1/10/2022 other sports Edit

Rutgers Wrestling goes 1-1 in Big Ten opening weekend

Lex Knapp • TheKnightReport

Wrestling Analyst

The calendar has changed and the New Year has officially arrived, meaning one thing: the Big Ten wrestling schedule is underway. Rutgers started off their year with a 10 – 0 record before conference dual meet action got underway, and the Scarlet Knights were hoping to keep the momentum rolling as their schedule ramped up.

Rutgers kicked off Big Ten competition with a Friday night home dual against the Indiana Hoosiers. The Scarlet Knights were coming off a fifth-place finish at the Matmen Open, where they claimed two individual titles, and had eight place-winners at the event. Rutgers would be going into the dual against Indiana without their star 133-lber, Sammy Alvarez, who suffered a leg injury at the Matmen Open.

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It was a collective team effort that led Rutgers to victory in their first Big Ten win of the year. Rutgers defeated Indiana 27 – 9, winning eight of ten bouts. Mike Van Brill (149), Rob Kanniard (157), and Andrew Clark (165) gutted out three consecutive decisions, which could have been costly for Rutgers had those matches gone the other way.

Jackson Turley made his home debut on the season, whose status for the dual was in question. Turley has been in-and-out of the lineup for Rutgers throughout the beginning of the season. Turley did wrestle at day one of the Matmen Open the previous week, but did not finish the tournament, creating speculation that he may not wrestle against Indiana. Turley looked like he returned to his old form, dominating Indiana’s Sean Grim 20 – 2, providing hope that the 2021 All-American will be back in the lineup for good.

The stars of the night for Rutgers were Dylan Shawver (125), Sebastian Rivera (141), and John Poznanski (184), who all picked up ranked wins that helped propel Rutgers to their first Big Ten dual meet win of the season.

Dylan Shawver got the crowd in the Jersey Mike’s Arena to their feet right out of the gate in his match with No. 25 Jacob Moran at 125-lbs. Shawver got out to a fast start in the first period with a pair of takedowns, and never looked back. Shawver cruised to a 13 – 2 major decision which put Rutgers out to an early 4 – 0 lead.

Rutgers’ 141-lb All-American, Sebastian Rivera, continued his hot streak in his match with No. 26 Cayden Rooks. Rivera, like he has all season, lit up the scoreboard with a relentless onslaught of attacks for all seven minutes. Rivera walked away with a 19 – 5 major decision, which gave Rivera his 13th win on the season. Rivera has secured bonus point victories in all thirteen wins this season, in what is the most dominant stretch he has had throughout his five college seasons.

It was no secret that the match of the night was going to be John Poznanski taking on former junior World Team member and nationally ranked No. 8 DJ Washington. Washington was who Jackson Turley defeated in the blood-round of the 2021 NCAA tournament to earn All-American honors.

Washington struck first with a first period takedown. Poznanski remained poised, after falling behind in a match for the first time this season. A second period rideout by Poznanski seemed to break Washington’s spirit, and gave Poznanski momentum heading into the third period where he was able to secure the 4 – 2 win over Washington.

The win over Indiana gave Rutgers their record-setting 11th consecutive win, to keep their undefeated streak alive heading into their Sunday afternoon dual at Wisconsin.

Rutgers flew out to Madison, Wisconsin where they would take on a much tougher test in the Wisconsin Badgers. The dual had a number of ranked matchups and toss-up bouts, which foreshadowed the possibility of this dual coming down to the very end.

Dylan Shawver dropped an 8 – 4 decision to No. 4 Eric Barnett to start the dual. The next bout at 133-lbs gave Rutgers fans a surprise as Joey Olivieri took the mat to make his dual meet debut. Olivieri was originally in a redshirt year, competing unattached at open tournaments. Olivieri took on a ranked opponent in his first career dual, facing No. 25 Kyle Burwick.

Olivieri stunned Burwick with a 4 – 3 victory, which was a big momentum swing in favor of Rutgers. Olivieri looked very gritty and poised throughout the back-and-forth match, which came down to the final seconds.

The win showed the depth of the Rutgers roster, and more evidence of a bright future for the Scarlet Knights, who will lose some of their top talent to graduation after this season. Unfortunately, it also gave indication that Sammy Alvarez’s injury may be serious and could keep him out for an extended period of time.

Following Olivieri’s win, Sebastian Rivera handled New Jersey native Joseph Zargo without any trouble. Rivera continued his hot streak of bonus point wins, defeating Zargo with an 18 – 3 technical fall. The Rivera win gave Rutgers the early 8 – 3 lead, which is where things began to go south for the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers dropped four consecutive losses from 149 – 174, which included two ranked match ups for No. 19 Mike Van Brill (149) and No. 26 Jackson Turley (174). Van Brill gave up a major decision to No. 11 Austin Gomez. Turley was defeated by No. 17 Andrew McNally, 6 – 1, who Turley beat at the 2021 NCAA tournament when McNally was at Kent State.

Thanks to a pair of big wins from John Poznanski (184) and Greg Bulsak (197) Rutgers was able to make the team score 16 – 14, in favor of Wisconsin, and put Rutgers back within reach of a dual meet win going into the final bout at heavyweight. Rutgers’ Boone McDermott would take the mat, hoping to play the role of hero, where he was the underdog against two-time All-American, Trent Hillger.

McDermott did a good job of weathering the storm, and keeping the match tied at two heading into the third and final period which would decide the dual meet. Hillger would have choice in the third, choosing defense, hoping for the match, and dual, winning escape. A Hillger escape and takedown gave Hillger the 6 – 3 win, and Wisconsin the dual meet win over Rutgers, 19 – 14.

Rutgers will look to bounce back from the loss this week, as two tough Big Ten opponents lie ahead of the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers will take on No. 21 Illinois at home this Friday, then they will make the trip to Happy Valley where the Scarlet Knights will wrestle No. 4 Penn State.