Lehigh men’s wrestling defeats Penn 24-14

Behind key victories from No. 10 senior Max Brignola (165 lbs), first-year Brady Collins (174 lbs) and graduate JT Davis (197 lbs), the No. 22 Lehigh men’s wrestling team defeated the University of Pennsylvania in a tight 24-14 dual on Friday night at Grace Hall.

With the win, the Mountain Hawks move to 10-6 on the season, while the Quakers fall to 6-3. In front of a packed home crowd of 1,338, Lehigh grabbed control early when No. 4 graduate student Sheldon Seymour battled No. 31 first-year Davis Motyka in the night’s opening 125-lbs bout.

Seymour scored a takedown early in the match before Motyka was injured, leading to a default win for the Mountain Hawks.

In the 133-lbs match, Lehigh first-year Mason Ziegler and UPenn’s No. 12 junior Evan Mougalian went scoreless for the first two periods. However, an escape point in the last period helped Mougalian to a 1-0 win by decision. 

A pair of major decision wins for UPenn’s 141-lbs, No. 7 senior CJ Composto over Lehigh’s first-year Seamus Mack and UPenn’s 149-lbs, No. 4 sophomore Cross Wasilewski over Lehigh’s sophomore Matt Repos put the Quakers up 11-6 through four matches. 

At the 157-lbs weight class, Lehigh’s No. 11 sophomore Logan Rozynski faced off against UPenn’s No. 10 junior Jude Swisher in a ranked matchup.

An escape and a pushout in the second period gave Swisher a 2-0 advantage heading into the contest’s final period. Rozynski got on the scoreboard with an escape, but another pushout by Swisher earned the latter the win by decision, 3-1.

At that point, the Quakers led 14-6, a margin that would only decrease with five more bouts to go. 

Lehigh coach Pat Santoro knew UPenn would have talent throughout their lineup.

“I mean, we recruited a lot of their kids. They recruited a lot of our kids,” Santoro said. “We have a really good relationship with Penn, so it’s a pretty friendly rivalry. I like their team a lot. I like their coaching staff a lot. So you just go out and compete.”

The 165-lbs weight class featured the final ranked matchup between Brignola and UPenn’s No. 19 junior Sean Seefeldt. Seefeldt’s escape point in the second period earned him a 1-0 lead, but Brignola’s final round escape evened the score at one apiece. In the final minute, Brignola scored a takedown, the deciding points for a 5-1 win by decision. 

With Lehigh down 14-9, the 174-lbs weight class would cut into the Quakers’ lead. Lehigh’s first-year Brady Collins and UPenn’s first-year Caden Bellis went into the final period of their bout with Collins leading 3-1 after scoring a takedown in the last 30 seconds of the second period. 

Collins escaped Bellis to start the final period and didn’t look back. Collins finished with a 4-1 win by decision, earning the Mountain Hawks three points and bringing the dual’s score to 14-12, still in favor of UPenn. 

Collins, who wrestled in Grace Hall for the first time in his collegiate career, gave high praise to his teammates for putting him in a spot to succeed.

“It was really fun, this place was packed,” Collins said. “I blacked out as soon as I walked out here, but I knew I had a bunch of people supporting me. And my teammates were hyping me up all week. I got a bunch of hammers to work with.”

After Collins’ victory, the Mountain Hawks never looked back as No. 16 junior Rylan Rogers of Lehigh earned the go-ahead win that put Lehigh up 16-14. Rogers recorded multiple takedowns in a major decision win, 12-3, at the 184-lbs match over UPenn’s first-year Liam Carlin. 

The 197-lbs weight class followed as Davis battled with UPenn’s junior Martin Cosgrove. Davis escaped to start the second period, but Cosgrove countered with an escape of his own in the bout’s third period.

At the end of the third period, Davis and Cosgrove remained deadlocked at 1, carrying the bout into overtime.

With the crowd on its feet, a Davis takedown with 32 seconds to go earned him the win by decision to give Lehigh a 19-14 lead with one bout to go: the 285-lbs match.

Davis, who improved to a personal 13-4, gained confidence as the bout grew longer.

“I got to his leg several times in regulation and just had to find a different way to finish,” Davis said. “So once I got back to it in overtime, I felt pretty confident.”

Lehigh’s No. 8 senior Nathan Taylor ended the night with a win by technical fall over UPenn’s sophomore John Pardo, with a score of 17-2. 

When the final whistle sounded, Grace Hall erupted as Lehigh secured the 24-14 victory.

Santoro had high praise for his back-half after the dual.

“If you can stay focused and dial in on what you want to do, you’ll help the team the most,” Santoro said.

Lehigh returns to action Saturday against Bucknell in Grace Hall for Senior Day, when the Mountain Hawks will honor their eight-member senior class as they look to secure another EIWA win.