The American University wrestling team won the final six bouts of the match to defeat Stanford, 24-14, before falling to No. 14 Lehigh, 30-12, on Sunday afternoon in Bender Arena.

In American's first match of the day, the Eagles dropped the first two bouts before Thomas Barreiro registered an 11-4 decision over Stanford's Alan Yen. Blake Herrin kicked off American's win streak to close out the match. Herrin trailed at the end of the second period, but tied it with an escape and added a takedown on his way to a 3-2 decision. David Terao, Esteban Gomez-Rivera and John Boyle kept the streak alive with three straight decisions.

Kevin Tao gave American the advantage for good, pinning Stanford's Colton Dempsey in 4:21. Mark Cirello closed out the match on a high note, earning a 4-2 decision over the Cardinal's Timmy Boone for the 24-14 victory.

"We were really excited for the match with Stanford today, we knew there were going to be a lot of close match-ups," said Head Coach Teague Moore. "We really focused on outconditioning them, so we had to be smart in our first and second periods and then really be able to open up our third periods, which we did. I was really excited that the guys believed in themselves and executed."

Phillip Barreiro won the first bout in the second match against the 14th-ranked Mountain Hawks, earning a 5-3 decision over Lehigh's Ben Haas. After dropping the next three matches, including two to ranked wrestlers, Herrin put American back on the board with a 4-2 decision over Jack Delia.

Terao followed up Herrin's victory with his eighth fall of the season, pinning Alex Abreau in just 54 seconds. Gomez-Rivera dropped a close 3-2 decision to Randy Cruz in the next match and Tao nearly posted an upset of No. 20 Shane Welsh at 149 lbs., giving up a late takedown for the 7-4 final score. Lehigh won the last bout of the night to go on to win the match, 30-12.

"The Lehigh dual on paper we were out-matched in a number of weights but the key things that we focused on were the matches that we were able to go out and battle, try and put ourselves in scoring positions and winning positions, and we did in a few of those matches," said Moore. "I'm really happy for David to be able to pull through and get his eighth fall of the season...Overall, our guys came out and battled through their matches and that's something that we need to take into EIWAs."

American will head out on a three-match road trip, taking on North Carolina State on Friday, January 18 at 7 p.m. The Eagles return to Bender Arena on Sunday, February 3 at 12 p.m. That match will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV. 

American 24, Stanford 14
165: Kyle Meyer (Stanford) dec. Phillip Barreiro (American), 9-5; Stanford, 3-0
174: Bret Baumbach (Stanford) fall Keithen Cast (American), 4:11; Stanford, 9-0
184: Thomas Barreiro (American) dec. Alan Yen (Stanford), 11-4; Stanford, 9-3
197: Michael Sojka (Stanford) tech. fall Devon Bradley (American), 17-2 (7:00); Stanford, 14-3
HWT: Blake Herrin (American) dec. Dan Scherer (Stanford), 3-2; Stanford, 14-6
125: David Terao (American) dec. Evan Silver (Stanford), 5-2; Stanford, 14-9
133: Esteban Gomez-Rivera (American) dec. Peter Russo (Stanford), 6-0; Stanford, 14-12
141: John Boyle (American) dec. Josh Lauderdale (Stanford), 9-4; American, 15-14
149: Kevin Tao (American) fall Colton Dempsey (Stanford), 4:21; American, 21-14
157: Mark Cirello (American) dec. Timmy Boone (Stanford), 4-2; American, 24-14 

No. 14 Lehigh 30, American 12
165: Phillip Barreiro (American) dec. Ben Haas (Lehigh), 5-3; American, 3-0
174: No. 10 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) major dec. Keithen Cast (American), 12-2; Lehigh, 4-3
184: No. 3 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) fall Thomas Barreiro (American), 1:36; Lehigh, 10-3
197: John Bolich (Lehigh) fall Devon Bradley (American), 1:11; Lehigh, 16-3
HWT: Blake Herrin (American) dec. Jack Delia (Lehigh), 4-2; Lehigh, 16-6
125: David Terao (American) fall Alex Abreau (Lehigh), 0:54; Lehigh, 16-12
133: Randy Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Esteban Gomez-Rivera (American), 3-2; Lehigh, 19-12
141: Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. John Boyle (American), 5-3; Lehigh, 22-12
149: No. 20 Shane Welsh (Lehigh) dec. Kevin Tao (American), 7-4; Lehigh, 25-12
157: No. 3 Joey Napoli (Lehigh) tech. fall Mark Cirello (American), 22-3 (7:00); Lehigh, 30-12