Feb. 12, 2012

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins wrestling team dropped a pair of tight Centennial Conference matches at Goldfarb Gymnasium on Sunday as Merchant Marine (21-18) and Stevens (16-12) both escaped with narrow wins over the Blue Jays. Merchant Marine and Stevens also picked up close wins against Gettysburg by scores of 22-19 and 21-19, respectively. The losses drop JHU to 4-14 overall and 3-3 in the Centennial Conference.

Both Johns Hopkins matches came down to the wire as the Blue Jays nearly erased a 21-12 deficit against the Mariners by taking the final two bouts. Junior Reid Mosquera drew the Blue Jays within 21-15 with an 8-5 victory over Merchant Marine's Tyler Russell. Needing a pin in the match at 285 to grab a tie, the Blue Jays got a 4-2 win by freshman Evan Johnson over Dan Wilke to fall 21-18. JHU had led 12-9 after Matt Fusaro scored a 7-0 victory over Matt Hiltz at 157, but the Mariners took the next three matches, including one by fall, to take the 21-12 lead that was too much to overcome.

The Johns Hopkins-Stevens match came down to the final seconds as Johnson held a slim 4-3 lead over Tyler Maher at 285 before Maher scored two points on a headlock-takedown with two seconds remaining to pull out the 5-4 win that secured the 16-12 team victory.

The Blue Jays had led 9-3 at the midway point as Paul Bewak (133), Paul Marcello (141) and Fusaro (157) all won by decision, but Stevens grabbed control with three straight wins, including a narrow 8-7 victory for William Sharkey over Ben Finelli at 184, to take a 13-9 lead with two bouts remaining. Mosquera drew JHU within a point with a tough 5-2 win over Alex Moreno to set the stage for Maher's match-clinching victory.

Johns Hopkins will close the regular season next Saturday when the Blue Jays take on NYU, Muhlenberg and host Scranton.

Merchant Marine-21, Johns Hopkins-18
125 - Paul Bewak (J) pin Matt Chess (M) (1:03)
133 - Tom Healy (M) pin Michael Koren (J) (2:07)
141 - Duncan Crystal (J) Mike Milanese (M), 9-3
149 - Martin Bell (M) dec. Henry Stauber (J), 4-0
157 - Matt Fusaro (J) dec. Matt Hiltz (M), 7-0
165 - Josh Miller (M) pin Christian Salera (J), (3:40)
174 - Kyle Diesel (M) dec. Jody Gowen (J), 8-2
184 - Erik Schott (M) dec. Ben Finelli (J), 8-1
197 - Reid Mosquera (J) dec. Tyler Russell (M), 8-5
285 - Evan Johnson (J) dec. Dan Wilke (M), 4-2

Stevens-16, Johns Hopkins-12
125 - Double forfeit
133 - Paul Bewak (J) dec. Andrew Boehm (S), 7-5
141 - Paul Marcello (J) dec. Michael Polizzi (S), 5-4
149 - C.J. Caserta (S) dec. Henry Stauber (J), 5-0
157 - Matt Fusaro (J) dec. Connor Bass (S), 10-4
165 - #8 Joey Favia (S) maj. dec. Christian Salera (J), 21-9
174 - Ryan Dormann (S) dec. Jody Gowen (J), 9-3
184 - William Sharkey (S) dec. Ben Finelli (J), 8-7
197 - Reid Mosquera (J) dec. Alex Moreno (S), 5-2
285 - Tyler Maher (S) dec. Evan Johnson (J), 5-4

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