LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's wrestling team downed Shippensburg by a 25-12 score, before falling in a narrow 23-15 defeat against Shorter at Saturday's Diplomat Duals in Lancaster.
The Diplomats' 1-1 record on the day brought their overall tally to 2-4 on the season, while Shippensburg (1-8) went 0-2 and Shorter (9-4) went 2-0 with a 28-12 win over the Raiders earlier in the afternoon.
Opening up Saturday's competition against Shippensburg, F&M found itself in an early 3-0 hole after the Raiders began with a decision at 125. Patrick Quinlan followed by putting the Diplomats' first points up on the board with a dominant 11-3 major, which included four takedowns, to give F&M the one-point advantage.
Shippensburg responded with a pair of decisions at 141 and 149 to move out in front 9-4, before a Rob King reversal in the second period of the 157 match propelled the junior grappler to a 2-0 decision. The Raiders registered a decision of their own at 165 to extend the lead to 12-7.
Trailing by five, F&M received a huge boost from 174-pounder Gordon Bolig, who secured a pin just 1:05 into his bout to deliver six key points to the Diplomats and give his team the lead at 13-12. Anthony Mancini kept the momentum rolling with an 8-4 decision at 184, and a pin from Charles Kerkesner at 5:44 sealed the win for F&M.
Alex Henry closed out the match in style, recording a pair of takedowns in a 6-0 decision at 285 to give the Diplomats the 13-point victory.
Later in the day against Shorter, F&M fell behind early once again, dropping a decision at 125 and suffering a pin at 133 to make it a 9-0 advantage for the Hawks. Jason Bing put an end to Shorter's momentum with a clutch 6-4 decision at 141, however the Hawks responded with a decisive 13-4 major at 149 to gain a 10-point edge.
King (157) and Andrew Francos (165) each followed with decisions to cut the deficit down to four. After a major decision at 174 extended Shorter's lead back to eight, the Diplomats' Anthony Mancini battled at 184, but ultimately came up short in sudden victory by an 11-6. Mancini scored a takedown in the finals seconds of the third period to send the bout into overtime, but then suffered a takedown and three nearfall points in the extra stanza.
After a forfeit from Shorter at 197 made it a five-point match, the Hawks' Andrew Ewers held on for the 7-4 decision at 285 to seal the eight-point victory for his team.
F&M returns to the mat tomorrow to compete at the Millersville Open.
F&M 25, Shippensburg 12
125: Dante Steffenino (SHIP) over Edgar Garcia (F&M) (Dec 2-0)
133: Patrick Quinlan (F&M) over Micheal Haffer (SHIP) (MD 11-3)
141: Cameron Throckmorton (SHIP) over Robert Ruiz (F&M) (Dec 3-2)
149: Micheal Springer (SHIP) over Michael Marano (F&M) (Dec 7-0)
157: Rob King (F&M) over Mark Lentz (SHIP) (Dec 2-0)
165: Brett Pastore (SHIP) over Andy Francos (F&M) (Dec 9-6)
174: Gordon Bolig (F&M) over Hunter Fenk (SHIP) (Fall 1:05)
184: Anthony Mancini (F&M) over Kyle Taylor (SHIP) (Dec 8-4)
197: Charles Kerkesner (F&M) over Jalal Paige (SHIP) (Fall 5:44)
285: Alex Henry (F&M) over Francis Slover (SHIP) (Dec 6-0)
Shorter 23, F&M 15
125: Ben Smith (SHGA) over Edgar Garcia (F&M) (Dec 8-6)
133: Aldon Isenburg (SHGA) over Patrick Quinlan (F&M) (Fall 4:48)
141: Jason Bing (F&M) over Colby Rinehart (SHGA) (Dec 6-4)
149: Nathan Galloway (SHGA) over Robert Ruiz (F&M) (MD 13-4)
157: Rob King (F&M) over Kannon Madden (SHGA) (Dec 6-1)
165: Andy Francos (F&M) over Wally Figaro (SHGA) (Dec 5-3)
174: Dalton Lane (SHGA) over Gordon Bolig (F&M) (MD 10-0)
184: Terrence Smith (SHGA) over Anthony Mancini (F&M) (SV-1 11-6)
197: Charles Kerkesner (F&M) over (SHGA) (For.)
285: Andrew Ewers (SHGA) over Alex Henry (F&M) (Dec 7-4)
