Columbia University
BROWN*
Wrestling Sweeps Brown and Wagner
2/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
The victory over the Bears evened the Lions' Ivy League record at 2-2, and their overall record at 7-7.
Junior Matt Palmer (Germantown, Md.), rebounding from last week's loss at Penn, started a three-bout win string with a technical fall in the 174-pound class. Columbia had relinquished a 10-3 lead and was tied with Brown at 10-10 when he took the mat against Matt Gevelinger.
The nation's 7th-ranked 174-pounder got on the scoreboard early, and kept adding it on. He finally reached the 15-point margin required for a technical fall with 1:13 to go in the bout, winning by a 20-5 score which put Columbia ahead, 15-10.
"Matt really went after the guy," head coach Brendan Buckley said. "He attacked the whole time."
Junior Justin Barent (Worland, Wyo.) then blasted Branden Stearns, 13-1, giving his team a 19-10 margin. But it fell to Orrin Kleinhenz (Columbus, Ind.) to effectively put the match out of reach.
The first-year student had lost four of his previous five, and was going against a formidable wrestler in Leo Saniuk, who had already posted several major victories this season. Kleinhenz, however, had the win of the day, shocking Saniuk with an 8-2 decision that gave Columbia a 22-10 margin.
"He wrestled very well," Buckley said. "He had a reversal that changed the course of his bout."
Senior Bill Beechum (Marion, Ohio) had registered a major decision (vs. Princeton and a pin (vs. Penn) in his two initial college matches. His perfect record was sullied, as Brown sophomore Levon Mock defeated him, 10-0. However, Mock's inability to gain a pin meant that Columbia had clinched the victory.
The Bears notched a second straight decision when 125-pounder Jeff Schell evened his career series with Columbia co-captain Jeff Sato (Pismo Beach, Calif.) at 2-2, when he hit a five-point move in the opening period and held on to defeat the Lion, 6-2.
Brown ( 7-8-1, 1-2-1 Ivy) had jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Dan Appello scored a takedown with 22 seconds to go to defeat Columbia senior Eric Amstutz (Herndon, Va.), 3-1. Amstutz was in for Matt DeLorenzo (Wantagh, N.Y.), who was ill.
The Lions roared back, though, taking a 10-3 lead as first-year Sal Tirico (Lodi, N.J.) improved his record to 7-0 with an 11-3 major decision over Brown veteran Mark Savino and junior Ricky Turk (Crestline, Calif.) threw a crushing "cradle" on Mike Ashton and pinned him in just 37 seconds.
Turk had missed nearly two months of the season with an injury, and Buckley simply said, "It's good to have him back."
In the second match of the day, Columbia won all but one bout against an outmanned Wagner team, for a 53-3 rout. Six men had pins -- Palmer (in 21 seconds), Turk (in 41 seconds), Amstutz, Beechum, 125-pounder Brandon Kinney (Haslett, Mich.), and 157-pounder Derek Sickles (Rutherford, N.J.). Dustin Tillman (Fremont, Calif.) posted a 20-5 technical fall, and both Barent and Kleinhenz had forfeit wins.
The Lions' only setback was at 141 pounds, where Tirico suffered the first loss of his college career, an 8-6 decision in sudden victory overtime to Mike Tutunjian. Now 7-1, Tirico saw a 5-0 lead disappear when Tutunjian took him down with just five seconds remaining in regulation to tie it up at 6-6. The Wagner wrestler then took him down again early in overtime for the win.
Overall, Brendan Buckley was pleased. "This was a good match," he said. "Brown is a quality team. They've lost one-point matches to Drexel and Army, and tied Harvard."
Among the onlookers in the crowd at University Gym for wrestling's Homecoming 2006 was Andrew F. Barth, the 1983 alumnus and former wrestler who earlier endowed Columbia's head wrestling coach position. Barth will be honored on Saturday, February 18, prior to the Lions' match with Harvard.
Columbia 22, Brown 17
133 - Dan Appello, Brown, dec. Eric Amstutz, 3-1
141 - Sal Tirico, Columbia, dec. Mark Savino, 11-3
149 - Ricky Turk, Columbia, pinned Mike Ashton, 0:47
157 - Mike Savino, Brown, dec. Derek Sickles, 5-3
165 - Shawn Kitchner, Brown, dec. Dustin Tillman, 13-5
174 - Matt Palmer, Columbia, won by technical fall over Matt Gevelinger, 20-4, 5:47
184 - Justin Barent, Columbia, dec. Branden Stearns, 13-1
197 - Orrin Kleinhenz, Columbia, dec. Leo Saniuk, 8-2
Hwt - Levon Mack, Brown, dec. Bill Beechum, 10-0
125 - Jeff Schell, Brown, dec. Jeff Sato, 6-2
Columbia 53, Wagner 3
133 - Eric Amstutz, Columbia, pinned Richard Englehardt, 5:45
141 - Mike Tutunjian, Wagner, dec. Sal Tirico, 8-6 sv OT
149 - Ricky Turk, Columbia, pinned Justin Ensign, 0:41
157 - Derek Sickles, Columbia, pinned Sean Quinn, 4:30
165 - Dustin Tillman, Columbia, won by technical fall over Nick Magaraci, 20-5, 4:05
174 - Matt Palmer, Columbia, pinned Adam Amster, 0:21
184 - Justin Barent, Columbia, won by forfeit
197 - Orrin Kleinhenz, Columbia, won by forfeit
Hwt - Bill Beechum, Columbia, pinned John Cichon, 5:19
125 - Brandon Kinney, Columbia, pinned Mike Rooney, 3:26
Players Mentioned
