Jan. 19, 2008

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Franklin & Marshall dropped a pair of Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) matches Saturday afternoon, falling 28-13 to Brown, and 31-10 to Rutgers. The losses were the third and fourth in a row for the Diplomats (3-6, 0-5 EIWA), who are still searching for their first win in the conference.

125-pounder Jake Bucha, and the nation's 18th ranked 174-pound wrestler, Justin Herbert, each picked up a pair of wins for F&M. Bucha improved to 12-8 on the year with a decision over Brown's (3-4, 1-2 EIWA) Mike Piccirillo and a major decision over Rutgers' (6-4, 4-2 EIWA) Mike DeMarco. Bucha is now 6-3 in his last nine bouts.

Herbert picked up two wins via decision, marking the first time this season he has wrestled consecutive bouts without a pin. He improved to 19-1 with an 11-5 win over Kasey McCurdy from Brown. He handed Rutger's Mike Whalen a 4-1 loss. Herbert has now won 16 consecutive bouts.

The Diplomats jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Brown on the strength of Nico Somers (7-10) 6-4 decision of Zach Zdrada and Bucha's win. Back-to-back pins by Jeff Schell and Mark Savino at 133 and 141, respectively, gave Brown the lead for good. Al Gianforti (7-8) picked up a major at 149 to close the gap to 12-10 before the Bears took four of the matches final five bouts.

Rutgers took four of the first six bouts, including Dan Hilt's (133) and Steve Adamcsik's (141) back-to-back tech falls. That erased F&M's only lead of the day, 4-3, following Bucha's win at 125. Anthony Bongarzone improved to 7-6 with a 4-3 decision over Chris Norell. Bongarzone is now 4-3 in dual meet competition this season.

The Diplomats return to action next Sunday at East Stroudsburg.

Brown 28 - Franklin & Marshall 13
HWT - Nico Somers (FM) 6-4 dec. over Zach Zdrada (BU) 3-0 FM
125 - Jake Bucha (FM) 5-2 dec. over Mike Piccirillo (BU) 6-0 FM
133 - Jeff Schell (BU) pin at 1:33 over Stephen Sabreen (FM) 6-6
141 - Mark Savino (BU) pin at 2:05 over Aki Aida (FM) 12-6 BU
149 - Al Gianforti (FM) 13-3 maj. dec. over Bryan Tracy (BU) 12-10 BU
157 - Tom Fazio (BU) 5-4 dec. over Anthony Bongarzone (FM) 15-10 BU
165 - Chris Musser (BU) 9-1 maj. dec. over Andrew Smith (FM) 19-10 BU
174 - Justin Herbert (FM) 11-5 dec. over Kasey McCurdy (BU) 19-13 BU
184 - Matt Gevelinger (BU) 3-0 dec. over Dan Canfield (FM) 22-13 BU
197 - Brandon Stearns (BU) wins by forfeit 28-13 BU

Rutgers 31 - Franklin & Marshall 10
HWT - Karim Mahmoud (RU) 5-3 dec. over Nico Somers (FM) 3-0 RU
125 - Jake Bucha (FM) 9-0 maj. dec. over Mike DeMarco (RU) 4-3 FM
133 - Dan Hilt (RU) 16-0 tech. fall at 4:05 over Stephen Sabreen (FM) 8-4 RU
141 - Steve Adamcsik (RU) 17-0 tech. fall at 2:35 over Aki Aida (FM) 13-4 RU
149 - Jack Barrett (RU) 10-6 dec. over Al Gianforti (FM) 16-4 RU
157 - Anthony Bongarzone (FM) 4-3 dec. over Chris Norrell (RU) 16-7 RU
165 - Matt Pletcher (RU) 7-1 dec. over Andrew Smith (FM) 19-7 RU
174 - Justin Herbert (FM) 4-1 dec. over Mike Whalen (RU) 19-10 RU
184 - Keith Dobish (RU) pin at :24 over Dan Canfield (FM) 25-10 RU
197 - Lamar Brown (RU) wins by forfeit