BALTIMORE, MD – Visiting McDaniel got a win by major decision at 197 pounds to seal a 23-19 victory over Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference wrestling action in Goldfarb Gym Friday evening.  With the win, the Green Terror retain the Crab Cup, which is presented to the winner of the Hopkins-McDaniel dual meet each season.  McDaniel improves its record to 4-12 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial, while the Blue Jays slip to 4-10 overall and 0-2 in the Centennial.
 
Where the Match Was Won
After Johns Hopkins trimmed what had been a 19-3 deficit to 19-16 with two bouts remaining, the Green Terror got the win they needed at 197 as Valentino Pryor scored a 14-3 major decision of John Libby to grab a seven-point lead with just one bout remaining.

While Pryor's win sealed things late, an early push for McDaniel was just was important.  After grabbing a win by forfeit at 125, the Terror got technical fall wins at 133 and 149 to build a 16-3 lead and then got an overtime win from Xavier Howard at 157 to move the lead to 19-3.  Howard and Blue Jay sophomore Freddy Pimental were tied at 2-2 after seven minutes as Pimental used a late penalty point to force extra time, only to have Howard score a takedown just over a minute into extra time to grab the victory.
 
Blue Jay Winners
The Blue Jays actually won five of nine contested bouts with the forfeit at 125 looming large in the four-point loss.
 
Freshman Giorgio Difalco picked up an impressive 12-5 victory over Romeo Tsai at 141 to get the Jays on the board; Tsai placed third at last season's Centennial Conference Championships.
 
After the Green Terror picked up the back-to-back wins at 149 and 157, the Blue Jays answered with back-to-back technical falls from Chris Roybal (165) and Connor Powell (174) to make it 19-13 and Noah Graber followed with a wild 19-13 decision of Takeuchi at 184 to draw the Jays within 19-16.
 
After McDaniel sealed the match at 197, Blue Jay junior Jacob Pomykata closed the match with a 10-3 decision of Ezekial Gayle to account for the 23-19 final score.
 
Notes of Interest
With four technical falls on the night, including two in exhibition bouts, Johns Hopkins bumped its season total to 38, which is program single-season record.
 
What's Next
Johns Hopkins will return to action on tomorrow, February 1 as the Blue Jays travel to Muhlenberg to take on the host Mules and Merchant Marine in a pair of Centennial Conference duals.
 
McDaniel-23, Johns Hopkins-19
125 – Cody Johnson (M) wins by forfeit (6-0)
133 – Alex DuFour (M) tech. fall Duncan Stadler (J), 26-11 (11-0)
141 – Giorgio Difalco (J) dec. Romeo Tsai (M), 12-5 (11-3)
149 – Thomas Monn (M) tech. fall Brennan McGrann (J), 15-0 (16-3)
157 – Xavier Howard (M) dec. TB1 Freddy Pimental (J), 5-2 (19-3)
165 – Chris Roybal (J) tech. fall Avery Cummings (M), 16-1 (19-8)
174 – Connor Powell (J) tech. fall Kenneth Moore (M), 15-0 (19-13)
184 – Noah Graber (J) dec. Patrick Takeuchi (M), 19-13 (19-16)
197 – Valentino Pryor (M) maj. dec. John Libby (J), 14-3 (23-16)
285 – Jake Pomykata (J) dec. Ezekial Gayle (M), 10-3 (23-19)
 
Exhibition Bouts
157- Eric Gendlin (J) tech. fall Lucas Ibacache (M), 17-2
165- Noah O'Connor (J) tech. fall Nicholas Massengill (M), 17-1
 
Records
McDaniel (4-12, 2-0 CC)
Johns Hopkins (4-10, 0-2 CC)