WrestlingReport.com  
JOURNEYMAN NORTHEAST DUALS
Hudson Valley Community College
Saturday November 28, 2009

Submitted by John A. Henning, College Editor 

It was a crisp fall day outside with temperatures in the 40s with  wind whistling across the parking lot. However, inside the HVCC gymnasium, the wrestling was hot! Central Michigan, Nebraska, Maryland and Lehigh were the headliners and each had a measure of success…but it was the Chippewas of CMU that stole the day going 4-0 including a head-to-head win over #7 Maryland. The final 21-16 score was sparked by the stunning first period fall by true soph Scott Sentes over Steve Bell at 133. Sentes was an All-American last spring at 125 as a true frosh. Bell, who placed at 133 last spring and recently wrestled in the All-Star Classic, was ranked 8th and Sentes 9th coming in. But it was Sentes locking up the fall in just 2:19 of period one with a show of brute force that was shocking. CMU has a deep, powerful line-up. In fact, freshman Ben Bennett pushed returning NCAA runner-up Mike Miller up to 184 after winning their wrestle-off. Bennett defeated #4 Mike Letts of Maryland 4-2 after dropping a close decision to Virginia’s #5 Chris Heinrich in the prior round.  The University of Michigan had a rough day losing one point team duals to both Bloomsburg and upstart American.  Of the 16 teams, 5 were ranked in the top 25. There were six mats going at once with seating that was very fan friendly.

The event was well-organized except for not enough warm up area for wrestling on-deck. Another marquee match-up took place between #6 Nebraska and #12 Lehigh. Lehigh shot out in front winning the first three bouts with LU’s John McDonald coming from behind in the waning moments with a TD to win 7-6. With Lehigh ahead 9-0, true frosh Joe Napoli came out of redshirt at 149 and lead 5-2 with 30 seconds left in his match due to a smart counter TD, but Nebraska’s Chris hacker locked up a cradle and showed Napoli the lights at 6:42. Instead of 12-0 it was only 9-6 and NU had new life. Next up was NCAA champ Jordan Burroughs took the mat with amazing speed shooting low shots that Lehigh’s Sean Bilodeau had no answer for. However, Bilodeau reversed late and rode out to avoid the major losing 10-4. The teams split the next four bouts entering Hwt. tied 15-15. Lehigh’s #6 Zack Rey vs. Nebraska’s #9 Tucker Lane. Rey’s lone TD was the difference sending Lehigh away with the upset.

The very next round pitted Lehigh against #7 Maryland. Lehigh coach Pat Santoro recruited virtually all the wrestlers while he was coach of the Terrapins and they came back to haunt him with a convincing 24-9 win, taking 7 of the ten bouts. Maryland was just too physical for the Mountain Hawks. UM coach Kerry McCoy and Santoro were assistants together under Lehigh coach Greg Strobel. McCoy has the Terps humming as they will undoubtedly be a force at year’s end. A side note for New York wrestling enthusiasts: Hofstra’s PJ Gillespie defeated Virginia’s Michael Chaires at 165 in a battle of former NYS champions.