The Bucknell Bison proved why they are ranked No. 23 in the country on Feb. 7, as they took down a young Eagles squad in a dominating 23-9 fashion.
“We knew going into this match that we may be out-experienced,” AU head coach Teague Moore said. “Their athletes may have been out there a few more times than we have, but when the whistle blows we have to be ready to wrestle.”
The Eagles (6-9, 1-4) struggled to find their rhythm at the start of the night, and AU freshman Nick Carey dropped the first match 11-9 to Bucknell sophomore Joey Krulock in the 174-pound weight class. Carey battled hard, matching Krulock’s fast pace and fighting tough to avoid a fall, but he failed to prevail. Bucknell (12-3, 5-0) built off Krulock’s success in their next three contests, and they held a 16-0 team lead when AU junior David Terao took to the mat.
Terao, ranked No. 16 in the country in the 125-pound weight class, brought the Eagles their first victory when he earned an 8-4 decision over junior Paul Petrov. He capitalized on his experience and mental toughness to overpower his opponent and remain undefeated in the conference.
“We saw each other last year when we went to Bucknell, and that match was a close one as well,” Terao said. “I just knew I had to put the offense on him early and come up big with those points. Once I did that, I kinda calmed down and let myself wrestle and flow out there.”
David’s brother, freshman Josh Terao, added another three points for the Eagles after he emerged victorious in a tightly-fought match against Bucknell sophomore Grim Gonzalez. The two 133-pound wrestlers remained even after the first period, but Terao accumulated two minutes of advantage time in the second period. He earned his first point with an escape at the start of the third period and added a two-point reversal and an advantage time point in the final phase of the match to help him secure a 4-2 win.
“We say, these are our opponents, we have to be ready to execute and win.” Teague Moore, AU head coach
“David and Josh [came] through again and [got] the wins started for us,” Moore said. “Josh came out and wrestled a very strategic, very smart match and got it done.”
AU’s final win of the night came from junior captain John Boyle, who notched his twelfth conference victory by defeating Bucknell junior Rustin Barrick, 9-3 in the 157-pound weight class.
Boyle racked up a quick two point lead with an early takedown, and he proceeded to earn another takedown and a near fall before the end of the first period. He held control for the second period as well but faded slightly in the final two minutes of the match and allowed Barrick to run down his advantage time.
“I thought he wrestled a very good first two periods, third period we got ridden out,” Moore said. “We want to change that for EIWAs. Whether you win or you lose, you can’t look at tonight and say, that was great, we don’t have to worry about those guys anymore. They’re an inter-conference team, so those are the guys that we’re going to have to wrestle to make it to the national championships. It’s a good measuring stick.”
The Eagles return to Bender Arena Feb. 8 for another EIWA conference match-up when they take on Binghampton University at 2 p.m.
“We don’t look at rankings, we don’t look at what year they are,” Moore said. “We say, these are our opponents, we have to be ready to execute and win.”
sscovel@theeagleonline.com
