ngineer
January 20th, 2011, 11:36 PM
Coming off three straight tough, close losses, dropping them from 9th to 12th and then 17th, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks handed Cornell Big Red their first loss of the season and likely tumbled them from their #1 ranking. Lehigh featured three freshman, and two pulled off big wins as #13 Cagnina posted a major decision at 133 and Dutton, unranked, knocked veteran senior Manson 8-5 with a three-point near fall in the last 10 seconds and riding time. He was trailing 4-5 when he horsed Manson to his back at the edge of the circle.
Even those Mountain Hawks who lost went down swinging in very close bouts. Freshman Austin Meys at 174 was tied with defending national champion Lewnes with 30 seconds to go before losing in a final flurry takedown and riding time, 4-1. Joe Kennedy at 197 lost to #1 ranked Cam Simaz, 2-0, but #17 Brandon Hatchett at 167 upset #3 Justin Kerber, 3-2. Soph, Joe Napoli, unranked, lost to #2 Kyle Dake 2-0 on a late takedown, but Super Soph Robert Hamlin knocked off #4 Bosak, 5-4 with a spinning takedown at the edge of the circle with 15 seconds remaining in the bout.
Lehigh's #1 ranked Heavyweight, Zach Rey put the finishing touches on the night. With Cornell leading 15-13, Rey drilled the Cornell grappler 8-0 for Lehigh's second major decision of the night and sending up a huge roar from over 4.000 fans at Stabler Arena.
This is the first time in Lehigh's storied history of ever knocking off a team that was ranked #1 at the time. This was Lehigh's 9th top 20 opponent this year, with a trip to #3 Virginia Tech on January 28 coming up. The rugged schedule, hopefully, will toughen up this very young team for the NCAA's in March.
Even those Mountain Hawks who lost went down swinging in very close bouts. Freshman Austin Meys at 174 was tied with defending national champion Lewnes with 30 seconds to go before losing in a final flurry takedown and riding time, 4-1. Joe Kennedy at 197 lost to #1 ranked Cam Simaz, 2-0, but #17 Brandon Hatchett at 167 upset #3 Justin Kerber, 3-2. Soph, Joe Napoli, unranked, lost to #2 Kyle Dake 2-0 on a late takedown, but Super Soph Robert Hamlin knocked off #4 Bosak, 5-4 with a spinning takedown at the edge of the circle with 15 seconds remaining in the bout.
Lehigh's #1 ranked Heavyweight, Zach Rey put the finishing touches on the night. With Cornell leading 15-13, Rey drilled the Cornell grappler 8-0 for Lehigh's second major decision of the night and sending up a huge roar from over 4.000 fans at Stabler Arena.
This is the first time in Lehigh's storied history of ever knocking off a team that was ranked #1 at the time. This was Lehigh's 9th top 20 opponent this year, with a trip to #3 Virginia Tech on January 28 coming up. The rugged schedule, hopefully, will toughen up this very young team for the NCAA's in March.