When Rutgers wrestling head coach, Scott Goodale, brought his team to the “world’s most famous arena” he knew he was going in without his best team. Beating a Big Ten opponent is tough on its own, but to do so short-handed is a different animal.
With Joe Grello nursing an injury, and Christian Colucci announcing earlier this week he will have season/career ending surgery, Goodale knew of at least two holes he had to fill. To make matters worse, Jojo Aragona was scratched from the lineup after battling an illness the entire week. Despite, missing three starters, Goodale would not use that as an excuse, as he believes the team he went to battle with Saturday afternoon was good enough to walk away with a victory.
“I’m not going to give that excuse, no”, Goodale said when asked if he thought his team was defeated due to their recent injury bug. “We got beat because we gave up more bonus points. It was a five-five split, and we gave up a pin, a tech, and a major”.
Rutgers started off slow, in what proved to be a crucial loss at a 125-lbs for the Scarlet Knights. Redshirt-freshman, Nic Aguilar, lost a narrow 2-1 decision to an unranked Jack Medley. It was right after the first match that Goodale foreshadowed trouble for his team.
“Once we lost 125 I knew we were going to need an upset somewhere at 141, 149, or 157”, Goodale said of his mindset following Aguilar’s loss.
Unfortunately for Rutgers, they were unable to find a win at any of those weights. Michigan swept the three weight classes, where two of the three wins were bonus point victories for the Wolverines. Rutgers wrestling’s upperweights were now back in a position they have become quite familiar with – pulling the team out of a hole.
“Our upperweights in particular got us back in the match”, Goodale said as he went on to single-out Brett Donner, Willie Scott, Billy Janzer, and Jordan Pagano. All four had significant wins for Rutgers, which rallied the Scarlet Knights out of a 15 – 3 deficit following intermission.
Billy Janzer, however, was undoubtedly the star for Rutgers, as he knocked off another ranked foe in No. 15 Jelani Embree. Neither wrestler was able to find a takedown through seven minutes of regulation, though both Janzer and Embree traded escapes. This sent the match to overtime, a place that Janzerlives for.
“I just train so hard every day, every day in the room we're wrestling. I'm not prepared to wrestle seven minutes; I'm prepared to wrestle 30 minutes if I have to”, Billy Janzer told the media following the dual meet.
Janzer backed-up those statements with a reversal in tiebreaker one, while looking full of energy in the extra time. Embree chose neutral for the second half of the tiebreaker, but Janzer’s handfight and mat awareness prevented Embree from nearing Janzer’s legs.
Thanks to the help of Janzer and his fellow upperweights, Rutgers took their first lead of the dual meet heading into heavyweight. Unfortunately for Rutgers, standing across the mat with an opportunity to win the dual for his team was the number two heavyweight in the country, Mason Parris.
“We knew after losing at (125-lbs) that it was coming down to heavyweight, where they have one of the best kids in the country”, stated Goodale, as he admitted it would be a tall order if the match were to play out as predicted.
Alex Esposito had hopes of playing hero, not just byknocking off a top opponent, but winning the match for his team. However, Parris quickly crushed those dreams in one minute and sixteen seconds, as he pinned Esposito in the first period. Michigan walked away with a 21 – 16 victory.
With the loss to Michigan, Rutgers wrestling has dropped four of their last five dual meets. Coach Goodale attributes part of this slump to his young team not being ready for the grind of the Big Ten.
“These young guys are kind of hitting a little of a wall. Maybe we have to do a better job of getting some more rest for the guys and sit them out of practice, we'll do thatas we get closer to the Big Ten (tournament)”.
Things do not get easier for Rutgers down the stretch, as their final four dual meets include two Big Ten home matches against Illinois and Northwestern. In addition, the Scarlet Knights will have to take a couple trips down Route 1, as they wrestle both Rider and Princeton on the road.
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