Wrestling edged by No. 22 Wilkes

Wrestling | 11/20/2015 9:40:00 PM

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Elizabethtown College grapplers are on the cusp of a breakthrough win. It nearly came Friday night at No. 22 Wilkes, where the Blue Jays held a lead and were down only one going into the heavyweight bout. The Colonels, featuring four nationally-ranked wrestlers, got a decision in the decisive match to escape with a 21-17 win in their home gym.

Wilkes' one-two punch at 125 and 133 lifted the hosts to a 9-0 lead. Michael Fleck, ranked No. 8 by the NWCA and No. 4 by d3wrestle.com, bested sophomore Philip Torresani, 11-4, in the opener, before defending national champion and top-ranked Matthew Grossman earned a fall in just 24 seconds.

The Blue Jays (2-3) bounced back in a big way, winning four consecutive weight classes to go in front 14-9.

Once again, the Lammer brothers were in good form, starting off the run with back-to-back decisions. Mike Lammer dealt d3wrestle honorable mention Pankil Chander an 11-6 loss in their 141-pound matchup and Chad Lammer upset NWCA No. 8 Josh Evans 7-5 in overtime at 149.

Adam Smith improved to 7-2 on the season with a 21-5 technical fall over Cory Fleming at 157, as the Blue Jays went in front 11-9. Chris Kummerer added to the lead with a 7-2 decision over Matthew Judge at 165.

Wilkes (2-2), which has been ranked as high as fifth this season, got a crucial pin from James Ilvento at 174 to retake the lead, 15-14. Fifth-ranked Kyle Diesel followed with a hard-fought 6-0 win over Blue Jay sophomore Rocco Hladney.

Luke Fernandez would pull Elizabethtown back within one with his 6-2 decision over Nicholas Lawson in the 197 bout, a battle of wrestlers receiving honorable mention status from d3wrestle.com.

Eric Eckstein put in a valiant effort at 285, but Wilkes' Alex Pullen, also a d3wrestle.com honorable mention pick, scratched out a 9-5 decision to deny E-town its first win against the Colonels since 2010-11. The Blue Jays have shown positives in both of their matches against ranked teams this season (No. 15 New York U. and No. 22 Wilkes) and Friday night they split wins with the Colonels evenly.

In the only exhibition of the night, E-town freshman Nikolay Savin pinned Zachary Faust in 7:00.

Friday's match completed the dual portion of the schedule for the fall semester. The Blue Jays will compete once more, Saturday, Dec. 5, at the York (Pa.) New Standard Corporation Invitational, before commencing for Winter Break. They'll return with their first of three home matches, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, against Scranton.

#22 Wilkes vs. Elizabethtown Friday, November 20, 2015 • Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Marts Center)
Wt.		EC	WU
125	#8/4 Michael Fleck (WU) dec. Philip Torresani (EC), 11-4	0	3
133	#1/1 Matthew Grossmann (WU) pinned Dan Smith (EC), 0:24	0	9
141	Mike Lammer (EC) dec. #NR/HM Pankil Chander (WU), 11-6	3	9
149	Chad Lammer (EC) dec. #8/CT Josh Evans (WU), 7-5 (OT)	6	9
157	Adam Smith (EC) tech. fall Cory Fleming (WU), 21-5	11	9
165	Chris Kummerer (EC) dec. Matthew Judge (WU), 7-2	14	9
174	James Ilvento (WU) pinned Quinn Ruble (EC), 2:49	14	15
184	#5/5 Kyle Diesel (WU) dec. Rocco Hladney (EC), 6-0	14	18
197	#NR/HM Luke Fernandez (EC) dec. #NR/HM Nicholas Dawson (WU), 6-2	17	18
285	#NR/HM Alex Pullen (WU) dec. Eric Eckstein (EC), 9-5	17	21
Exhibitions
197	Nikolay Savin (EC) pinned Zachary Faust (WU), 7:00
Rankings: NWCA / d3wrestle.com NR - Not ranked CT - Contender HM - Honorable Mention