Navy-Lehigh Play By Play

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 11th-ranked Lehigh wrestling team (8-3) earned a 30-6 victory over EIWA rival Navy (1-2) Saturday evening at Alumni Hall and for the first time in the 95-match history, the Mountain Hawks pulled ahead of the Mids in the series, 48-47.

Lehigh won eight of the 10 matches, including each of the first three to open up a lead it would not relinquish. After falling behind 11-0 in the match, Navy freshman Corey Wilding (Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned a hard-fought victory over Lehigh redshirt freshman Drew Longo at 141 pounds. Longo took the early lead with a takedown in the opening period, but Wilding quickly broke the hold and trimmed the lead to one. Longo extended his lead to two with an escape to begin the second period, however, Wilding would go on to score a pair of takedowns in the period, including the go-ahead score with 18 seconds left in the period. He tacked on a point in the final period with an escape.

With the win, Wilding improved to 7-10 this season, including a 2-1 mark in duals.

"Corey put on the type of match and demonstrated the competitive fire tonight that has been the successful brand of Navy wrestling's past greats," said first-year Navy head coach Joel Sharratt, who welcomed back two of Navy's most decorated wrestlers, 1st Lt. Bryce Saddoris and 1st Lt. Aaron Kalil, to serve as honorary team captains. "He instilled fatigue by controlling the tie up and forcing his pace in the match. He never gave up hope, he fought through the adversity and stayed the course to victory."

The Mids earned their second victory of the night thanks to 13th-ranked 165-pound senior Peyton Walsh (Glen Allen, Va.), who pushed his career win total to 96. Walsh's competitor, senior Marshall Peppelman, proved to be a formidable opponent, pushing Walsh throughout the match. There were a number of potential scoring opportunities in the first two periods, but neither wrestler was able to capitalize. Walsh put up the first point of the match with an escape to open the final period and secured the victory by way riding time he built in the second period to win the match, 2-0.

Walsh is now 28-7 this season, including 3-0 in dual matches. He owns an 18-4 career record in dual compeition, winning each of his last nine dual matches.

Because of injuries, Navy was forced to make a number of adjustments to its lineup particularly in the lower weight classes. With senior 133-pound Colton Rasche unable to wrestle, Sharratt called upon rookie Zack Davis (Granger, Ind.) to step up to the challenge of battling ninth-ranked Mason Beckman. Beckman, who has lost just three matches this season, had his hands full with Davis and needed a late reversal to secure the 4-0 win.

"Zack showed up for the fight tonight and although the he did not get the result he wanted, he stood toe to toe with one of the top ranked wrestlers in the nation," added Sharratt. "He has talent and fire and is getting better every week."

"Starting tonight's dual with a different line up, we knew the team points would be a battle but we wanted to get the guys best effort in areas of hustle and competition. Most of the guys did a very good job hustling and setting a high pace and with more matches they will find ways to make the conditioning edge more of a factor in producing the right end result.

"The effort of the team was better, but each guy who competed tonight knows we have more to give in many ways and we will expect more from each other. Seniors like Paul Rands and Patrick Prada are getting closer to the combination of putting their capability into the full seven minutes and they play a key role in the team peaking in our dual meet performance capability."

Navy will be right back on the mat Sunday afternoon when they make the short trip to College Park to face the 5-7 Maryland Terrapins who are coming off a 21-18 victory over Harvard Friday evening. Sunday's match is slated for a 3:00 pm start at the XFINITY Center.

Lehigh 30, Navy 6
125 - Scott Parker (L) tech fall Brant Leadbeter (N), 20-4
133 - #9 Mason Beckman (L) dec Zack Davis (N), 4-0
141 - Randy Cruz (L) dec Patrick Prada (N), 6-0
149 - Corey Wilding (N) dec Drew Longo (L), 6-4
157 - #15 Mitch Minotti (L) major Jonathan Clemente (N), 9-1
165 - #13 Peyton Walsh (N) dec Marshall Peppelman (L), 2-0
174 - Santiago Martinez (L) fall Jadaen Bernstein (N), 1:44
184 - #3 Nate Brown (L) dec Michael Woulfe (N), 8-2
197 - #15 Elliot Riddick (L) dec Paul Rands (N), 9-5
285 - Doug Vollaro (L) dec Colynn Cook (N), 3-1

### Go Navy ###