Bucknell University
#18 Old Dominion
Bucknell Wrestling Falls to No. 18 Old Dominion, 21-9
1/25/2009 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 25, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell wrestling team was aiming for its fifth consecutive home victory Sunday afternoon against No. 18 Old Dominion, but came up short as it lost to the Monarchs by a 21-9 score. David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Central), Kevin LeValley (Hugo, Colo./Limon) and David Thompson (West Liberty, Ohio/Graham Local) picked up wins for the Bison, who are now 8-7 this season.
All 10 individual bouts were decided by decision, marking the second time in the last four matches that has happened for Bucknell. The two teams alternated victories through the first half of the match, but Old Dominion (13-5) won four of the five heaviest weight classes. The Monarchs did have five nationally ranked wrestlers in their starting lineup, while the Bison had just one (No. 12 Andy Rendos at 165).
Marble, who fell out of the national rankings for the first time this season this past week, gave Bucknell its first victory with a 4-2 decision over No. 19 Kyle Hutter at 133 pounds. It was the fifth consecutive victory for Marble, who despite appearing to be in control much of the match, had to come back from an early 1-0 deficit.
LeValley earned the next win for the Bison at 149, tying the team score at 6-6 with a hard-fought overtime decision against Joey Metzler. Metzler earned an escape in the second period and LeValley evened the score with one in the third, forcing overtime. In the second 30-second overtime segment, LeValley pulled his foot loose from Metzler's grasp with 21 seconds showing on the clock to take a one-point advantage. Shortly thereafter, he sealed the victory with a takedown. It was LeValley's seventh win in his last eight matches.
After three straight Old Dominion wins, Thompson kept Bucknell alive with a 5-4 decision over Joe Budi at 184. The win narrowed the score to 15-9 with two bouts remaining. Thompson opened the scoring with a takedown and a near fall in the opening seconds to take a 5-0 lead and held on from there. Budi climbed back into the match with a takedown late in the first period and an escape in the second to narrow his deficit to 5-3. A riding-time point resulted in the final one-point margin of victory for Thompson.
Rendos, who was 2-2 against ranked opponents this season entering Sunday's match, was unable to post his fifth consecutive victory as No. 15 Chris Brown claimed a close 4-3 decision at 165. Brown went up 2-0 with an early takedown, but two escapes by Rendos evened the score at 2-2 in the second period. The score remained tied until Brown recorded his second takedown with just 28 seconds left to go up 4-2.
Derek Reber (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area), Adam Healey (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) and Nathan Jones (Sidney, Ohio/Troy Christian) each faced a ranked opponent and lost despite putting up good fights.
With the loss, Bucknell fell to 0-5 against nationally ranked opponents this year. The Bison still have No. 1 Iowa and No. 8 Lehigh on their upcoming schedule. In fact, Bucknell will travel to Iowa this Friday, Jan. 30, for a meeting with the Hawkeyes.
No. 18 Old Dominion 21, Bucknell 9
*125: No. 9 James Nicholson (ODU) dec. Derek Reber (B), 7-1
133: David Marble (B) dec. No. 19 Kyle Hutter (ODU), 4-2
141: No. 7 Ryan Williams (ODU) dec. Adam Healey (B), 10-5
149: Kevin LeValley (B) dec. Joey Metzler (ODU), 4-1 (tb-2)
157: Kaylen Baxter (ODU) dec. John Regan (B), 7-2
165: No. 15 Chris Brown (ODU) dec. No. 12 Andy Rendos (B), 4-3
174: Eric Decker (ODU) dec Shane Riccio (B), 2-0
184: David Thompson (B) dec. Joe Budi (ODU), 5-4
197: No. 15 Jesse Strawn (ODU) dec. Nathan Jones (B), 8-1
HWT: Roy Dragon III (ODU) dec. Jay Hahn (B), 4-1
* starting weight
Team Records
Bucknell - 8-7
Old Dominion - 13-5
