Kevin
Tao's pin in the final bout of the night lifted the
American University wrestling team to a 21-19 victory over Harvard
in its first EIWA dual of the season on Friday.
Tao opened the 149 lbs. match with an early takedown and picked
up a near fall to take the 5-0 advantage. He was then able to
secure the dual for the Eagles, pinning Harvard's Alexis Wagener in
1:17.
"Going into the match I felt like we had a pretty good
advantage, but in situations like that you never know how those
athletes are going to react," said Head Coach Teague Moore. "Kevin was very
aggressive, he knew what he was going to be able to score with and
win with and he stuck with it to get the victory for the
team."
Harvard won the first match of the night at 157 lbs. before
Phillip
Barreiro put American on the board. Harvard's Devon
Gobbo took the early advantage but Barreiro responded, tying it at
three with a takedown at the end of the second period. Barreiro
picked up the escape in the final period for the 4-3 advantage and
added the takedown right after as he held on to record the 9-4
decision.
Thomas
Barreiro led 2-0 after the first period at 184 lbs.
before Josh Popple tied it heading into the third. Barreiro scored
the takedown but Popple got a reversal to knot it up again.
Barreiro was able to secure the victory, getting the escape in the
closing seconds for the 5-4 decision to put the team score at 9-6
in favor of the Crimson.
Blake
Herrin registered a 12-5 decision for the Eagles at
heavyweight and David
Terao gave American its first team lead of the bout,
pinning Jeff Ott in 5:40. Harvard won the next match at 133 lbs.
with Ryan Osleeb earning a 4-2 decision over Esteban
Gomez-Rivera to take back the overall lead, 19-15,
setting up Tao's pin to win the match.
"I'm happy for the team, even in our losses tonight we did
things that helped keep the team in it," said Moore. "In terms of
the conference it's exciting, for us to get the victory at home and
the way that it came it's exciting and it feels good. We just want
to follow up with two more wins on Sunday."
American returns to Bender Arena on Sunday, January 13 for a
double-header against Stanford and No. 14 Lehigh. The action kicks
off at 12 p.m. against the Cardinal with the Eagles facing its
second EIWA opponent, Lehigh, at 2 p.m. Both matches will be
broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.
American 21,
Harvard 19
157: No. 8 Walter Peppelman (Harvard) tech. fall
Mark
Cirello (American), 18-0 (5:25); Harvard, 5-0
165: Phillip Barreiro (American) dec. Devon
Gobbo, 9-4; Harvard, 5-3
174: Cameron Croy (Harvard) major dec. Keithen
Cast (American), 14-6; Harvard 9-3
184: Thomas Barreiro (American) dec. Josh
Popple (Harvard), 5-4; Harvard, 9-6
197: James Fox (Harvard) major dec. Devon
Bradley (American), 15-2; Harvard, 13-6
HWT: Blake Herrin (American) dec. David Ng
(Harvard), 12-5; Harvard 13-9
125: David Terao (American) fall Jeff Ott
(Harvard), 5:40; American, 15-13
133: Ryan Osleeb (Harvard) dec. Esteban Gomez-Rivera (American), 4-2;
Harvard, 16-15
141: No. 10 Steven Keith (Harvard) dec.
John
Boyle (American), 4-1; Harvard, 19-15
149: Kevin Tao (American) fall Alexis
Wagener (Harvard), 1:17; American 21-19
