A Tale of Two-Halves: Lower-weights struggle, upper-weights try to rally
On paper, Rutgers wrestling was the favorite. With two All-Americans out due to injury, along with three All-Americans in redshirt, there was no way Cornell could beat Rutgers, right? The Big Red proved everyone wrong.
Granted, Rutgers wrestling is without their reigning national champion, Nick Suriano, who is pursuing Olympic aspirations himself. However, even without Suriano in their lineup this year, Rutgers was assumed to be the favorite against their former EIWA rival.
Nic Aguilar opened up the dual with a decisive 11 – 5 victory against Cornell’s Dominic LaJoie, but it was all down hill from there for the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers lost __ consecutive bouts, most of which were in heartbreaking fashion.
Sammy Alavarez took on the undefeated No. 5 Chas Tucker, and lost a very narrow 3 – 2 decision, but Alvarez did not wrestle a bad match, he just ran into a quality opponent, and came up short. The loss was something Rutgers could live with, if the rest of the dual panned out as hoped for.
Alvarez’s loss was followed up with Jojo Aragona losing a two-point match at the buzzer on a set of back-points. Following Aragona, Gerard Angelo being thrown to his back, and pinned, with the lead in the third period. Mike Van Brill was then beaten, in a match where he was favored to win, by a score of 9 – 4.
“A lot of clock watching at 141, and (Angelo) can’t get pinned in college wrestling. We were winning a match and got pinned”, head coach Scott Goodale said following the match. “(Angelo) is just one guy, but that’s a big part of the dual meet”.
However, after intermission, the match proved to be a tale of two matches.
Brett Donner kicked things off after the break, dropping a decision, and making it five consecutive bouts lost for Rutgers. Cornell led 18 – 3, and hope for Rutgers was nearly gone. However, Rutgers’ upper-weights would not back down without a fight.
Joe Grello picked up a dominant 6 – 2 win, and finally kicked his losing streak. That made the score 18 – 6; still a long shot, but a little glimmer of hope picked up. Then Billy Janzerfollowed it up by dominating nationally ranked No. 23 John Loew, making the score 18 – 9 Rutgers. More hope began to creep back in, energizing the Rutgers faithful.
Jordan Pagano took the mat at 197-lbs, in a match where he was a heavy favorite, and a spot where his team needed him the most. Pagano took down Cornel’s John Fagen a couple times, and turned Fagen from the top position on a number of occasions, as Rutgers fans cheered for a pin they desperately needed.
Pagano was unable to pin Fagen, but he did earn a major decision, and give what was earlier a silent RAC something to cheer about. Pagano’s victory would give back-up heavyweight, Alex Esposito, the opportunity to win the match for Rutgers.
Going into Esposito’s bout with Brendan Furman, Rutgers trailed 18 – 13. Rutgers would need a pinfall from Esposito to win the dual, a feat that seemed to be a pipe dream for Rutgers.
Esposito would not go out without a fight, though, as he quickly took Furman down to start the match. Several times Esposito would attempt to get Furman to his back, but he was unsuccessful. Esposito was able to walk away with the victory, but Rutgers did not. The final score read 18 – 16.
“It was a tale of two-halves. We didn’t get it done down low, we got it done up top…we just really got our butts kicked down low”, said Coach Goodale. “Good fight, good dual meet. I just wish we had a little more, and I think it’s one we let away”.
Rutgers has to rebound quickly, as they head to Happy Valley to wrestle No. 2 Penn State. Penn State will be favored in nearly every bout within the dual, but the opportunity to knock off a big name, or two, is certainly present for ten Rutgers wrestlers.
