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Suriano bounces back as Rutgers takes down conference foe

After a two-match skid, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestling team was back home on Friday night to take on the unranked Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans came in with a 4–5 record, and had dropped three of four conference duals. Needless to say, it was a match that Rutgers could not afford to lose.

Things started off a bit scary for the Scarlet Knights, as the match started at 197-pounds. Matt Correnti kicked things off, and looked to be wrestling well against Michigan State’s Brad Wilton.

Correnti got out to an early lead, with a takedown and a strong ride. The second period started with Correnti on top, where he gave up an escape to Wilton. Once on their feet, Wilton found a cow catcher, putting Correnti to his back, and securing the fall. The upset gave Michigan State an early 6-0 lead.

Rutgers followed up with a crucial match, due to the bonus point upset. After several minutes of hand fighting, and traded escapes, Christian Colucci and Christian Rebottaro went into overtime at heavyweight.

Colucci and Rebottaro did not score in either sudden victory periods, and both escaped in the first tie breaker, sending them to the second tie breaker. Colucci started the first portion of tiebreaker two on bottom, where he found a crucial reversal, and rode out the remainder of the period.

Rebottaro went down, following Colucci’s escape, needing two points to even the score. Rebottaro was unsuccessful, as Colucci stayed on top for the entire thirty seconds.

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Following a Rayvon Foley technical fall over Shane Metzler, Nick Suriano was depended on to find bonus points at 133-pounds. Suriano who was coming off back-to-back losses, took on the 10 – 6 Logan Griffin, where he put on a takedown clinic.

Suriano used relentless leg attacks and several sets of back points to rack up twenty-three points in a match that was not originally set to take place.

“That was a match time decision, and if Correnti wins, he probably doesn’t go”, head coach Scott Goodale said about Suriano. The dual meet started at 197-pounds, rather than at the traditional starting spot of 125-pound. In hind sight, it was a crucial factor.

“If we started at (125-pounds), he probably wouldn’t have wrestled. But the game match decision was beneficial for Suriano in his dominant performance. “I think what Donny and him really locked in on was just wrestle. I didn’t scout the guy,, who cares? Just wrestle. That needs to be the approach for Nick Suriano because you get those kind of results”.

Peter Lipari was able to keep the train rolling, being one of five consecutive winners in a stretch from 133-pounds to 165-pounds. Lipair beat the Spartans’ Alex Hrisopoulos, in a win that snapped a stretch of tough losses for the 141-pound Scarlet Knight.

“He got his hand raised. He went six in a row there where he lost, and to all good opponents. And you worry, it’s good to be close, but it’s not winning. He got one tonight, and that was huge”.

The win, and the stretch of competitive matches from Lipari, as now cemented him as the man for the 149 – lb slot.

“Yea, right now, he’s our guy. Van Brill has to be ready to go, and he understands that. Pete went through a stretch of good guys, and he is still wrestling good and he’s still wrestling hard. That’s what we look for”.

When the final whistle blew, the scoreboard read: Rutgers – 22, Michigan State – 20. It was not the prettiest victory for the Scarlet Knights, but a conference win nonetheless.

The grueling schedule only gets a little more difficult this weekend, as Rutgers battles Nebraska on Friday, and Princeton on Sunday in a weekend home slate. The major story of the weekend will surround the battle for the top spot at 149-pounds, as Anthony Ashnault takes on No. 1 Matthew Kolodzik, as Rutgers and Princeton go toe-to-toe for state supremacy in the Big – Ivy Rivalry.

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