LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Despite wins in five individual matches, No. 11 Rutgers wrestling fell to Lock Haven, 22-16, Friday night at Thomas Fieldhouse. Tied 16-16 heading into the final match of the night at heavyweight, Haven's No. 15 Thomas Haines recorded a pin to secure the dual victory for the Bald Eagles, who were receiving votes in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll.
 
No. 2 125-pounder Nick Suriano registered his first major decision of the dual season, while No. 10 133-pounder Scott DelVecchio, 174-pounder Joseph Grello, Jordan Pagano (184 pounds) and No. 9 Nicholas Gravina (197 pounds) all picked up decisions. Gravina and Pagano both wrestled up a weight class Friday night.
 
"Honestly, we got our butt kicked," said head coach Scott Goodale. "Other than our first two guys, who we expect those performances from, they out-wrestled us in every single position. We did a lot of laying on our belly. We couldn't get off the bottom, so that was disappointing from that standpoint. Their game plan was great, they were in better shape than us, they were tougher than us and they out-hustled us."
 
Suriano started the dual with an impressive 19-5 major decision over Josiah Kline. The Paramus, New Jersey, native collected three takedowns and a near fall at the end of the period to take a 10-2 lead on Kline, and outscored his opponent, 9-3, in the final two rounds for his second major of the dual season.
 
DelVecchio also had a strong bout against the Bald Eagles, landing two takedowns in the first period on DJ Fehlman, a 2017 national qualifier. Three more takedowns for DelVecchio followed, including two in the third period, as DelVecchio locked up an 11-5 decision courtesy of riding time.
 
After Suriano and DelVecchio's victories, Lock Haven responded with three consecutive wins. 2017 NCAA qualifier Kyle Shoop collected a 13-0 major decision over redshirt freshman Michael Van Brill at 141 pounds, followed by two-time national qualifier No. 15 Ronnie Perry's 5-1 decision over No. 13 Eleazar DeLuca at 149 pounds. Alex Klucker's 16-1 tech fall over freshman Nick Santos at 157 pounds gave the Haven a 12-7 lead at the intermission.
 
No. 10 Chance Marsteller kept the momentum rolling for Lock Haven with a major decision over 165-pounder John Van Brill, 11-3, but Rutgers responded with three consecutive victories of its own, starting with Grello. In his Scarlet Knight dual debut, the redshirt freshman trailed Jared Siegrist, 2-0, midway through the third period. Grello landed a takedown in the final minute, and secured the riding time point for the 3-2 win at 174 pounds.
 
Pagano made his RU debut at 184 pounds this season, as the South Brunswick, New Jersey, native managed two escapes to take a 2-2 score into sudden victory overtime. Pagano then registered a takedown to collect a 4-2 win – his first dual victory of the season – and made the score just 16-13 in favor of Lock Haven.
 
Wrestling up at 197 pounds, Gravina landed a reversal in the first period against Tristan Sponseller, followed by a takedown in period two to make it 4-2 Gravina with two minutes remaining. Gravina added a stalling point and earned the riding time point for the 6-4 final decision.
 
"We were hoping for bonus points," Goodale said on wrestling both Pagano and Gravina up a weight. "We had veteran leadership with Gravina and Pagano who have been through Big Ten seasons, have pinned a lot of guys and have been really good on top, so we were looking for bonus points. We knew we needed bonus points there in order to win the match."
 
With the match tied, 16-16, Razohnn Gross faced Haines in the final bout of the night. Haines was able to get under Gross for the pin in the opening period to earn Lock Haven its first victory over Rutgers since 2008.
 
The Scarlet Knights return to action on Friday, Dec. 8, when they host No. 7 Iowa at the RAC.
 
Knight Notes

• Nick Santos and Joseph Grello made their Rutgers dual debuts. Grello is now 5-0 this season, while Santos' appearance marked the first time a true freshman cracked the dual lineup in 2017-18 for the Scarlet Knights.
• Nick Suriano moved to 8-0 this season, including 4-0 in dual action. In his four dual matches, Suriano has outscored his opponents, 55-15, with a tech fall, a major decision and two decisions. Overall, Suriano has outscored his opponents, 101-22, in his first eight matches of 2017-18.
• Scott DelVecchio and Nicholas Gravina join Suriano as the only Scarlet Knights undefeated in dual action this year.
• Gravina wrestled up at 197 pounds for the first time since he defeated Thomas Murray of Lehigh by major decision, 11-2, on Feb. 17, 2017.
• Goodale is now 2-2 versus his alma mater during his coaching career at RU. Prior to tonight's loss, Goodale's teams had defeated the Bald Eagles in 2014 and 2008.

Lock Haven (1-0, 0-0) 22, No. 11 Rutgers (3-1, 1-0) 16
Dual started at 125 pounds
Location: Thomas Fieldhouse (Lock Haven, Pa.)
Officials: Scott Lindsey, John Lower
Attendance: 2,357
 
125: No. 2/2/3 Nick Suriano (RU) major decision over Josiah Kline (LHU), 19-5; Rutgers leads, 4-0
133: No. 10/10/10 Scott DelVecchio (RU) decision over DJ Fehlman (LHU), 11-5: Rutgers leads, 7-0
141: Kyle Shoop (LHU) major decision over NR/NR/No. 17 Michael Van Brill (RU), 13-0; Rutgers leads, 7-4
149: No. 15/15/12 Ronnie Perry (LHU) decision over No. 13/17/14 Eleazar DeLuca (RU), 5-1; dual tied, 7-7
157: Alex Klucker (LHU) tech fall over Nick Santos (RU), 16-1 (7:00); Lock Haven leads, 12-7
165: No. 10/10/10 Chance Marsteller (LHU) major decision over John Van Brill (RU), 11-3; Lock Haven leads, 16-7
174: Joe Grello (RU) decision over Jared Siegrist (LHU), 3-2; Lock Haven leads, 16-10.
184: Jordan Pagano (RU) decision over Corey Hazel (LHU), 4-2 (SV1); Lock Haven leads, 16-13
197: No. 9/11/9 Nicholas Gravina (RU) decision over Tristian Sponseller (LHU), 6-4; dual tied, 16-16
HWT No. 15/11/17 Thomas Haines (LHU) by fall over Razohnn Gross (RU) (0:43); Lock Haven wins, 22-16
 
Rankings (-/-/-): InterMat / FloWrestling/The Open Mat
NR denotes not ranked
 
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