Shippensburg, Pa. - Mercyhurst wrestling competed in three duals on Saturday at Shippensburg, winning all three of them. The Lakers began with convincing wins over Shippensburg and Frostburg before setting their sights on #11 Millersville later in the afternoon. Mercyhurst found themselves in the middle of a tough fight with the Marauders, but came out with the win in the end to cap off the perfect weekend.
How it Happened
Mercyhurst's opening matchup was against Shippensburg with the Lakers jumping out to an early lead. They found themselves up 12-0 by the end of the 133 bout due to a forfeit at 125 followed by a pinfall. Nate Knowlton smelled blood in the water after going up 8-1 after a pair of takedowns and finished the job to give his team a major advantage.The team then continued to build up their lead with back-to-back wins by decision to make it 18-0 going into the 157 matchup.
A win via a major decision was up next for the Lakers coming courtesy of Max Stedeford who won his bout 9-1 to make it 22-0. Dillon Walker was up next for Mercyuhrst at 165 with the junior coming away with another big win. He started off strong with a 6-1 lead at the end of the first period and did not have any letdown on his way to a pinfall victory to make it 28-0 before a forfeit at 174 added six more points to Mercyhurst's lead.
Shippensburg did manage to get the win via a decision at 184 thanks to a late takedown, but those three points were all they could muster. A major decision at 197 by Trever Begin and a win via a decision in the heavyweight round resulted in a 41-2 win for Mercyhurst for their largest win of the season for the Lakers to this point.
The Lakers got back under way just after 1:00 p.m. as they took on Frostburg State. They got things started the way they had hoped as Billy Smith was sent out first in the 125 matchup, grabbing a 5-3 win to make it a 3-0 start. The Bobcats managed to get on the board with a major decision win at 133 to make it 4-3 but Mercyhurst was able to get the lead right back as Jake Niffenegger earned a tech fall win at 141 to make it 8-4 before a long matchup for Minnick at 149. The Laker sophomore found himself in a back-and-forth affair that eventually saw an overtime period that Minnick was able to get the upper hand in and help Mercyhurst grow out their advantage.
Stedeford got back to work with the senior earning a tech fall win, 15-0, to help Mercyhurst claim a 16-4 advantage against Frostburg State. He was followed by Dillon Walker who got a tech fall win of his own. Walker dominated his opponent to the tune of a 17-4 score in the first frame to secure another win. Mercyhurst did not slow down as it was back-to-back pinfall wins that helped them put this one out of reach as both Chase Stein and Vincent Scaramuzzino garnered pins to make it a 33-4 score going into the 197 matchup. From there, Begin took care of business with a tech fall win before a pin in the heavyweight matchup went the way of the Bobcats to make it a 38-10 finale.
Smith once again staked the Lakers to a lead with a win via a decision, making ti 3-0 in the early going. Millersville's Devin Flannery, the third ranked wrestler per NWCA, ended up coming away with a tech fall win at 133 to help the Marauders jump out in front, 5-3. Niffenegger helped the Lakers reclaim the lead, though, with his win at 141. The sophomore got off to a fast start and never looked back from there with a win via major decision to make it a 7-5 score going into the 149 bout.
After a major decision for Millersville at 149, Max Stedeford got his third victory of the day, proving to be a big one. He jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the end of the first period and retained the momentum on his way to a major decision to help Mercyhurst jump in front 11-9. Dillon Walker came out and claimed a slim advantage in the second period and rode that to the win. He became aggressive over the final minute of the third period, helping him to the major decision to make it 15-9 in favor of the Lakers.
Millersville got a major decision win at 184 to help keep within striking distance as the score stood at 21-13 in favor of the Lakers going into the 197 bout. Trever Begin put the final nail in the coffin for Mercyhurst in his matchup with a big win. He and his counterpart felt each other out in the first period, but Begin ended up going on the attack in the second and got the pinfall win to make it a 27-13 score in favor of the Lakers. The heavyweight matchup ending going Millersville's way, but it proved a moot point as Mercyhurst grabbed the win over their ranked counterpart.
Next Match
Mercyhurst comes home for their next bout as they take on Kutztown on Friday, January 26th, at 7:00 p.m. before seeing East Stroudsburg the following day in an 11:00 a.m. start.
