From NYU Athletics
The New York University wrestling team won a pair of dual matches hosted by the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY, on Saturday, January 21.
NYU (12-3) defeated The College of New Jersey 21-17 and then prevailed over the University of Scranton 25-15. The victory against TCNJ (8-10) was the first in program history against the Lions and the win over Scranton (12-1) handed the Royals their first loss of the season.
"It was nice to get these two wins today," said Senior Assistant Head Coach Corey Luce. "This was a total team effort as we had a few guys bump up a weight class to help us get wins."
In their first match of the day against TCNJ, the grapplers led 18-17 heading into the final bout of the match at 197 pounds. Freshman Jack La Corte shut out his opponent 4-0 to earn three more team points and give the squad its 11th win of the season.
Against Scranton, NYU won six of 10 bouts en route to the 10-point victory. Senior captains Matt Coppola (149 pounds) and John Messinger (174 pounds) each won their respective bouts by fall to lead the squad to another win.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
- Three different NYU grapplers won both of their bouts.
- Senior Nathan Pike returned to the mat for the first time since the 2016 Division III 133-pound National Championship bout. The two-time All-American went 2-0, winning by forfeit against TCNJ and recording a 5-0 victory against Scranton.
"It was nice to have Nathan back in the lineup," added Luce. "We look forward to getting more matches in with him in our lineup."
- Sophomore Santino Pelusi (heavyweight) began each match for NYU with a close win. The sophomore won in 4-2 overtime against the Lions and also earned a narrow 5-4 victory in his second bout of the afternoon.
"Santino battled hard for us in both matches and came through," said Luce.
- Junior captain Raymond Jazikoff defeated his TCNJ opponent 7-4 and then bumped up a weight class to 165 pounds and won 5-3 against Scranton.