Feb. 4, 2011

GRANTHAM, PA - The Johns Hopkins wrestling team wrestled its 17th dual meet of the season on Friday night at Messiah, and for the first time all season head coach Keith Norris was able to trot out his full starting lineup. The Blue Jays responded in kind with a stunning 24-19 win, their first against the Falcons since 1990. Hopkins took five of the nine matches contested, including four straight at one point, to improve to 8-9 on the year. Messiah, which was ranked 29th in the nation as recently as two weeks ago, slips to 8-7.

Messiah grabbed an early 3-0 lead as Danny Lethbridge scored a 9-7 win over freshman Ray Yagloski at 125. From there, the Blue Jays took control with four straight wins, including two by fall.

Sophomore Paul Marcello, an NCAA qualifier as a freshman last season, jump-started the spree as he decked Messiah's Kyle Coblnetz with 45 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman Henry Stauber won by injury default at 141 to make it 12-3 and senior co-captain Rocky Barilla followed with a third-period pin of Chris Hardenberg to stretch the lead to 18-3. The win for Barilla avenged an earlier 3-2 loss to Hardenberg at the Petrofes Tournament.

When freshman Matt Fusaro followed Barilla's pin with a gutty 4-2 win over senior Mike Bressler, the Blue Jays led 21-3 and seemed to have control. Messiah had other ideas and drew within 21-13 with three straight wins of its own. David Jones slipped past Eric Levenseller, 4-3, at 165 and Ricardo Plummer added a 7-4 win over Patrick Stanley. When Tim Stewart scored an 11-2 major decision against Ben Finelli at 184, the Falcons were within 21-13 with two matches remaining and appeared to have all the momentum.

Johns Hopkins sophomore Reid Mosquera snatched the momentum away and provided what proved to be the decisive points as he knocked off Tim Hopkins, 6-4, at 197 to secure the win, JHU's first against the Falcons since a 39-13 victory on January 10, 1990. Messiah's Pat Hogan added a win by forfeit at 285 to account for the final team scoring.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Sunday, February 13 when the Blue Jays travel to the Merchant Marine Academy to take on Stevens and the host Mariners in the final Centennial Conference dual meets of the season. A sweep would give Johns Hopkins at least a share of the regular season Centennial Conference title for the first time in school history.

Johns Hopkins-24, Messiah-19
125: Danny Lethbridge (M) dec. Ray Yagioski (J), 9-7
133: Paul Marcello (J) pinned Kyle Coblentz (M) 6:15
141: Henry Stauber (J) injury default Ty Kanouff (M)
149: Rocky Barilla (J) pin Chris Hardenberg (M), 5:46
157: Matt Fusaro (J) dec Mike Bressler (M), 4-2
165: Dave Jones (M) dec. Eric Levenseller (J), 4-3
174: Ricardo Plummer (M) dec. Patrick Stanley (J), 7-4
184: Tim Stewart (M) maj. Dec. Ben Finelli (J), 11-2
197: Reid Mosquera (J) dec. Tim Hopkins (M), 6-4
285: Pat Hogan (M) won by forfeit

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