NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Washington and Lee wrestling team fell to 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the Centennial Conference with a trio of losses on Saturday afternoon at Hunter College.
W&L dropped a 33-10 decision to Johns Hopkins, fell 33-9 to Hunter and was defeated 34-12 by NYU.
The Generals found it difficult to climb out of the hole created by several forfeits in each match. For the day, W&L won eight of the 15 contested matches led by first-year 197-pounder Bennett Lewis (St. Louis, Mo. / Westminster Christian), who went 3-0 on the day. Lewis opened with a 6-5 win over Evan Johnson of Johns Hopkins, then picked up a forfeit win against Hunter. He finished with a 10-3 win over Dan Brereton of NYU.
First-year 141-pounder Michael Rodgers (Allentown, Pa. / Allentown Central Catholic), sophomore 174-pounder Ron Tassoni (Media, Pa. / Haverford School) and sophomore 285-pounder Grant Cokeley (Charleston, W.Va. / George Washington) all logged a 2-1 mark on the day.
Rodgers opened his day with a 5-0 loss to Henry Stauber of Johns Hopkins, but recovered to post a 3-2 win over Timmy McCann of Hunter. He finished with an 11-7 win over NYU's Nick Matthews.
Tassoni notched a 17-4 major decision over Jared Forman in his opener, before jumping a weight class and falling to Dennis Melendez of Hunter, 11-8, at 184 pounds. He then returned to 174 pounds against NYU to log a 4-3 win over Chris Amro.
Cokeley's day began with a 1-0 win over Joey Tilson of Johns Hopkins. He then fell to Patryk Kopczynski of Hunter, 7-2, before finishing up with a 2-0 win over NYU's John Klein.
Washington and Lee returns to action on February 8 when it travels to Stevens Institute for matches against the home-standing Ducks and Gettysburg. Action begins at 11:00 am.
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JOHNS HOPKINS 33, WASHINGTON AND LEE 10
125 – Paul Bewak (JHU) won by forfeit [6-0]
133 – Ray Yagloski (JHU) won by forfeit [12-0]
141 – Henry Stauber (JHU) d. Michael Rodgers (W&L); 5-0 [15-0]
149 – Duncan Crystal (JHU) won by forfeit [21-0]
157 – Christian Salera (JHU) d. Alex Niemann (W&L); 7-2 [24-0]
165 – Welles Sakmar (JHU) won by forfeit [30-0]
174 – Ron Tassoni (W&L) d. Jared Forman (JHU); 17-4 [30-4]
184 – Kyle Spangler (JHU) d. Zac Richey (W&L); 6-0 [33-4]
197 – Bennett Lewis (W&L) d. Evan Johnson (JHU); 6-5 [33-7]
285 – Grant Cokeley (W&L) d. Joey Tilson (JHU); 1-0 [33-10]
HUNTER 33, WASHINGTON AND LEE 9
125 – Kenny Albert (HC) won by forfeit [6-0]
133 – Jaydon Rice (HC) won by forfeit [12-0]
141 – Michael Rodgers (W&L) d. Timmy McCann (HC); 3-2 [12-3]
149 – Stephen Drew (HC) won by forfeit [18-3]
157 – Declan Gray (HC) d. Alex Niemann (W&L); 5-1 [21-3]
165 – Edward Lang (HC) won by forfeit [27-3]
174 – No match [27-3]
184 – Dennis Melendez (HC) d. Ron Tassoni (W&L); 11-8 [30-3]
197 – Bennett Lewis (W&L) won by forfeit [30-9]
285 – Patryk Kopczynski (HC) d. Grant Cokeley (W&L); 7-2 [33-9]
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 34, WASHINGTON AND LEE 12
125 – Wayne Yuan (NYU) won by forfeit [6-0]
133 – Sean Billings (NYU) won by forfeit [12-0]
141 – Michael Rodgers (W&L) d. Nick Matthews (NYU); 11-7 [12-3]
149 – D.J. Albonico (NYU) won by forfeit [18-3]
157 – Matt DiGiovanni (NYU) d. Alex Niemann (W&L); 13-1 [22-3]
165 – John Messinger (NYU) won by forfeit [28-3]
174 – Ron Tassoni (W&L) d. Chris Amro (NYU); 4-3 [28-6]
184 – Brian Anderson (NYU) won by forfeit [34-6]
197 – Bennett Lewis (W&L) d. Dan Brereton (NYU); 10-3 [34-9]
285 – Grant Cokeley (W&L) d. John Klein (NYU); 2-0 [34-12]
