Kevin
Tao registered the fastest pin of his career on Senior
Night to help lift the American University wrestling team to a
21-17 victory over EIWA opponent Bucknell on Saturday in Bender
Arena.
"This performance was a total team effort, we didn't start off
well but the great thing is our seniors were the ones who came
through for us," said Head Coach Teague Moore. "The guys that we needed
to be relentless tonight, they did it…As a coach I couldn't
be prouder of those guys."
The match was tied at six heading into the 149 lbs. bout before
Tao put American up 12-6, pinning Adam Healey in 1:03 for his
fastest career fall. The Eagles dropped the next two matches in
close decisions. Mark
Cirello was edged, 3-2, by Vincent Favia and
Phillip
Barreiro ended up on the short end of a 4-3 decision
to No. 10 Corey Lear to tie the match at 12.
Back-to-back decisions from Keithen
Cast and Thomas
Barreiro put the Eagles on top for good. Cast posted
an 11-4 decision over Robert Schlitt while Barreiro earned a 12-6
decision in the second tiebreaker period against the Bison's Robert
Marchese. Bucknell brought the match score within one after the 197
lbs. bout, but Blake
Herrin secured the victory for the Eagles with a 7-4
decision over Joe Stolfi.
American will return to action on March 8 and 9 when it heads to
Rutgers for the 2013 EIWA Championships. The Eagles will look to
improve upon its program-best third place finish from a year
ago.
American 21,
Bucknell 17
125: David
Terao (American) win by forfeit (Bucknell); American,
6-0
133: Paul Petrov (Bucknell) dec. Esteban
Gomez-Rivera (American), 7-3; American,
6-3
141: Derrik Russell (Bucknell) dec. John
Boyle (American), 5-2; Tied, 6-6
149: Kevin Tao (American) fall Adam Healey
(Bucknell), 1:03; American, 12-6
157: Vincent Favia (Bucknell) dec. Mark Cirello (American), 3-2;
American, 12-9
165: No. 10 Corey Lear (Bucknell) dec. Phillip Barreiro (American), 4-3;
Tied, 12-12
174: Keithen Cast (American) dec. Robert
Schlitt (Bucknell), 11-4; American, 15-12
184: Thomas Barreiro (American) dec. Robert
Marchese (Bucknell), 12-6 (TB-2); American, 18-12
197: Tyler Lyster (Bucknell) tech. fall Devon
Bradley (American), 15-0 (5:35); American,
18-17
HWT: Blake Herrin (American) dec. Joe Stolfi
(Bucknell), 7-4; American, 21-17
