LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee wrestling team split a pair of matches at home on Saturday to finish the regular season with a winning record for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign. 

W&L fell to sixth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology (22-0, 7-0) by a score of 29-14 and then knocked off Johns Hopkins, 27-13, to finish 8-7 overall and 4-3 in the Centennial Conference.  The eight season victories are the most since the 2006-07 team went 8-3 overall and W&L completed the 2017 conference slate tied for third out of eight teams.

A match-up between top-ranked Troy Stanich and ninth-ranked sophomore Zach Bylykbashi (Southington, Conn. / Southington) headlined the opening match between W&L and Stevens.  Stanich emerged with a 6-2 hard-fought victory over Bylykbashi to improve to 34-0 on the year.  Bylykbashi fell to 17-2.

The Ducks claimed each of the first five matches to notch a 20-0 lead entering the 165-pound weight class.  The Generals nearly claimed an upset victory at 157 pounds, as first-year Shane Conners (Mount Airy, Md. / South Carroll) was tied with seventh-ranked Thomas Poklikua, before surrendering a late escape that was the difference in a 7-6 loss.

First-year Joe Scott (Efland, N.C. / Orange) ended Stevens' run, notching an 18-3 tech fall victory over Aaron Wolfang to make the score 20-5.  First-year Zach Francis (Southlake, Texas / Southlake Carroll) registered a pin over Gerad Ross (0:59) at 197 pounds and junior Matt Kaminer (Hewlett, N.Y. / George W. Hewlett) finished the match with a 6-2 win over Pete Andrich at 285 pounds.

In the match against Johns Hopkins (5-10, 3-4), each team forfeited once heading into the 141-pound match between sophomore Michael Dik (Boxford, Mass. / St. John's Prep) and Lucas Escobar.  Dik pulled off a 4-2 win to give the Generals the lead (9-6).  Junior Zachary Papin (Carrollton, Texas / St. Mark's) followed with a 3-2 win over Tommy Grifa at 149 pounds and Conners logged a 19-4 tech fall over Connor Joyce for a 17-6 lead.

Scott won his second match of the day, downing Dane Morgan 11-1 and first-year Rexx Hallyburton (Bishop, Ga. / Oconee County) returned from injury for the first time since December to post a 7-5 win over Nathan Wertheimer at 184 pounds and clinch the match for W&L with a 24-9 team score.

Kaminer once again finished things off with a win, scoring a takedown with three seconds remaining for a 3-1 win.

Washington and Lee returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Stevens for the Centennial Conference Championship.  Action begins at 10:00 am.

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Exhibition 174 – Nathan Wertheimer (JHU) d. Andrew Taylor (W&L); TF, 15-0 (7:00)
Exhibition 149 – Austin Kruger (ST) d. Sam Sands (JHU); 8-0

#6 STEVENS 29, WASHINGTON AND LEE 14
125 – Rob Murray (ST) won by forfeit [6-0]
133 – #1 Troy Stanich (ST) d. #9 Zach Bylykbashi (W&L); 6-2 [9-0]
141 – Dylan Van Sickell (ST) d. Michael Dik (W&L); 16-6 [13-0]
149 – #10 Zach Wilhelm (ST) d. Zachary Papin (W&L); 10-2 [17-0]
157 – #7 Thomas Poklikuha (ST) vs. Shane Conners (W&L); 7-6 [20-0]
165 – Joe Scott (W&L) d. Aaron Wolfang (ST); TF, 18-3 (6:50) [20-5]
174 – Josh Smith (ST) d. Alec Horne (W&L); 9-5 [23-5]
184 – Danny Moore (ST) d. Iszak Morgan (W&L); Fall 2:28 [29-5]
197 – Zach Francis (W&L) d. Gerad Ross (ST); Fall 0:59 [29-11]
285 – Matt Kaminer (W&L) d. Pete Andrich (ST); 6-2 [29-14]

#6 STEVENS 27, JOHNS HOPKINS 18
125 – Ricky Cavallo (JHU) d. Rob Murray (ST); 10-8 [0-3]
133 – Joey Borai (ST) d. Christian Vallis (JHU); Inj. Def. [6-3]
141 – Lucas Escobar (JHU) d. Dylan Van Sickell (ST); 7-6 [6-6]
149 – #10 Zach Wilhelm (ST) d. Tommy Grifa (JHU); TF, 16-1 (4:30) [11-6]
157 – #7 Thomas Poklikuha (ST) vs. Connor Joyce (JHU); TF, 18-2 (4:28) [16-6]
165 – Dane Morgan (JHU) d. Aaron Wolfang (ST); 8-2 [16-9]
174 – Jared Forman (JHU) d. Josh Smith (ST); 13-5 [16-13]
184 – Danny Moore (ST) d. Anders Bright (JHU); TF, 22-6 (6:05) [21-13]
197 – Miles Gilliam (JHU) d. Gerad Ross (ST); TF, 18-0 (4:47) [21-18]
285 – Pete Andrich (ST) d. Hayden Good (JHU); Fall 5:43 [27-18]

WASHINGTON AND LEE 27, JOHNS HOPKINS 13
125 – Ricky Cavallo (JHU) won by forfeit [0-6]
133 – Zach Bylykbashi (W&L) won by forfeit [6-6]
141 – Michael Dik (W&L) d. Lucas Escobar (JHU); 4-2 [9-6]
149 – Zachary Papin (W&L) d. Tommy Grifa (JHU); 3-2 [12-6]
157 – Shane Conners (W&L) d. Connor Joyce (JHU); TF, 19-4 (6:20) [17-6]
165 – Joe Scott (W&L) d. Dane Morgan (JHU); 11-1 [21-6]
174 – Jared Forman (JHU) d. Brandon Lefore (W&L); 10-5 [21-9]
184 – Rexx Hallyburton (W&L) d. Nathan Wertheimer (JHU); 7-5 [24-9]
197 – Miles Gilliam (JHU) d. Zach Francis (W&L); 9-0 [24-13]
285 – Matt Kaminer (W&L) d. Hayden Good (JHU); 3-1 [27-13]