ResultsThe New York University wrestling squad competed at the annual National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Cliff Kean National Duals on Friday, January 8, at the Fort Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, IN.
NYU, ranked #24 in the most recent NWCA Division III Coaches Poll, defeated #21 University of Mount Union 30-13 in its third match of the day following a pair of losses to #15 Baldwin Wallace College (24-12) and #17 Luther College (19-13).
"We needed to finish the day with a win and the guys came through," said NYU Senior Assistant Coach
Corey Luce. "Mount Union is a good team and I felt our guys stepped up and wrestled well."
The squad improved to 6-4 on the season following the victory over the Raiders. Two grapplers,
Nathan Pike and
Raymond Jazikoff, posted perfect 3-0 records on the day.
Pike, ranked #3 by the NWCA at 133 pounds, picked up a 6-5 tiebreaker decision over Jesse Gunter of Baldwin Wallace, ranked #2 by the NWCA. Pike followed that up with another tight decision, 14-13, over Nick Scheffert of Luther. The junior 2015 All-American closed out his day with pin over Mount Union's Chris D'Alfonso.
"Nathan wrestled a very smart match against Gunter," continued Luce. "He put himself in position to win and he came through."
Jazikoff (157 lbs) picked up decisions over Richard Burke of Baldwin Wallace (5-2) and Tristan Zurfluh of Luther (7-3) before pinning his opponent Jake Taylor of Mount Union.The grapplers' match versus Luther was a tight one throughout. After the first four matches (125-149 lbs), NYU trailed 7-6 but took a 9-7 lead following Jazikoff's 7-3 decision over Zurfluh. Then, trailing the Norse 10-9, John Messinger picked up a 7-1 decision at 174 pounds to put NYU in the lead at 12-10. Unfortunately, the squad dropped the final three matches and fall to Luther.
Against Mount Union, NYU won four of its first five matches en route to the 17-point win.HIGHLIGHTS vs. BALDWIN-WALLACE:-
Manny Ramirez (165 lbs) picked up a 5-2 decision over David Shapiro.
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William Gockel-Figge, ranked #4 by the NWCA at 184 pounds, earned an 8-4 decision over Ben Lebrun.
HIGHLIGHTS vs. LUTHER:-
Nick Matthews (149 lbs) defeated Dakota Gray, ranked #4 by the NWCA, 11-9.
"Nick put the pressure on early and was aggressive the entire match," said Luce. "When you're looking to score points the entire match good things happen. This was a good win for him."
HIGHLIGHTS vs. MOUNT UNION:-
Wayne Yuan (125 lbs) defeated Trent Gill 7-6.
- Messinger defeated Nick Millger by an 8-5 decision.
- Gockel-Figge earned a 4-2 decision over Connor Rogers.
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Santino Pelusi (HWT) picked up a 3-2 decision over Mike Sinclair.
NYU will return to the mat on Sunday, January 17, when it travels to Plymouth, NH, for the Plymouth State Tournament.
