Sacred Heart won their second straight match Sunday by beating Franklin & Marshall on criteria, 18-17. (Photo courtesy Sacred Heart Sports Information)
LANCASTER, Pa., January 19 – Every takedown, every escape, every reversal was crucial in Sacred Heart’s Eastern Interscholastic Wrestling Association (EIWA) match with Franklin & Marshall.
The host Diplomats erased an 11-point deficit and forced a tie with victories in three of the final four matches. But Sacred Heart came away with the 18-17 victory on criteria on Sunday. The Pioneers (3-2, 2-1 EIWA) won because they outscored Franklin & Marshall, 65-64 on total match points.
Couple with a 30-9 win over Virginia Military Institute a week ago in Fairfield, the Pioneers have won two straight matches and beat the Diplomats (3-3, 0-2 EIWA) for the second straight season.
Sacred Heart took an 11-0 lead by taking the first three matches of the bout. Newtown’s Joe Accousti put the Pioneers on the board with a 4-1 decision in the first match of the day at 174 pounds. Kyle Davis (184) earned an 17-6 victory while Robert Hetherman won 12-2 to put Pioneers up by 11 points.
Franklin & Marshall cut the lead to 11-6 thanks to an overtime victory by Vincenzo Pelusi (285) and an 11-7 win by Jose Diaz (125).
Sacred Heart’s Anthony Petrillo (149) earned a 6-2 decision to put the Pioneers up 17-11 with two matches remaining. But Franklin & Marshall won the final two matches. Cole Aaron beat SHU’s William Schmidt, 8-2 and Emmett LiCastri, the senior from Easton and Joel Barlow High School, beat SHU’s Brandon Levesque, 8-3 to tie the match at 17-17.
It’s been a good year for LiCastri, who is 21-8 on the year and 65-57 in his collegiate career. With four pins, LiCastri is one of just 15 wrestlers in team history to record 20 pins in his career and is three pins shy of getting into the top 10 career list at Franklin & Marshall.
Sacred Heart returns to action when they visit Division II rival American International College in Springfield on Friday at 7 p.m. The Pioneers will visit Bucknell on Sunday for another EIWA match.
Sacred Heart 18, Franklin & Marshall 17, criteria
At Lancaster, Pa.
174: Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart) dec. Crew Fullerton, 4-1
184 Kyle Davis (Sacred Heart) dec. James Stillerman, 17-6
197 Robert Hetherman (Sacred Heart) dec. Ethan Seeley, 12-2
285 Vincenzo Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Connor Fredericks, 4-2 OT
125 Jose Diaz (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Sean Faraon, 11-7
133 Anthony Petrillo (Sacred Heart) dec. Jack Bruce, 8-2
141 Wilfredo Gil (Franklin & Marshall) tech fall Gerard Daly, 20-4, 3:58
149 Anthony Petrillo (Sacred Heart) dec. Cristiaan Dailey 6-2
157 Cole Aaron (Franklin & Marshall) dec. William Schmidt, 8-2
165 Emmett LiCastri (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Brandon Levesque 8-3
Records: Sacred Heart 3-2, 2-1 EIWA; Franklin & Marshall 3-3, 0-2 EIWA
Note: Sacred Heart wins on criteria – more total match points, 65-64
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