Sacred Heart rallies to beat Davidson for third win; loses to VMI by one

Photo courtesy Sacred Heart University

RALEIGH, N.C., December 1, 2018 – Sacred Heart University erased a nine-point deficit and captured four of the final five matches to beat Davidson University for the fifth straight time on Saturday, 27-19, in a tri-meet in Raleigh.

The Pioneers (3-2) nearly had a sweep but they dropped a 20-19 decision to Virginia Military Institute in their first match of the day. A pin by VMI’s Hunter Starner at 133 pounds over Anthony Petrillo was the difference.

Host Davidson (2-3) got off to a fast start and a 15-6 lead after five matches. But the tide began to change. Sacred Heart’s Brandon Levesque won by injury default at 165 and then Newtown’s Anthony Falbo (174) pinned Davidson’s Erik Eva in 5:16 to give Sacred Heart their first lead of the match, 18-15.

Sacred Heart’s Kyle Davis (184) beat Conor Fenn, 8-6 to allow the Pioneers to stretch their lead to six points, 21-15. Connor Fredericks (197) clinched the bout for Sacred Heart with a pin in 26 seconds.

The bout with VMI was nip and tuck all day. Both teams had five victories, a pair of major decisions and regular decisions. The difference was Starner’s pin at 133 for VMI. Sacred Heart’s Gerard Daly (149) won by a technical fall.

Ryan Burns (125), Daly, Levesque, Kyle Davis (184) and Dante DelBonis (275) each won for the Pioneers against VMI. On the afternoon, Burns (125), Daly (149), Levesque (165) and Davis (184) each won twice for Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart returns to action on Saturday, December 22 when the team competes at the Wilkes Open.

VMI 20, Sacred Heart 19
At Raleigh, N.C.
125: Ryan Burns (SHU) dec. Clifton Conway (VMI) 11-10; SHU 3-0
133: Hunter Starner (VMI) fall Anthony Petrillo (SHU), (7:41); VMI 6-3
141: Dominick Gallo (VMI) maj. dec. Seth Brown (SHU); 11-0; VMI 10-3
149: Gerard Daly (SHU) tech. fall Jerrod Hunziker (VMI), 16-1, (2:00); VMI 10-8
157: Darren Ostrander (VMI) dec. Mason Rambarose (SHU), 8-3; VMI 13-8
165: Brandon Levesque (SHU) maj. dec. Jakob Kennedy (VMI), 20-8; VMI 13-12
174: Neal Richards (VMI) maj. dec. Anthony Falbo (SHU), 14-5; VMI 17-12
184: Kyle Davis (SHU) maj. dec. Max Gallahan (VMI), 12-2; VMI 17-16
197: Chris Beck (VMI) dec. Connor Fredricks (SHU), SV2; VMI 20-16
HWT: Dante DelBonis (SHU) dec. Tre Momon (VMI), 3-2; VMI 20-19
Records: Sacred Heart 2-2, VMI 1-3

Sacred Heart 27, Davidson 19
At Raleigh, N.C.
125: Ryan Burns (SHU) dec.Zamir Ode (DC), 9-3; SHU 3-0
133: Kyle Gorant (DC) fall Anthony Petrillo (SHU), (2:23); DC 6-3
141: Caleb Ziebell (DC) tech. fall Seth Brown (SHU), (2:58); DC 11-3
149: Gerard Daly (SHU) dec. Aidan Conroy (DC), 7-4; DC 11-6
157: Tony Palumbo (DC) maj. dec. Mason Rambarose (SHU), 13-3; DC 15-6
165: Brandon Levesque (SHU) inj. def. Hunter Costa (DC), (1:32); DC 15-12
174: Anthony Falbo (SHU) fall Erik Eva (DC), (5:16); SHU 18-15
184: Kyle Davis (SHU) dec. Conor Fenn (DC), 8-6; SHU 21-15
197: Connor Fredricks (SHU) fall Finlay Holston (DC), (:26); 27-15
HWT: Mitchell Trigg (DC) maj. dec. Dante DelBonis (SHU), 10-0; SHU 27-19
Records: Sacred Heart 3-2, Davidson 2-2

VMI 29, Davidson 13
Records: VMI 2-3, Davidson 2-3