PHILADELPHIA – In the regular season finale, the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team was defeated, 35-9 by 11th-ranked Lehigh. Penn wraps up its season with a 6-9 record and a 5-6 mark in EIWA duals.
The brightest spot for the Penn wrestling program this year has without a doubt been the emergence of No. 17
Doug Zapf as the EIWA's most dominant wrestler at 141 pounds. Zapf opened today's dual with a 3-1 win over Dan Moran to move to 25-5 on the season.
Zapf ended his dual season on a 12-match dual winning streak to lead the Quakers with a 12-1 mark. He has won each of his last 15 matches, with his last defeat coming in the blood round of the Midlands Championships, way back on December 30, 2019. Zapf enters the EIWA Championships looking to take the No. 1 seed with an impressive, 15-0 record against conference opponents to back up his claim for the top spot.
Lucas Revano nearly came up with a victory in the next match but fell just short as he was dealt a 2-1 defeat by No. 24 Jimmy Hoffman. With the match tied 1-1 and Hoffman clinching riding time, Revano got aggressive in search of a match-winning takedown. He was able to bring Hoffman to the mat, but the Mountain Hawks' wrestler had a vice grip on both of Revano's feet, preventing full control for the takedown.
Lehigh turned it up, taking back-to-back major decisions in the following two matches for an 11-3 lead.
Neil Antrassian battled punch for punch with third-ranked Jordan Kutler, but Kutler came out on top in a 10-4 decision.
Coming out of the intermission, a second-period, 16-0 tech fall at 184 extended the Mountain Hawks' lead to 19-3.
Cole Urbas stepped up next to face 23rd-ranked Jake Jakobsen. The two wrestlers battled through the first three minutes but were both unable to tally a score. Urbas elected to start top in the second period and held on for nearly the entire period. With just over 30 seconds remaining, Urbas tilted Jakobsen onto his back for four swipes before an injury timeout. Urbas led 4-0 and had 1:33 of riding time with 2:27 remaining in the match, but Jakobsen was unable to continue as Urbas won via injury default.
Penn entered the match knowing that it would have to forfeit the 125-pound and 133-pound matches after not weighing in wrestlers for each weight class. With that said,
Nate Hoaglund stepped up to face No. 8 Jordan Wood. With a bevy of injuries at heavyweight, Hoaglund has been asked to shoulder a heavy load as Pen's 285-pound starter.
The freshman has embraced that role and has given it all in every match he's started. Going up against one of the nation's best wrestlers, Hoaglund battled, but was dealt a 14-3 major decision. The heavyweight victory as well as the two forfeits gave the Mountain Hawks a 35-9 decision in the Quakers' final dual of the season.
Penn will now spend the following two weeks preparing for the EIWA Championships which will be hosted by Lehigh from March 6-8 in Bethlehem, Pa.
Lehigh 35, Penn 9
141:
Doug Zapf (Penn) dec. Dan Moran (Lehigh), 3-1; Penn leads 3-0
149: #24 Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) dec.
Lucas Revano (Penn), 2-1; Tied 3-3
157: #8 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) maj. dec.
Jon Errico (Penn), 9-1; Lehigh leads 7-3
165: Brian Meyer (Lehigh) maj. dec.
Jack Conway (Penn), 10-2; Lehigh leads 11-3
174: #3 Jordan Kutler dec.
Neil Antrassian, 10-4; Lehigh leads 14-3
184: #16 Chris Weiler tech. fall
John Stout (Penn), 16-0 (4:16); Lehigh leads 19-3
197:
Cole Urbas (Penn) inj. def. #23 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh); Lehigh leads 19-9
285: #8 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) maj. dec.
Nate Hoaglund, 14-3; Lehigh leads 23-9
125: #5 Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh) wins by forfeit; Lehigh leads 29-9
133: #20 Nick Farro (Lehigh) wins by forfeit; Lehigh leads 35-9
#TheMovement
#FightOnPenn
