthy, you know, walking around at a natural weight, weighing in pretty light, so it felt good." 

On the move he hit: "Oh, that's my classic move. I've hit it since I was in second grade. They call it the Soldano."