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Sacred Heart rolls past undermanned AIC for third straight win

Sacred Heart’s Will Schmidt helped the Pioneers beat AIC Friday night for their fifth win of the year. (Photo courtesy Sacred Heart athletics)

FAIRFIELD, January 25, 2019 – Sacred Heart received six forfeits and won their third straight dual meet with a 43-9 win over American International College Friday night at the Pitt Center.

It was a much easier affair than Sunday’s thrilling one-point victory over Franklin and Marshall, 19-18, as the Pioneers opened their Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) campaign with a victory.

Gerard Daly (141 pounds) and Will Schmidt (174) picked up wins on the mat for Sacred Heart (5-2, 1-0 EIWA). Daly outlasted AIC freshman Joel Morth (Montville), 6-5 with an escape with 20 seconds left in the match. Morth had tied the bout at 5-5 with a reversal with 50 seconds left.

Sophomore Baltazar Gonzalez, the former Ellis Tech star from Danielson, picked up a first period pin for AIC at 157 pounds.

Against Franklin and Marshall, Sacred Heart won four of five matches between 149 and 184 pounds to take control of the match.

Daly (149) beat Chris Martorello, 15-6 to tie the match at 7-7 before Joel Barlow graduate Emmett LiCastri of Franklin & Marshall beat Sacred Heart’s, T.J. Calas, 12-4 to put the Diplomats ahead by four, 11-7.

Sacred Heart’s Brandon Levesque won with a pin at 165 to put the Pioneers back in front, 13-11. Sacred Heart extended that lead when Will Schmidt (174) got a two-point reversal at the buzzer to beat Chris Bolletino, 6-4. Bolletino had tied the match at 4-4 with a reversal of his own.

Leading by five points, 16-11, Sacred Heart prevailed in another tough match as Kyle Davis (184) had a pair of takedowns in a 5-3 victory over Reid Robilotto. It was 2-2 after two periods when Davis escaped to take a 3-2 lead. A takedown extended the lead to 5-2.

With the win, Sacred Heart extended their lead to 19-11. The Pioneers lost the final two matches but neither Sacred Heart wrestler got pinned to help secure the win.

Franklin and Marshall’s Philip Robilotto (197) had Sacred Heart’s Mark Blokh on his back in the first period but couldn’t finish him off. Robilotto led 11-0 going into the third period but couldn’t secure the technical fall. That cut the Sacred Heart lead to four points, 19-15.

Franklin and Marshall’s Antonio Pelusi (285) needed a pin or technical fall to give the Diplomats the win and a four-point decision (win by eight to 14 points) to tie. But Sacred Heart’s Dante DelBonis wrestled tough in a 5-3 loss, leaving the Diplomats one point shy of a win, 19-18.

Sacred Heart returns to action on Saturday at noon at the Pitt Center in Fairfield when they host EIWA rival Bucknell (3-6, 1-3 EIWA).

Sacred Heart 43, AIC 9
At Fairfield
125: Ryan Burns (SH) forfeit; 133: Anthony Petrillo (SH) forfeit; 141: Gerard Daly (SH) dec. Joel Morth, 6-5; 149: Chris Cornell (SH) forfeit; 157: Baltazar Gonzalez (AIC) pin T.J. Calas, 2:34; 165: Brandon Levesque (SH) forfeit; 174: Will Schmidt (SH) dec. Rafiq Conway, 11-3; 184: Kyle Davis (SH) forfeit; 197: Connor Fredericks (SH) forfeit; 285: Ray Sherwood (AIC) dec. Dante DelBonis, 11-3
Records: Sacred Heart 5-2, AIC 0-9

Sacred Heart 19, Franklin & Marshall 18
At Fairfield
125: Jose Diaz (FM) dec. Ryan Burns, 11-6; 133: Anthony Petrillo (SH) dec. Michael Simonetti, 15-8; 141: Wilfredo Gil (FM) dec. Seth Brown, 11-3; 149: Gerard Daly (SH) dec. Chris Martorello, 15-6; 157: Emmett LiCastri (FM) dec. T.J. Calas, 12-4; 165: Brandon Levesque (SH) pin Jacob Connors, 4:42; 174: Will Schmidt (SH) dec. Chris Bolletino, 6-4; 184: Kyle Davis (SH) dec. Reid Robilotto, 5-3; 197: Philip Robilotto (FM) dec. Mark Blokh, 12-1; 285: Antonio Pelusi (FM) dec. Dante DelBonis, 5-3
Records: Sacred Heart 4-2, 1-0 EIWA; Franklin & Marshall 2-4, 0-3 EIWA

Connecticut Wrestling Online has been covering the sport of wrestling in Connecticut and New England since 2001.

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