Rutgers University
Drexel
No. 12 Wrestling Defeats Drexel, 28-12
Dec 14 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling (6-2) defeated Drexel (2-2), 28-12, on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,940 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena. Down 12-6 at intermission, the Scarlet Knights won their final five bouts to secure their sixth dual victory of the season.
RU muscled a 7-3 match split with Drexel, as No. 9 Lenny Pinto (174) pinned No. 18 Jasiah Queen and No. 18 Remy Cotton worked a ranked major decision over No. 31 Ibrahim Ameer. No. 15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) and No. 22 Hunter Catka (HWT) added bonus points, while No. 29 Ayden Smith (125), No. 27 Andrew Clark (149) and Andrew Barbosa (165) contributed decisions.
"It was good to bounce back with this one, but we still have a lot to figure out, said head coach Scott Goodale. I'm glad the back half did its job and scored a lot of points. It was great to see Lenny with the fall and hopefully that gets him going here."
Smith opened the dual with a back-and-forth matchup against Piscataway native Desmond Pleasant. Smith produced takedowns in all three periods, getting back points in the third and adding the riding-time point for a 16-11 decision.
Drexel won its next two matches, including a pin at 141 pounds to go up 9-3 through three matches. Clark answered with a 4-1 decision, but a loss from No. 26 Anthony White (157) to Luke Nichter gave the Dragons a 12-6 lead at the midpoint.
Rutgers took control of the dual after the break, beginning with Barbosa, who landed takedowns in the first and second periods en route to a 7-2 decision over Cody Walsh. Pinto followed against Queen and caught the Dragon on his back for the first-period fall. Pinto's first pin of the season put the Scarlet Knights back ahead for good at 15-12 with three matches remaining.
RU added three more bonus-point wins, as Cartagena-Walsh majored Ethan Wilson and Cotton collected four near fall points to cruise to a 15-7 major decision over Ameer to lock up the dual.
Catka closed out the afternoon in style, landing seven takedowns and adding back points to put an exclamation point on a 25-5 tech fall over Dom Petracci. The five wins to close the dual made it a 28-12 final in favor of Rutgers.
Up Next
Rutgers gets a few weeks off before it wrestles at No. 1 Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 10 in University Park. The 4 p.m. dual is set for a national broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Box Score
No. 12 Rutgers 28, Drexel 12
125: 29/31 Ayden Smith (RU) over Desmond Pleasant (DREX) by dec., 16-11; RU leads, 3-0
133: Kyle Waterman (DREX) over 13/9 Dylan Shawver (RU by dec., 5-4; match tied, 3-3
141: Jordan Soriano (DREX) over Tahir Parkins (RU) by fall (4:52); DREX leads, 9-3
149: 27/24 Andrew Clark (RU) over Patrick Kelly (DREX) by dec., 4-1; DREX leads, 9-6
157: Luke Nichter (DREX) over 26/28 Anthony White by SV1, 4-1; DREX leads, 12-6
165: Andrew Barbosa (RU) over Cody Walsh (DREX) by dec., 7-2; DREX leads, 12-9
174: 9/4 Lenny Pinto (RU) over 18/13 Jasiah Queen (DREX) by fall (2:29); RU leads, 15-12
184: 15/18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) over NR/33 Ethan Wilson by MD, 14-4; RU leads, 19-12
197: 18/16 Remy Cotton (RU) over 31/31 Ibrahim Ameer (DREX) by MD, 15-7; RU leads, 23-12
HWT: 22/19 Hunter Catka (RU) over Dom Petracci (DREX) by TF, 25-5 (3:38); RU wins, 28-12
Players Mentioned
