By Cameron Burns
Correspondent
The College wrestled tough in a gritty effort, but the No. 10 Ducks proved they belonged in the top ten Division III dual meet rankings. The Stevens Institute of Technology was victorious by a fairly decisive final score of 26-11.
The No. 13 Lions came into this matchup with an 11-4 overall dual meet record and were riding high. They won their previous three contests at a quad meet and their last five dual meets overall. However, this was not the Lions’ best showing, as they won three out of the ten matches.
The Lions were looking to build off their recent success and win their sixth dual match in a row. To start off the night, the Lions did exactly that. Junior 165-pound wrestler Nick Sacco, who has been the College’s most reliable wrestler all season, improved his perfect dual meet record to 15-0 on the season. Sacco won 4-1 against the Ducks’ wrestler Chris Stathopoulos and controlled the match from the beginning. Sacco scored three with a very swift single-leg takedown in the first period and never gave his lead back.
Sacco’s victory put the Lions up three to nothing and that would be the last lead they had all night. The College struggled to capitalize on the early lead and would drop the next three matches of the night.
The 174-pound matchup was between the Lions’ freshman Jimmy Dolan and Stefan Major for Stevens. Dolan fought hard, but ultimately lost via Major 11-1. Stevens got their first lead here and remained determined all night to keep it.
Next up was the 184-pound matchup. The College’s 184 weight division representative, senior Reid Colella, lost in a narrow decision against the Ducks’ wrestler Joel Martsiovsky, 8-4.
This match was the most physical of the night. Even the crowd could audibly hear some of the intense action. It almost resembled the sound of punches being thrown when they clinched up in the collar tie. The match was a lot closer than the score showed, but regardless, the Ducks were victorious and increased their lead to four.
The 197-pound bout between the Lions’ freshman D.J. Henry and the Ducks’ Blaise Wagner ended similarly to the two previous. Wagner was victorious by major decision with a score of 15-7 in a fairly competitive matchup.
In the heavyweight match up, the Lions bounced back from the three consecutive losses. The College’s Peter Wersinger was victorious 11-1 against Steven’s Maximo Ruiz. The senior awarded the team four points with a big major decision win and cut the Ducks’ lead to a slim margin of four.
Wersinger was dominant in this match. He managed to get his opponent with a single-leg takedown, and a front-headlock snapdown for his two takedowns. This was nothing new for the fifth-year heavyweight. He is the No. 17 Division III 285-pound wrestler in the nation.
The Lions failed to stack back-to-back wins all night and went on another three-match losing streak. In the 125-pound matchup, the Lions’ freshman Matthew Griffin barely lost in an extremely competitive matchup against the Ducks’ wrestler Akhil Vega. The score was tied 7-7 after regulation, but Vega ended up winning because of his advantage in riding time. However, there was a controversial call in the middle of the first period that ended up being reviewed. The Lions almost scored a takedown, which would have won the match, but it was ruled out of bounds even after a review.
After that was the 133-pound match between the College’s junior Kyle Nase and Stevens’ wrestler Luke Hoerle. This was a battle all the way through. Nase was down 4-1 with about a minute and a half left in regulation and managed to tie it up with a clutch takedown. Despite the late success, Nase was unable to hold on to the lead. The Ducks’ wrestler escaped for one and ended up victorious, 5-4.
The third to last match of the night featured the Lions’ freshman 141-pound wrestler J.J. Giordano and the Ducks’ Nico Diaz. Giordano would lose this matchup 7-2. This extended the Ducks’ lead to 13, and with two matches left, the Lions did not have any hope of mounting a comeback.
Next up was the Lions’ third victory of the day. This was a 141-pound match between the College’s junior Mike Conklin and Stevens’ Carmen Cortese. Conklin dominated most of the match and won by a major decision with a score of 11-3. Conklin had three takedowns and did not get taken down a single time.
The final match of the night was the 157-pound matchup, and it featured the only pin of the night. Lions freshman Ryan Datz lost to Stevens’ Ryan Smith in the middle of the second period.
The Lions will look to bounce back in their next meet at home against Centenary University for their Senior Night on Feb. 16.
