No. 24 Pittsburgh Tops Bucknell Wrestling

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Bucknell wrestling team fell to No. 24 Pittsburgh, 34-4, on Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House in its first road dual of the 2018-19 campaign.

Jakob Campbell provided the Bison's lone victory, downing Brendon Fenton by a 9-1 major decision at 125 pounds. Campbell outscored Fenton, 7-0, during the second period, bolstered by a four-point near fall near the end of that frame.

The Panthers (4-0) sent five ranked wrestlers to the mat, and three earned bonus points for their team. In addition, Robert Lee posted the dual's lone pin at 149 pounds to stake Pittsburgh an early 13-4 advantage.

At 157 pounds, Zach Hartman forced overtime against Taleb Rahmani, who was ranked as high as 10th nationally. Trailing by a 5-3 margin entering the third period, Hartman scored an early reversal to even the score; Rahmani was then hit with a locked-hands penalty to give Hartman a 6-5 lead. After Rahmani registered a reversal with 11 seconds remaining, Hartman escaped to send the bout into sudden victory. There, Rahmani scored a takedown and four back points to walk away a 13-7 victor.

In his first appearance of 2018-19, Joey Gould took L.J. Bentley to overtime at 141 pounds. Gould forced the bonus frame by registering a takedown as time expired; Bentley ultimately regrouped, sealing his 9-7 win with a takedown early in the first sudden-victory period.

At 197 pounds, Kellan Stout edged Drew Phipps, 6-2. In the third period's final 40 seconds, Stout notched a takedown and four back points to topple Phipps.

The Bison (2-3) next attend the 56th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships from Saturday, Dec. 29 to Sunday, Dec. 30 in Evanston, Ill. Last year, Tyler Smith attended the prestigious event, posting a 5-1 record to place third in the 141-pound weight class.

Bucknell 4 – No. 24 Pittsburgh 34
125: Jakob Campbell (BU) maj. dec. over Brendon Fenton (Pitt) 9-1
133: #6/6/5 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) maj. dec. over David Campbell (BU) 21-9
141: L.J. Bentley (Pitt) dec. over Joey Gould (BU) 9-7 (SV-1)
149: Robert Lee (Pitt) fall over Matthew Kolonia (BU) 2:45
157: #10/11/11 Taleb Rahmani (Pitt) dec. over Zach Hartman (BU) 13-7 (SV-1)
165: #-/18/17 Jake Wentzel (Pitt) dec. over D.J. Hollingshead (BU) 6-0
174: Gregg Harvey (Pitt) dec. over Nick Stephani (BU) 7-3
184: #12/15/12 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) tech fall over Kyle Inlander (BU) 23-8 (5:47)
197: Kellan Stout (Pitt) dec. over Drew Phipps (BU) 6-2
285: #13/11/12 Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) maj. dec. over Joe Scott (BU) 19-6

Note: Rankings Intermat/The Open Mat/FoWrestling

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Players Mentioned

David Campbell

Jakob Campbell

Joey Gould

Zach Hartman

D.J. Hollingshead

Kyle Inlander

Matthew Kolonia

Drew Phipps

Tyler Smith

Nick Stephani