No. 14 Rutgers wrestling grinds out comeback victory against UPenn
The Rutgers wrestling team traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to face off against UPenn on Saturday night. The Scarlet Knights (6-1, 0-0) won their last five bouts to earn a 22-14 comeback win against the Quakers (0-2, 0-0).
The dual started with a match between junior 149-pounder Michael Cetta and Andy Troczynski. Cetta gave No. 14 Rutgers the lead as he worked a 9-3 decision.
The 157-pound bout would be the first-ranked matchup of the contest. Despite earning a third-period takedown, No. 33 junior 157-pounder Andrew Clark fell to No. 25 Lucas Revano in a close 10-7 decision.
Sophomore 165-pounder Luke Gayer earned his first start of the season against Kaya Sement. Gayer led 3-1 after the first period but only scored 1 point in the next two periods and lost the bout, giving UPenn its first lead of the night.
Freshman 174-pounder Shane Cartagena-Walsh struggled against No. 11 Nick Incontrera. Incontrera landed a technical fall in his dominant 21-4 decision.
The Knights would continue struggling as No. 16 Maximus Hale grudged out a 4-2 decision over No. 19 sophomore 184-pounder Brian Soldano in what was a close affair from start to finish.
No. 8 junior 197-pounder John Poznanski was the solution to Rutgers' troubles, as he secured a technical fall in his one-sided 18-1 victory over No. 25 Cole Urbas.
The Knights trailed the Quakers 14-8 after six bouts.
Rutgers worked back-to-back technical falls as No. 7 graduate student 285-pounder Yaraslau Slavikouski emerged victorious against John Stout to cut the deficit to 1 point.
The Knights would retake the lead with a win from No. 2 junior 125-pounder Dean Peterson. Peterson earned a 10-4 decision over Ryan Miller to make the score 16-14.
No. 9 junior 133-pounder Dylan Shawver won a highly ranked matchup via a last-second takedown against No. 11 Michael Colaiocco. The referees reviewed the final takedown to determine if Shawver landed it before the end of the period, but eventually they confirmed their decision and the 9-8 win went in favor of Rutgers.
In the final bout, No. 13 graduate student 141-pounder Mitch Moore sealed the victory with a 5-0 decision over No. 11 CJ Composto. Moore shut out Composto to remain undefeated this season.
Head coach Scott Goodale made some changes to the starting lineup but his team was able to come from behind as Goodale earned his 215th career win on the Banks.
The Knights will have no time off as they return to Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus for an in-state rivalry dual against Rider on Sunday. The match will begin at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
"I'm proud of the way we fought tonight," Goodale said. "It was a gritty win and I love those kinds of wins."
For more updates on the Rutgers wrestling team, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of Matthew Mangam's work, follow @matthewmangam on X.
