Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
#1 Iowa
Bucknell Wrestling Splits Duals with No. 1 Iowa, Rutgers at Sojka Pavilion
11/27/2009 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 27, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion has hosted 172 basketball games since it opened nearly seven years ago. However, Friday evening, wrestling took center stage as the Bison hosted No. 1 Iowa and Rutgers in front of a record 2,127 fans. Bucknell dropped a 29-7 decision to the 22-time national champion Hawkeyes, but bounced back with a 26-12 victory over EIWA foe Rutgers.
Brantley Hooks (Spartanburg, S.C./James F. Byrnes) and Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway Area) both posted 2-0 marks Friday, but perhaps the most impressive individual performance by a Bucknell (3-3, 2-0 EIWA) wrestler was Kevin LeValley (Hugo, Colo./Limon), who nearly knocked off No. 1 Brent Metcalf of Iowa at 149 pounds. LeValley entered the day 12-0 with three victories over nationally ranked opponents and was coming off an overtime decision against No. 6-ranked Matt Kyler of Army. He nearly made it 13-0 this year, but fell 3-2 to Metcalf, who is 79-2 in his career.
Neither wrestler scored a point in the first period of the hotly contested bout. LeValley, who had been pinned twice by Metcalf in two previous career meetings, got on the board first with an escape seconds into the second period. However, Metcalf answered with a takedown. A late escape knotted the score at 2-2 entering the third frame. Metcalf scored the winning point on an escape in the opening moments of the period. LeValley nearly posted a late takedown that would have virtually clinched victory, but the two wrestlers were inches outside the circle.
Iowa (7-0) jumped out to a 15-0 lead, but wins by Hooks and Rendos brought the Bison to within 15-7 with four matches remaining. Last year, Bucknell lost 40-3 at Iowa in the only other meeting between the two teams. That match featured seven bonus-point victories for the Hawkeyes. Friday they managed only four.
Hooks, who has won five straight bouts and seven of his last eight, posted a 6-1 victory at 157 pounds. He led 3-0 at the end of the second period and Matt Ballweg never got closer.
Rendos, who scored the only Bucknell pin of the night against Rutgers, posted a 10-2 major decision over Aaron Janssen at 165 pounds. The All-American who is ranked sixth nationally scored the final 10 points of the bout.
A total of 11 ranked wrestlers competed in the Bucknell-Iowa match and went a combined 8-3. The only losses came to other ranked foes as No. 13 David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Central) lost to No. 4 Daniel Dennis at 133, LeValley lost to Metcalf at 149 and No. 9 Shane Riccio (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) dropped a 10-1 major decision to No. 3 Jay Borschel at 174.
After a break during which Iowa defeated Rutgers 33-9, the Bison got back on the mat against the Scarlet Knights. Bucknell won seven of the 10 bouts, including six in a row at one point, although it did trail 6-3 after the first three bouts.
The highlight of the nightcap was a 9-2 win by Bucknell's Jay Hahn (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) at 197 pounds over No. 17 Lamar Brown. Hahn, who improved to 6-1 on the season with the victory, nearly posted a major decision, but Brown was able to get out of Hahn's grasp in the final eight seconds to score a point.
LeValley bounced back from his loss to Metcalf with a convincing 15-0 major decision against Kellen Bradley, while Rendos pinned Gregory Zannetti in 58 seconds, the fastest of the four pins on the night.
Riccio also recovered from a loss to a top-five foe to even his record on the day at 1-1. However, his second match was much tougher as he needed two takedowns in the final 30 seconds to break a 2-2 tie and defeat Daniel Rinaldi 6-2.
Bucknell, which is in its fourth year since the program was reinstated, is now 2-0 in the EIWA for the first time. Additionally, the squad has now won eight of its last nine matches against unranked foes.
The Bison will be back in action next weekend at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. They will return home Dec. 18 to host Drexel and Princeton in a non-ticketed event inside Davis Gym. Starting time for those matches is 11 a.m.
MATCH 1: No. 1 Iowa 29, Bucknell 7
125: No. 17 Matt McDonough (I) tech. fall Derrik Russell (B), 20-4 (7:00)
133: No. 4 Daniel Dennis (I) maj. dec. No. 13 David Marble (B), 14-5
141: No. 8 Dan LeClere (I) dec. Zac Hancock (B), 9-5
149: No. 1 Brent Metcalf (I) dec. No. 13 Kevin LeValley (B), 3-2
157: Brantley Hooks (B) dec. Matt Ballweg (I), 6-1
165: No. 6 Andy Rendos (B) maj. dec. Aaron Janssen (I), 10-2
174: No. 3 Jay Borschel (I) maj. dec. No. 9 Shane Riccio (B), 10-1
184: No. 2 Phillip Keddy (I) maj. dec. Rob Waltko (B), 12-4
197: No. 10 Chad Beatty (I) dec. Jay Hahn (B), 11-5
Hwt: Jordan Johnson (I), dec. Joe McMullan (B), 7-3
Team Records: Iowa 6-0. Bucknell 2-3.
MATCH 2: No. 1 Iowa 33, Rutgers 9
125: No. 17 Matt McDonough (I) pinned Vinny Dellafave, 3:39
133: No. 4 Daniel Dennis (I) tech. fall Billy Ashnault (R), 21-5 (7:00)
141: No. 8 Dan LeClere (I) dec. No. 20 Trevor Melde (R), 7-3
149: No. 1 Brent Metcalf (I) tech. fall Kellen Bradley (R), 20-5 (6:27)
157: Aaron Janssen (I) dec. Braden Turner (R), 2-0
165: Gregory Zannetti (R) dec. Jake Kerr (I), 8-6 (OT)
174: No. 3 Jay Borschel (I) maj. dec. Daniel Rinaldi (R), 16-3
184: Grant Gambrall (I) maj. dec. Jesse Boyden (R), 11-3
197: No. 10 Chad Beatty (I) dec. No. 17 Lamar Brown (R), 9-3
Hwt: No. 10 Dominick Russo (R) pinned Jordan Johnson (I), 1:24
Team Records: Iowa 7-0. Rutgers 3-2.
MATCH 3: Bucknell 26, Rutgers 12
125: Derrik Russell (B) dec. Joe Lengal (R), 5-0
133: Billy Ashnault (R) dec. No. 13 David Marble (B), 8-3
141: No. 20 Trevor Melde (R) dec. Zac Hancock (B), 7-0
149: No. 13 Kevin LeValley (B) tech. fall Kellen Bradley (R), 15-0 (5:21)
157: Brantley Hooks (B) dec. Braden Turner (R), 6-2
165: No. 6 Andy Rendos (B) pinned Gregory Zannetti (R), 0:58
174: No. 9 Shane Riccio (B) dec. Daniel Rinaldi (R), 6-2
184: David Thompson (B) def. Daniel Seidenberg (R), 5-4
197: Jay Hahn (B) dec. No. 17 Lamar Brown (R), 9-2
Hwt: No. 10 Dominick Russo (R) pinned Conor Sweeney (B), 1:52
Team Records: Bucknell 3-3 (2-0 EIWA). Rutgers 3-3 (0-1 EIWA)
