The Mountain Hawks dropped the hammer on the Wolverines in Sunday's win.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In one of its most impressive performances in recent memory, No. 10 Lehigh won eight of 10 bouts against fourth-ranked Michigan to claim a 27-8 win Sunday in a loud and rowdy Leeman-Turner arena at Grace Hall. The teams split the four bouts matching ranked wrestlers against one another, but Lehigh rode a fast start to an 18-0 lead at intermission and never looked back.
With the victory Lehigh improves to 3-0 on the dual season as the Mountain Hawks complete the sweep of ranked foes in their home-opening weekend.
"It's no question that there was a big advantage to wrestling here in Grace Hall," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "It was good to have the fans behind us and our guys really fed off of it."
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Lehigh welcomed back Darian Cruz in the opening bout at 125, and Cruz got the Mountain Hawks off to a fast start with a 7-0 decision over Wolverine true freshman Drew Mattin who was just pulled out of redshirt. Cruz scored the only takedown of the bout in the first period and later tilted Mattin for four points to lead 6-0 after one.
An expected 2-vs.-3 matchup at 133 never materialized as Michigan's Stevan Micic did not compete but junior Scott Parker gave Lehigh some early breathing room with his second pin of the weekend, using a third period cradle to top Mike Volyanyuk in 5:33, giving Lehigh a 9-0 lead.
Freshman Luke Karam followed with his biggest win to date, using a strong third period to defeat Sal Profaci 9-2 at 141. Profaci scored a late first period takedown to go up 2-0 after one, but Karam was in control from there, reversing to open the second period and riding out before picking up the go-ahead takedown late in the third. Karam picked up a late four point near fall for good measure plus riding time advantage.
Junior Cortlandt Schuyler made his first dual appearance of the season at 149 and extended Lehigh's lead to 15-0 with an 8-3 decision over Malik Amine. Schuyler scored two first period takedowns and added a second period reversal in the win.
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Lehigh's first of three wins over ranked wrestlers came at 157 as junior Ian Brown rode a first-period six-point move where he took eighth-ranked Alec Pantaleo to his back and went on to a 7-5 decision which gave the Mountain Hawks their 18-0 advantage at the break.
Third-ranked Logan Massa picked up Michigan's first win of the dual with an 18-2 technical fall win over sophomore Cole Walter at 165, but Lehigh got back-to-back wins from sophomore Jordan Kutler and junior Ryan Preisch, with both matches won in the final period, to clinch the dual.
Kutler battled back to 3-3 in the third after giving up an early takedown in the first period to Myles Amine at 174. He scored on a late low double on a re-shot to go up 5-3 and went on to win 5-4 to put Lehigh up 21-5.
Preisch delivered the official clincher, using a third period takedown to defeat Domenic Abounader 3-1 at 184.
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"Our team is starting to buy in to the fact that they can win matches in the third period," Santoro said. "They're doing it. Saw it really start last year but we've been able to continue that."
Freshman Jake Jakobsen delivered the final win for the Mountain Hawks, using a second period ride out and third period escape to defeat Jackson Striggow 2-0 at 197.
Michigan claimed the final bout as second-ranked heavyweight Adam Coon defeated No. 13 freshman Jordan Wood 6-2.
"Overall I was really pleased with how the guys wrestled," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "Those were two good teams on the mat today. It was almost the opposite of what happened to us last year in their gym (No. 15 Michigan knocked off No. 10 Lehigh 24-13) but it was good to see our guys come out on top of those close matches."
FULL RESULTS:
- 125 – Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Drew Mattin (Michigan) 7-0
- 133 – Scott Parker (Lehigh) Fall Michael Volyanyuk (Michigan) 5:33
- 141 – Luke Karam (Lehigh) dec. Sal Profaci (Michigan) 9-2
- 149 – Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Malik Amine (Michigan) 8-3
- 157 – Ian Brown (Lehigh) dec. Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) 7-5
- 165 – Logan Massa (Michigan) tech fall Cole Walter (Lehigh) 18-2, 4:56
- 174 – Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Myles Amine (Michigan) 5-4
- 184 – Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. Domenic Abounader (Michigan) 3-1
- 197 – Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) dec. Jackson Striggow (Michigan) 2-0
- 285 – Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh) 6-2
