AU’s Wrestling squad earned a hard-fought 21-19 victory in a duel at Binghamton University on Jan. 25.
“That was a tough road win today,” coach Teague Moore told AU Eagles.com. “The positives are that we wrestled as a team even when two of our best wrestlers lost.”
The deciding effort came from junior Mark Cirello in the highly-contested final individual matchup. Trailing Joe Bonaldi 1-0 at the start of the second period, Cirello tallied an escape to tie it up.
After starting on top in the third period, Cirello managed to maintain position on Bonaldi to secure a 2-1 victory and the Eagles’ fourth conference win of the season.
“I’m proud of our underclass today for stepping up when we needed wins,” Moore said. “Gomez-Rivera, Boyle, and Cast executed with confidence today.”
The Eagles’ victory was an impressive display from their underclassmen. Redshirt freshman Tom Page and sophomores David Terao and Esteban Gomez-Rivera recorded crucial victories to cut the Eagles deficit and set up Cirello in the final match.
AU’s 157-pound sophomore wrestler John Boyle started the duel off with a 12-4 major decision against Colten Perry, giving the Eagles an early 4-0 lead.
After AU’s sophomore wrestler Cristian Masaya’s decision loss to Vincent Grella brought Binghamton within one. Until Senior Keithen Cast recorded a 19-2 technical fall victory to increase the Eagles lead to 9-3.
The Eagles lost four of their next five matches, as seniors No. 12 Daniel Mitchell and Blake Herrin both lost their matchups, giving Birmingham a 16-9 lead.
The Eagles would go on to win all four of their final individual battles, as Cirello defeated Bonaldi 2-1 to lift AU to a 21-18 victory after trailing beforehand,19-18.
AU’s next matchup will be versus patriot league opponent Bucknell University on Jan. 31 on the road.
aromero@theeagleonline.com
