Jersey Jostle: No. 17 Rutgers wrestling routs LIU, falls to No. 6 NC State in Toms River
On a special Sunday at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River, the Rutgers wrestling team faced off against LIU and NC State in the Journeymen Jersey Jostle. The Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-0) routed the Sharks (1-3, 0-0) 37-3 but fell 23-14 to the Wolfpack (3-0, 0-0), suffering their first defeat of the season.
No. 9 senior 125-pounder Dean Peterson was upset by LIU's Robbie Sagaris in a close 7-5 decision. Peterson led 3-2 after the first period but let his lead slip away in the second for his first defeat of the season.
No. 6 senior 133-pounder Dylan Shawver put No. 17 Rutgers back in the lead with a 7-minute technical fall win over Kaelan Francois. No. 22 senior 141-pounder Joseph Olivieri built off Shawver's dominant win, pinning his opponent at the 1:54 mark and giving the Knights an 11-3 advantage.
Rutgers won its next two bouts comfortably, followed by the collegiate debut of freshman 165-pounder Andrew Barbosa, who defeated James Johnston 12-6 in a dominant performance.
The Knights closed out the dual with four more bout wins, claiming a 37-3 victory over the Sharks. One of those wins came from senior 285-pounder John O'Donnell, who got the opportunity to wrestle in front of his hometown, friends and family. He earned the 15-0 technical fall in the venue he often wrestled in during high school.
"Driving back from Rutgers down here, I was smiling the whole way, no headphones," O'Donnell said in excitement for Sunday's bout. "I thought it was pretty cool. They definitely got loud for me. I mean, I guess it makes sense — I go here. But it was definitely nice to know — not only to get the clapping beforehand, but as the match went on, I felt like the whole gym was clapping for me, so it was good. It was a good feeling."
Despite the one-sided win against LIU, Rutgers' real test was next, going up against No. 6 NC State.
Peterson could not bounce back against Vince Robinson, losing by injury default, giving the Wolfpack a 6-0 lead after one bout.
Shawver put the Knights on the board via a narrow 9-5 win over Troy Hohman. Shawver landed a much-needed third-period takedown to defeat Hohman.
But Olivieri was unable to level the dual against No. 7 Kai Orine. Olivieri fell 2-1 despite it seeming like he earned a last-second escape point to force overtime in the bout. Rutgers challenged the call, but it stood, and Orine claimed the 1-point win to put his team up 9-3 after three bouts.
Senior 149-pounder Andrew Clark got the traveling Knights fans on their feet with a thrilling 5-2 victory over Koy Buesgens. Following that bout, freshman 157-pounder Conner Harer had his toughest clash yet, facing off against No. 9 Ed Scott. Harer lost on a technical fall 20-5, and Rutgers trailed 14-6 with five bouts left.
Barbosa — wrestling his second bout of the day and of his collegiate career — pulled off an upset against No. 20 Derek Fields via an 8-6 decision. It was Barbosa's first career-ranked win.
"First match — not gonna lie, I was a little nervous," Barbosa said. "Second match, no nerves at all, felt pretty good. I wanted to go out there and win. I showed up really good."
The Knights were back in the dual, but No. 13 graduate student 174-pounder Jackson Turley fell 9-6 to No. 25 Matty Singleton, and Rutgers was down 17-9. Then, No. 20 junior 184-pounder Brian Soldano lost 8-3 to No. 14 Dylan Fishback.
No. 12 senior 197-pounder John Poznanski ended the Knights' two-bout losing streak with a 20-4 technical fall over Andrew Macchiavello. NC State was still ahead 20-14.
No. 4 graduate student 285-pounder Yaraslau Slavikouski capped off the dual, falling 2-0 to No. 7 Isaac Trumble.
Rutgers will hit the road for a ranked match against Virginia Tech on Friday night. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on ACCNX via the ESPN app.
"Good, competitive dual meet, really cool atmosphere. It was awesome," said head coach Scott Goodale. "Just got beat in a bunch of little, different areas up and down the lineup … They just beat us in a couple of different areas (where) they were a little bit better today."
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