Thursday, March 20
Oklahoma City, Okla.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
NCAA Championships
Four Mountain Hawks win first round matches at NCAA Championships
3/20/2014 4:18:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Lehigh Audio Broadcast | Photo Gallery (photos by Eric Hess '16) | Brackets | Team Scores
OKLAHOMA CITY – A come-from-behind 9-8 victory for sophomore Laike Gardner over No. 16 seed Joe Spisak of Virginia highlighted Lehigh's effort on session one of the NCAA Championships Thursday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Gardner overcame an early 5-0 deficit to win on a third period reversal and rideout.
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The Mountain Hawks went 4-4 in Thursday's early session with Gardner and all three of Lehigh's seeded wrestlers winning. All four Lehigh wrestlers who lost were upended by opponents seeded either second or third. Lehigh finished the first session with 5.5 points, good for 20th place.
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In a wild match at 141, Gardner found himself down 5-0 after one period and 6-1 early in the second period. Gardner pulled within a point with a takedown and two point near fall to trail 6-5. Spisak and Gardner then traded reversals leaving the Cavalier with an 8-7 lead after two periods. In the third, Spisak used a strong ride to go over one minute of riding time but Gardner battled back with a reversal to take the lead and then rode out Spisak to erase the riding time advantage and pick up the 9-8 victory. Next up for Gardner is the No. 1 seed Mitchell Port of Edinboro.
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Sophomore Mason Beckman delivered the only bonus points of the session as the No. 6 seed at 133 dominated Greg Rinker of Air Force in a 17-2 technical fall in 7:00. Beckman scored two early takedowns and added a three point near fall to lead 7-1 after one and never looked back. He will face No. 11 seed Ryan Mango of Stanford in the round of 16.
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At 149, freshman Mitch Minotti was impressive in a 9-3 decision over Cody Ruggirello of Hofstra, Minotti's second win over Ruggirello in as many weeks. Minotti started strong with two first period takedowns. The wrestlers traded reversals in the second period, but Minotti scored a takedown in the third, plus 1:35 riding time advantage. The No. 15 seed at 149, Minotti will next face Matthew Frisch of the Citadel, who upset No. 2 seed Nick Dardanes of Minnesota.
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Lehigh's last win of the day came from freshman Elliot Riddick at 174. The No. 9 seed, Riddick scored three second period takedowns in a 6-4 win over Pete Renda of North Carolina State. He will next face Cody Caldwell of Northern Iowa.
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Freshman Darian Cruz was the first Mountain Hawk on the mats as he took on No. 3 seed Nico Megaludis of Penn State at 125. Cruz started strong, scoring the first points of the match off a pancake takedown but Megaludis scored a reversal and took over from there en route to an 18-3 technical fall win in 7:00. Cruz will look to bounce back against Dominic Parisi of Appalachian State in the consolations.
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Senior Joey Napoli was unable to solve Iowa's No. 2 seed and defending national champion Derek St. John as the Hawkeye rode a second period takedown to a 4-1 decision at 157. Napoli's first consolation bout will be against the winner of a pigtail match between Justin DeAngelis of Oklahoma and No. 15 seed Cody Pack of South Dakota State.
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At 197, John Bolich ran into No. 3 seed Morgan McIntosh of Penn State with McIntosh riding a late first period takedown to a 5-0 victory. Bolich will look to stay alive in the consolations when he faces Nick Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh Thursday evening.
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Sophomore heavyweight Max Wessell wrestled in the final match of the session but came up short against No. 2 seed Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State. Gwiazdowski reversed Wessell to open the second and added a takedown before riding out the third period. Next up for Wessell is a matchup with No. 15 seed Adam Hager of Utah Valley in the consolations.
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Penn State is out to the early lead in the team race with 16.5 points, three more than Oklahoma State. Edinboro and Minnesota are tied for third with 11, while Nebraska is fifth with 9.5
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The NCAA Championships continue Thursday night with the championship round of 16 and first round consolations from Chesapeake Energy Arena. Action begins at 6 p.m. (CT) with video coverage on ESPNU and ESPN3 and streaming audio of all Lehigh matches on Lehighsports.com.
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Round of 32
125 – No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn St.) tech fall Darian Cruz (Lehigh) 18-3, 7:00
133 – No. 6 Mason Beckman (Lehigh) tech fall Greg Rinker (Air Force) 17-2, 7:00
141 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. No. 16 Joe Spisak (Virginia) 9-8
149 – No. 15 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) 9-3
157 – No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. Joey Napoli (Lehigh) 4-1
174 – No. 9 Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Pete Renda (NC State) 6-4
197 – No. 3 Morgan McIntosh (Penn St.) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 5-0
285 – No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) dec. Max Wessell (Lehigh) 6-2
OKLAHOMA CITY – A come-from-behind 9-8 victory for sophomore Laike Gardner over No. 16 seed Joe Spisak of Virginia highlighted Lehigh's effort on session one of the NCAA Championships Thursday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Gardner overcame an early 5-0 deficit to win on a third period reversal and rideout.
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The Mountain Hawks went 4-4 in Thursday's early session with Gardner and all three of Lehigh's seeded wrestlers winning. All four Lehigh wrestlers who lost were upended by opponents seeded either second or third. Lehigh finished the first session with 5.5 points, good for 20th place.
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In a wild match at 141, Gardner found himself down 5-0 after one period and 6-1 early in the second period. Gardner pulled within a point with a takedown and two point near fall to trail 6-5. Spisak and Gardner then traded reversals leaving the Cavalier with an 8-7 lead after two periods. In the third, Spisak used a strong ride to go over one minute of riding time but Gardner battled back with a reversal to take the lead and then rode out Spisak to erase the riding time advantage and pick up the 9-8 victory. Next up for Gardner is the No. 1 seed Mitchell Port of Edinboro.
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Sophomore Mason Beckman delivered the only bonus points of the session as the No. 6 seed at 133 dominated Greg Rinker of Air Force in a 17-2 technical fall in 7:00. Beckman scored two early takedowns and added a three point near fall to lead 7-1 after one and never looked back. He will face No. 11 seed Ryan Mango of Stanford in the round of 16.
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At 149, freshman Mitch Minotti was impressive in a 9-3 decision over Cody Ruggirello of Hofstra, Minotti's second win over Ruggirello in as many weeks. Minotti started strong with two first period takedowns. The wrestlers traded reversals in the second period, but Minotti scored a takedown in the third, plus 1:35 riding time advantage. The No. 15 seed at 149, Minotti will next face Matthew Frisch of the Citadel, who upset No. 2 seed Nick Dardanes of Minnesota.
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Lehigh's last win of the day came from freshman Elliot Riddick at 174. The No. 9 seed, Riddick scored three second period takedowns in a 6-4 win over Pete Renda of North Carolina State. He will next face Cody Caldwell of Northern Iowa.
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Freshman Darian Cruz was the first Mountain Hawk on the mats as he took on No. 3 seed Nico Megaludis of Penn State at 125. Cruz started strong, scoring the first points of the match off a pancake takedown but Megaludis scored a reversal and took over from there en route to an 18-3 technical fall win in 7:00. Cruz will look to bounce back against Dominic Parisi of Appalachian State in the consolations.
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Senior Joey Napoli was unable to solve Iowa's No. 2 seed and defending national champion Derek St. John as the Hawkeye rode a second period takedown to a 4-1 decision at 157. Napoli's first consolation bout will be against the winner of a pigtail match between Justin DeAngelis of Oklahoma and No. 15 seed Cody Pack of South Dakota State.
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At 197, John Bolich ran into No. 3 seed Morgan McIntosh of Penn State with McIntosh riding a late first period takedown to a 5-0 victory. Bolich will look to stay alive in the consolations when he faces Nick Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh Thursday evening.
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Sophomore heavyweight Max Wessell wrestled in the final match of the session but came up short against No. 2 seed Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State. Gwiazdowski reversed Wessell to open the second and added a takedown before riding out the third period. Next up for Wessell is a matchup with No. 15 seed Adam Hager of Utah Valley in the consolations.
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Penn State is out to the early lead in the team race with 16.5 points, three more than Oklahoma State. Edinboro and Minnesota are tied for third with 11, while Nebraska is fifth with 9.5
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The NCAA Championships continue Thursday night with the championship round of 16 and first round consolations from Chesapeake Energy Arena. Action begins at 6 p.m. (CT) with video coverage on ESPNU and ESPN3 and streaming audio of all Lehigh matches on Lehighsports.com.
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Round of 32
125 – No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn St.) tech fall Darian Cruz (Lehigh) 18-3, 7:00
133 – No. 6 Mason Beckman (Lehigh) tech fall Greg Rinker (Air Force) 17-2, 7:00
141 – Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. No. 16 Joe Spisak (Virginia) 9-8
149 – No. 15 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) 9-3
157 – No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. Joey Napoli (Lehigh) 4-1
174 – No. 9 Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) dec. Pete Renda (NC State) 6-4
197 – No. 3 Morgan McIntosh (Penn St.) dec. John Bolich (Lehigh) 5-0
285 – No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) dec. Max Wessell (Lehigh) 6-2
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