CHICAGO, Ill. – For the second dual meet in-a-row, Mario Palmisano provided the winning points late in the third period to give the University of Chicago wrestling team a 21-18 comeback victory over Augustana College on Saturday.
The Maroons improved to 7-3 and kept their seven-match win streak intact. The No. 29-ranked Vikings fell to 7-6 on the season.
Augustana raced out to a 15-0 lead through the first three matches. However, UChicago answered right back with four-straight wins to tie the dual up. Sophomore Michael Sepke started the run with a 6-0 decision at 149 pounds and rode his opponent hard for almost three-and-a-half minutes. Senior Devon Range had a lead in the third period of his 157-pound match, and he then tallied a late pin to garner six team points.
At 165 pounds, junior Brennan King stepped into the lineup and dominated his opponent by a score of 13-6. He also recorded more than three minutes of riding time. Freshman Nick Ferraro turned a second-period takedown into five points total with a near fall, and then went on to win his match 8-4 at 174 pounds.
The Vikings won at 184 pounds, which meant the Maroons needed a pair of wins in the final two matches. In the 197-pound matchup, junior David Gremling and his opponent wrestled the longest match of the day, which went all the way until a third overtime period. He then scored an escape to win the match 2-1.
It all came down to heavyweight as senior Mario Palmisano tried to close out a second dual win in three weeks. Previously, Palmisano won in dramatic fashion to clinch a 24-18 victory over Elmhurst College on Jan. 24. The senior delivered once again on Saturday. After choosing down to open the third period, he pulled off a two-point reversal and eventually a takedown in the final 30 seconds to win by a 4-2 score.
"This was a pretty good win against an Augustana team that is ranked 29th and also finished seventh at the Wheaton Invite last weekend," said Head Coach Leo Kocher. "In an effort to get people healed up for the end of the season, we held out Devan Richter and Paul Papoutsis. Brennan King filled in at 165 and really stepped up to give us a great win. We just wrestled exceptionally well. It just goes to show, if you show up and compete, you never know what's going to happen out there. We certainly were not favored. But it was our day."
UChicago 21, Augustana 18
125 – Jimmy Panozzo (AUG) won via forfeit
133 – Brenden Gould (AUG) def. Adam Wyeth (UC), 7-1 decision
141 – Collin Tomkins (AUG) def. Elliot Henderson (UC), Fall (3:30)
149 – Michael Sepke (UC) def. Matt Sears (AUG), 6-0 decision
157 – Devon Range (UC) def. Brian Egan (AUG), Fall (third period)
165 – Brennan King (UC) def. Jordan Furiosi (AUG), 13-6 decision
174 – Nick Ferraro (UC) def. Jordan Richardson (AUG), 8-4 decision
184 – Thomas Reyhons (AUG) def. Ryan Walsh (UC), 4-1 decision
197 – David Gremling (UC) def. Ethan Benoit (AUG), 2-1 decision (OT2)
285 – Mario Palmisano (UC) def. John Seaman (AUG), 4-2 decision
NEXT MEET:
- Saturday, February 14 – UChicago at UAA Championships (Cleveland, Ohio), 11 AM (ET)
