KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Friday's PSAC match between Millersville and Kutztown was tightly contested with seven matches decided by decision. The No. 20-ranked Golden Bears secured the 27–12 win over Millersville with wins in five of those decisions.
The Marauders earned a quick six points at the 125-pound weight class since Kutztown forfeited the match and took an early lead with wins in three of the first four matches. The 12-3 advantage was erased as Kutztown won each of the last six bouts.
Millersville is now 12-6 overall and closes PSAC action 3-3. Kutztown is now 7-1 overall.
Cael Rossi dropped his match to Javien DeLeon by decision, 9–5. Rossi shot first with a quick takedown, but DeLeon had a reversal to cut the deficit to 3–2. Rossi escaped but DeLeon had a response of his own with a takedown a second before the first period ended. DeLeon earned additional points from escape in the second and takedown in the third to put the match out of reach to earn three team points for the Golden Bears.
Taylor Robinson bumped up to the 141-pound weight class to square off with Jared Fulton. Robinson controlled the match as he generated all the offense. Robinson had three takedowns to breeze to a 9–3 decision win over Fulton.
Nick Cottone accepted the challenge of wrestling up a weight class as well and earned a spectacular 7–4 sudden-victory win over No. 15 James Ryan. There was little action in the first period from either side, but Ryan was the first to strike in the second. Ryan's four points came from an escape followed by a takedown. Cottone, still scoreless, answered with an escape and a late third-period takedown to send the match to sudden victory. Cottone fired up from his late third period showing and channeled the energy to periodically take down Ryan and earn three more team points.
Daniel Sinclair (157), Andrew Vogelbacher (174), and Bishop McCoy (285) fell short of their desired results and narrowly lost by decision.
The Marauders face Franklin and Marshall on Sunday, Feb. 16, in the annual Battle for the Rupp Cup showdown before the Super Region 1 Championships.
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH JERRY BOLAND:
- Overall thoughts: "I thought we showed a lot of heart tonight. We were down another 157 so we had to bump three guys up to cover the weight and give us the best chance to win. That's not an easy task against a team like that. They have multiple guys ranked nationally and our guys didn't back down."
- Elaborate on Robinson and Cottone's performance: "Cottone came up huge. To bump up and take out a nationally ranked kid is clutch. But that's what he's become for us. Taylor did a nice job as well, not allowing them to build momentum early."
- How to turn decision losses into wins: "They had three matches where they got bonus points. They have really good guys there. I thought Rossi, Sinclair, and Vogelbacher lost tough ones that could have gone our way. We win those three, it's a different result. They went after it. Wrestled really well. We just need to maintain a little more composure in the high level situations so those breaks can go our way next time. I'm sure they're aware and ready to make those adjustments moving forward."
- Additional comments: "The loss is a tough one. All losses are. We have to make some adjustments and clean up our takedowns but I believe we are competing at a high level right now. We have to put it behind us and get better tomorrow."
KUTZTOWN 27, MILLERSVILLE 12
