Two takeaways from No. 13 Rutgers wrestling's victory against Edinboro
The Rutgers wrestling team defeated Edinboro by a score of 49-0 on Friday night. The Scarlet Knights (3-1, 0-0) earned their biggest win of the season against the Fighting Scots (0-2, 0-0).
Here are two takeaways from the shutout victory.
Consistency throughout the whole lineup
No. 13 Rutgers started off strong and never took its foot off the gas pedal.
In the first bout, No. 6 junior 125-pounder Dean Peterson landed five takedowns and worked a technical fall in his 20-5 decision over Caleb Edwards.
No. 19 junior 133-pounder Dylan Shawver earned a strong win over Jacob Brenneman, landing six takedowns with a 20-8 major decision to put the Knights up 9-0 after two bouts.
Rutgers would continue its dominance, taking a 26-0 lead heading into the intermission.
No. 22 junior 165-pounder Anthony White and No. 27 senior 174-pounder Jackson Turley secured consecutive technical falls, winning by more than 14 points over Max Kirby and Joey Arnold, respectively. The win marked Turley's first of the season after he struggled against Cal Poly and Virginia Tech.
From there, the bottom half of the Knights' lineup worked bonus point victories.
No. 12 sophomore 184-pounder Brian Soldano secured a 12-3 major decision over Brody Evans, and No. 7 junior 197-pounder John Poznanski worked a technical fall against Jack Kilner.
No. 6 graduate student 285-pounder Yaraslau Slavikouski ended the dual with an 18-8 major decision win over Nick Lodato to remain undefeated.
Rutgers did not have any close bouts, as it worked five technical falls, three major decisions and two falls in its second shutout victory of the season.
New starters earn impressive wins
Three wrestlers made their first starts of the season for the Knights.
No. 23 junior 157-pounder Andrew Clark's bout against Colin Roberts only lasted 46 seconds as he pinned Roberts. Clark started over junior 157-pounder Al DeSantis, who has an overall record of 2-4 this season.
Sophomore 141-pounder Joe Fongaro and junior 149-pounder Michael Cetta started over No. 16 graduate student 141-pounder Mitch Moore and No. 29 graduate student 149-pounder Jacob Butler, respectively. Fongaro won his bout by fall, and Cetta landed a technical fall.
Rutgers will look to continue its positive form when it faces off against Princeton at Jersey Mike's Arena on Livingston campus this Friday. The match will begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on 88.7 WRSU-FM.
"I was really happy with how our guys wrestled tonight, as they were aggressive throughout the dual," said head coach Scott Goodale. "We're excited to get back to Piscataway for our next two matches at Jersey Mike's Arena."
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