NEW YORK, N.Y. (Dec. 21, 2014) – Thanks to a couple long wins against Lehigh the Edinboro wrestling team split its two matches on Sunday while competing in the Grapple at the Garden at Madison Square Garden. The Fighting Scots, ranked 12th in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, began the morning with a 23-14 loss to third-ranked Cornell. That was followed by a 19-18 win over 11th-ranked Lehigh in a match that was decided by criteria. The Fighting Scots won thanks to a 6-4 advantage in match wins. Edinboro is now 6-3, with Cornell 5-0 and Lehigh 7-3.
Edinboro grabbed big leads in both matches thanks to its murderers row of
A.J. Schopp,
Mitchell Port and
Dave Habat, all ranked in the top three in their respective weight classes.
Schopp came up with the most impressive win of the day as he renewed his rivalry with Lehigh's Mason Beckman. Ranked number one at 133 lbs., Schopp held off the sixth-ranked Beckman 3-1 thanks to a takedown a minute into the match. He would ride Beckman out in the second period. Schopp had previously defeated Beckman 4-2 in the NWCA All-Star Classic in November. The two split a pair of matches a year ago. Schopp is now 11-0 and moved into a tie for 12th place in career victories with Dave Shunamon with 118.
Habat, ranked third at 149 lbs., won his showdown with sixth-ranked Chris Villalonga of Cornell. He entered the third period trailing 3-2, but picked up a penalty point and reversal with 41 seconds left for a 5-3 lead. Villalonga would escape with a half minute to go but Habat prevailed 5-4. He is now 15-0 on the season and has 113 career wins, tied for 13th.
Port, meanwhile, also won twice to improve to 15-0 on the season. He has 111 wins, which is tied for 19th in career victories.
Vic Avery (11-3) faced the toughest day of the Fighting Scots, meeting seventh-ranked Gabe Dean of Cornell and third-ranked Nathaniel Brown of Lehigh. Ranked 14th by InterMat, Avery nearly pulled off the biggest win of his career against Dean, the national runner-up at 184 lbs. a year ago and ranked first at 184 lbs. until a week ago. He took Dean into overtime tied at 4-4 but Dean would register the winning takedown with ten seconds left in sudden victory for a 6-4 decision. Avery dropped a 3-1 decision to Brown on a takedown by Brown with two seconds left in the second period.
Edinboro takes a short break before returning to action on December 29-30 at the Midlands Championship.
#3 Cornell 23, #12 Edinboro 14Edinboro jumped out to a 14-3 lead but the Big Red would run off wins in the final six matches, with bonus points in two of those. Second-ranked Nahshon Garrett defeated
Kory Mines 8-1, but the Fighting Scots won the next three matches, including a technical fall by Schopp and a pin by Port. Habat's win over Villalonga gave Edinboro the 14-3 lead. The Big Red ran off six straight wins, starting with a takedown with 13 seconds left by Craig Eifert for a 6-4 decision over
Kasey Burnett-Davis at 157 lbs. Cornell would win the next two matches by major decision and Dean's decision over Avery gave the Big Red a 17-14 lead. The loss snapped Edinboro's five-match winning streak.
#3 CORNELL 23, #12 EDINBORO 14
Grapple at the Garden
Sunday, December 21, 2014
New York, NY 125 – #2 Nahshon Garrett (CU) dec.
Kory Mines (EU) 8-1
133 – #1
A.J. Schopp (EU) tech. fall Bricker Dixon (CU) 17-0 (7:00)
141 – #2
Mitchell Port (EU) fall over Ryan Dunphy (CU) 4:06
149 – #4
Dave Habat (EU) dec. #6 Chris Villalonga (CU) 5-4
157 – Craig Eifert (CU) dec.
Kasey Burnett-Davis (EU) 6-4
165 – #6 Dylan Palacio (CU) maj. dec.
Casey Fuller (EU) 13-4
174 – George Pickett (CU) maj. dec.
Zach Towers (EU) 13-2
184 – #7 Gabe Dean (CU) dec. #14
Vic Avery (EU) 6-4 sv
197 – #18 Jace Bennett (CU) dec.
Vince Pickett (EU) 5-0
Hwt. – Jacob Aiken-Phillips (CU) dec.
Warren Bosch (EU) 9-8
RECORDS: Edinboro 5-2
Cornell 5-0
#12 Edinboro 19, #11 Lehigh 18Kory Mines and
Casey Fuller needed to go past the seven minutes of regulation wrestling to win, and their two decisions helped Edinboro upset the Mountain Hawks. Mines started the match with a 3-1 overtime decision over Scott Parker at 125 lbs. The winning takedown came with 34 seconds left in overtime. That started a string four straight wins for the Scots for a 12-0 lead. Lehigh cut the margin in half at 12-6 with a fall at 157 lbs. Fuller followed with a grueling 8-7 decision in two tiebreakers at 165 lbs. The match was tied at 5-5 after regulation. There was
No scoring in the first overtime, and both wrestlers had escapes in the first tiebreaker session. The same scenario occurred in the second overtime and tiebreaker. The difference was a 12-second advantage in riding time for Fuller.
Patrick Jennings, inserted into the lineup for
Zach Towers against Lehigh, followed with a 4-3 upset over former national qualifier Marshall Peppelman at 184 lbs. The Mountain Hawks regained hope of a win with a fall at 197 lbs. but still needed a win by bonus points at heavyweight. Doug Vollaro would defeat
Warren Bosch, but only by a 2-0 decision as Edinboro won on criteria.
#12 EDINBORO 19, #11 LEHIGH 18
Grapple at the Garden
Sunday, December 21, 2014
New York, NY 125 –
Kory Mines (EU) dec. Scott Parker (LU) 3-1 sv
133 – #1
A.J. Schopp (EU) dec. #6 Mason Beckman (LU) 3-1
141 – #2
Mitchell Port (EU) dec. Randy Cruz (LU) 7-2
149 – #4
Dave Habat (EU) dec. Will Switzer (LU) 8-2
157 – Mitch Minotti (LU) fall over
Kasey Burnett-Davis (EU) 3:50
165 –
Casey Fuller (EU) dec. Santiago Martinez (LU) 8-7 tb2
174 –
Patrick Jennings (EU) dec. Marshall Peppelman (LU) 4-3
184 – #3 Nathaniel Brown (LU) dec. #14
Vic Avery (EU) 3-1
197 – John Bolich (LU) fall over
Vince Pickett (EU) 2:23
Hwt. – Doug Vollaro (LU) dec.
Warren Bosch (EU) 2-0
RECORDS: Edinboro 6-2
Lehigh 7-3
Edinboro wins on criteria matches won 6-4
