The American University wrestling team (5-7) took on the Long Island University Sharks (1-11) in a historic wrestling event, as the Eagles played the first-ever match in the new Meltzer Center. There was a special charm to the center as President Jonathan Alger started the night with quick remarks to open the event.
The Center will now be used for wrestling and volleyball matches, in addition to hosting occasional men’s and women’s basketball practices. Eagles wrestling head coach Jason Borrelli praised the new Meltzer Center.
“[It] felt like we were in the Big Ten. It felt like an ACC environment where you just have everything clicking and hard to put into words,” Borrelli said.
Borrelli also discussed how the Center will help with recruiting as recruits will feel the school’s support towards athletics.
The Eagles competed in their second EIWA match after a 32-7 loss to No. 22-ranked Lehigh last Sunday. This was the first home match for the Eagles in a month. Going into the match, LIU had rough form, only picking up one win on the season.
The first matchup of the dual saw LIU redshirt freshman Sawyer Ostroff and American sophomore JJ Peace face off. Peace quickly found a double leg hold, but was unable to score points. Shortly thereafter, he earned a quick 3-point takedown. Ostroff bounced back with a quick point escape before being knocked out of the boundary and resetting the match.
In the second round, Ostroff quickly escaped, earning a quick point. After a physical minute, Peace found the high ground over Ostroff and delivered an exciting pin, giving American the first match ever in the new Meltzer Center and the Eagles a 6-0 lead.
Borrelli later praised Peace’s performance.
“[Peace] came out and he got the place going and he got a fall and really amped up our team,” he said.
The second match between the Sharks’ senior Christopher Betancourt and American graduate student Maximilian Leete started quickly. Leete forced a quick takedown and pushed Betancourt out of the ring early, causing an early restart. Leete quickly gained position, pinning Betancourt and earning 45 seconds of control time. However, Betancourt eventually escaped his control and caused a slow and uneventful ending to the round.
In the second round, Leete did not take his foot off the pedal, earning a point after having the first minute of control time. Betancourt barely found himself able to get out from under Leete and earned a later point.
In the third round, Leete wasted no time in finding an escape and used his strength to push his opponent out of the ring. Betancourt sprung at Leete, but Leete countered and nearly pinned Betancourt if it wasn’t for Betancourt’s amazing escape. Regardless, Leete comfortably won the round 13-2, giving the Eagles 4 points.
In the match between Sharks’ redshirt freshman Amir Avazov and Eagles graduate student Jack Maida, Avazov got off to a much-needed hot start. After a reset, the match slowed down as both wrestlers searched for a specific hold. The first round ended with no points awarded.
After Avazov started the second round in bottom position, Maida failed to control Avazov’s hips, resulting in another stalemate. In the second reset of the round, Maida started hot, almost forcing Avazov in a chokehold and maintaining the remaining one minute seconds of control time. This gave Maida a 4-point advantage for a near fall. In the final round, Maida quickly escaped and earned an extreme point. Maida almost got caught in a leg lock by Avazov, however, he managed to escape and force a stalemate, giving the Eagles an extra 4 points from major decision and a 14-0 lead.
In the fourth match, LIU’s redshirt sophomore Tommy Bonasera took on sophomore Gage Owen. Owen quickly gained control over Bonasera with a takedown. Bonasera hurt his ribs and a medical stoppage was called. When they returned to action, the wounded Bonasera failed to control Owen as he quickly held a reversal on Bonasera.
Owen started the next round hot, as he forced his second reversal of the match and gained even more control time over his opponent. Owen took down his opponent for the second time in two rounds, making Bonasera’s night even worse. Owen lost his momentum in the third round as he was forced to multiple stalemates, however his excellent first two rounds gave the American 4 points from a major decision.
The 157-pound bout took place between the Sharks redshirt junior Brayden Roberts and the Eagles redshirt sophomore Kaden Milheim. The Sharks earned a quick takedown after Roberts used his physicality to dominate Milheim. After Milheim found his way out of the ring, he had an opportunity to earn a point with an escape. However, he topped Roberts, earning two points for a reversal. Milheim held control time to end the first round, which was a big turnaround for him.
After the Sharks elected to start in a neutral position for the second round, neither side earned a point. With the final round starting in neutral position, Roberts took Milheim’s knee, drawing away all but 30 seconds in the round for Milheim to score.
With 15 seconds to go, Milheim took Robert’s hip, giving the Eagles a last-second match in empathetic fashion and 3 points. In the end, the Sharks came back to bite them conservative style as Milheim’s takedown secured American’s victory.
The seventh match featured the Sharks redshirt freshman Braden Brown going against the Eagles sophomore Hunter Hohman. Hohman made quick work of Brown, taking him down in 30 seconds and earning the crowd free t-shirts. A minute later, Hohman took 4 points by a near fall. The dream round from Hohman continued, with a third takedown in the round, giving the Eagles a quick 10-1 lead.
Hohman quickly escaped and won another takedown, making the score a lopsided 14-2. Hohman got his fourth takedown of the game, giving the Eagles a dominant 17-2 win and quickly ending the match. The Eagles earned 5 points via technical fall.
“Hunter has been working really hard, and he’s had some real close matches the last two outings,” Borrelli said. “He keeps getting better despite some losses.”
The eighth match involved the Eagles redshirt junior Caleb Campos taking on the Sharks graduate student Anthony D’Alesio. Initially, neither fighter was able to get the best out of the other. Despite Campos’s quick takedown attempts, D’Alesio managed to stay on his feet. After Campos lunged for D’Alesio’s legs and missed, D’Alesio managed to grab hold of his legs and force a quick takedown. Campos found an escape, but lost the first round 3-1.
Campos quickly escaped D’Alesio’s grasp to cut the lead to one point. Campos took control of the second round and after moments of struggling, forced D’Alesio on his back, pinning him to end the match. This crowd heightening moment gave AU a whopping 32-3 lead.
In the heavyweight battle, the Sharks’ freshman Max Ohamuo took on Eagles redshirt sophomore Emmanuel Ulrich. Ulrich brought the house down by slamming Ohamuo, earning 3 points. Ulrich dominated the match and slammed down Ohamuo once more. However, Ohamuo managed to avoid another takedown in the first round. In the second round, Ulrich dominated once again, pinning Ohamuo and ending the match on an exclamation point.
The Eagles opened the Meltzer Center up in style, winning 38-7.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Jack Stashower and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman, Ryan Sieve, Ava Stuzin and Jaden Maitland Anderson.
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