Jan. 21, 2012

GETTYSBURG, PA - Ursinus wrapped decisions at 184 and 285 around a pin at 197 to erase a 15-6 deficit and top Johns Hopkins, 18-15, in Centennial Conference wrestling action at Gettysburg College Saturday afternoon. The Bears, who trailed 12-0 early, improve to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial. Johns Hopkins slips to 2-11 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial.

Johns Hopkins was also scheduled to wrestle Muhlenberg, but the Mules didn't make the trip due to poor weather conditions in Allentown.

The Blue Jays led 15-6 after Travis Laska topped Matt Krueger, 8-4, at 174, but the Bears would take the final three matches to secure the victory. A hard-fought 4-2 win for Mike Kevlin over Hopkins' Ben Finelli at 184 was followed by a 90-second pin for Connor McNamara in his match against Reid Mosquera to knot the match at 15-15. McNamara and Mosquera have won the last two Centennial titles at 197 with McNamara winning in 2010 and Mosquera in 2011.

The Blue Jays sent freshman Evan Johnson, wrestling two weight classes up, to the mat for the final bout and he took on William Cornely, the fourth-place finisher at the Centennial Championships last season. Johnson gave Cornely all he could handle before falling 8-4 to give the Bears the come-from-behind victory.

A rally by the Bears was needed after the Blue Jays won the first four matches - all by decision. Freshman Paul Bewak staked the Blue Jays to a quick 3-0 lead as he decisioned Chris Donaldson, 9-4, at 125. Sophomore Ray Yagloski followed with an 8-4 win over defending conference finalist Alex Blank at 133 to make it 6-0.

The Blue Jays doubled their lead with wins by Duncan Crystal at 141 and Henry Stauber at 149. Stauber's win, which came by a score of 5-3, came at the expense of 2010 Centennial Champ Connor McCormick.

The Bears got back-to-back victories by decision at 157 and 165 to slice the 12-0 deficit in half. That set the stage for Laska's win, which was followed by the three victories for Ursinus that secured the win for UC.

Ursinus-18, Johns Hopkins-15
125 - Paul Bewak (JH) dec. Christopher Donaldson, 9-4
133 - Ray Yagloski (JH) dec. Alex Blank, 8-4
141 - Duncan Crystal (JH) dec. Elisha Gaylor, 4-3
149 - Henry Stauber (JH) dec. Connor McCormick, 5-3
157 - Richard Jasinki (U) dec. Christian Salera, 4-1
165 - Andrew Corbett (U) dec. Jody Gowen, 4-3
174 - Travis Laska (JH) dec. Matt Krueger, 8-4
184 - Mike Kevlin (U) dec. Ben Finelli, 4-2
197 - Connor McNamara (U) pinned Reid Mosquera (1:30)
285 - William Cornely (U) dec. Evan Johnson, 8-4

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