No. 21 Wrestling Closes Dual Season at No. 18 Wisconsin, Princeton

Friday, February 16

Madison, WI

8 p.m.

Rutgers University

Wisconsin

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

No. 21 Wrestling Closes Dual Season at No. 18 Wisconsin, Princeton

Feb 15 | Wrestling

Rutgers Notes Live Stream: Wisconsin ($)Radio: WRSU (88.7 FM)Live Stream: Princeton ($)

Scarlet Knights compete against Badgers Friday night in Madison

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 21 Rutgers wrestling closes out the 2017-18 dual season this weekend when it competes at No. 18 Wisconsin Friday night for an 8 p.m. match in Madison. The Scarlet Knights will then return to New Jersey for a road match at Princeton Sunday at 1 p.m., hosted at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Friday night's match against the Badgers will stream via BTN2Go and Flowrestling, while WRSU will have the radio call on 88.7 FM. WRSU will also call Sunday's match against Princeton, with the dual being streamed on the Ivy Digital Network.

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Last Time Out
• No. 18 Rutgers picked up four individual victories – including a decision over a consensus top-10 opponent from No .11 Richie Lewis (165) – but the Scarlet Knights dropped a 20-12 dual to No. 21 Minnesota last Friday night at the RAC.
• No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca (149), Joseph Grello (174) and No. 12 Nicholas Gravina (184) also earned victories in front of the 3,588 fans in attendance, as RU celebrated Senior Night at the RAC. DeLuca, Lewis, Scott DelVecchio (133), Anthony Messner (197) and Razohnn Gross (HWT) were all honored prior to the dual with the Golden Gophers.
• The highlight of the night came courtesy of Lewis, who faced No. 8 Nick Wanzek. With Wanzek up 1-0 to start the third period, Lewis escaped to tie the match. Lewis continued to work shots on Wanzek and landed a takedown with 19 seconds left in the match for a 3-1 lead, riding Wanzek out for the final decision.

Rutgers in the Rankings
• For the first time in program history, Rutgers wrestling features a No. 1 wrestler in its lineup, as sophomore 125-pounder Nick Suriano held the top position in his weight class by Intermat, FloWrestling and WIN Magazine this week.
• Rutgers features five wrestlers ranked by Intermat, including No. 1 Nick Suriano (125), No. 7 Richie Lewis (165), No. 11 Eleazar DeLuca (149), No. 12 Nicholas Gravina (184) and No. 20 Scott DelVecchio (133).
• John Van Brill (157) is ranked No. 19 by WIN Magazine.
• Six Scarlet Knights appear in the latest NCAA Division I wrestling coaches' panel rankings, while five appear in the initial RPI rankings, both released on Feb. 4. The final rankings in both will serve as tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

NCAA Coaches Panel Rankings

Weight	Name	Rank
125	Nick Suriano	No. 2
133	Scott DelVecchio	No. 15
149	Eleazar DeLuca	No. 12
157	John Van Brill	No. 16
165	Richie Lewis	No. 11
184	Nicholas Gravina	No. 14

NCAA RPI Rankings

Weight	Name	Rank
125	Nick Suriano	No. 2
133	Scott DelVecchio	No. 5
141	Michael Van Brill	No. 19
157	John Van Brill	No. 9
174	Joseph Grello	No. 22
HWT	Razohnn Gross	No. 26

Scouting Wisconsin
• The Badgers enter Friday's match after it defeated then-No. 14 Illinois, 19-16, Sunday at Huff Hall. No. 19 Andrew Crone (157) defeated No. 19 Kyle Langenderfer, while Cole Martin (149) and Ryan Christensen (174) earned wins by bonus points.
• Wisconsin features three ranked wrestlers according to Intermat - No. 14 Crone (157), No. 11 Evan Wick (165) and No. 9 Ricky Robertson (184).
• Wisconsin also possesses six wrestlers with NCAA Championships experience - Martin, Crone, Christensen, Robertson, Johnny Jimenez (125) and Hunter Ritter (197).

The Series
• Wisconsin leads the all-time series with Rutgers, 3-0.
• In their last meeting, the Badgers upset the then-No. 12 Scarlet Knights, 18-15, on Feb. 5, 2016 at the RAC. Anthony Ashnault, Richie Lewis and Nicholas Gravina all had wins in the dual match.
• Wisconsin also secured dual victories over Rutgers in 2015 and 2000. In the 2015 meeting between the two schools, the No. 18 Badgers secured a 19-18 win on criteria over No. 21 RU in Madison.

Scouting Princeton
• The Tigers enter Sunday's match after they dropped a 34-6 dual to No. 11 Cornell last Saturday at Dillon Gym. Matthew Kolodzik (149) and Mike D'Angelo (157) picked up individual victories for Princeton in the dual loss.
• Princeton features three ranked wrestlers accroding to Intermat - No. 12 Kolodzik, No. 17 D'Angelo and No. 17 Patrick Brucki (197).
• Four Tigers have NCAA Championships experience, including Kolodzik, Pat D'Arcy (141) and Jonathan Schleifer (165), who all qualified for NCAA's in 2017 out in St. Louis.

The Series
• In a matchup that dates back to 1931, Rutgers leads the all-time series with Princeton, 42-33-5. The Scarlet Knights have collected 21 consecutive victories against the Tigers, with the series the longest against any one program in Rutgers wrestling history.
• Last season, No. 10 Rutgers earned a 19-16 victory over Princeton during the "Battle at the Birthplace" outside at High Point Solutions Stadium on Nov. 19, 2016. In front of a record 16,178 fans, current Scarlet Knights John Van Brill, Richie Lewis and Nicholas Gravina all picked up wins during the outside dual.

Knight Notes
• With the win over Northwestern on Feb. 2, head coach Scott Goodale past Deane Oliver for the second-most wins in program history at 159. Goodale needs just eight more victories to surpass John Sacchi for the all-time mark at Rutgers, who owns 166 career victories in 17 seasons "On the Banks".
• Associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff returns to Wisconsin, his alma matter, this weekend. The Garden State native was a two-time NCAA 165-pound Champion in 2000 and 2001 and a four-time All-American with the Badgers.
• Richie Lewis has now captured victories in eight of his last eight outings, which includes ranked victories over then-No. 8 Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), then-No. 11 Isaiah White (Nebraska), then-No. 11 Te'shan Campbell (Ohio State) and then-No. 13 Anthony Valencia (Arizona St.). In those seven victories, Lewis has outscored his opponents, 74-23, with three major decisions and a tech fall.
• Nick Suriano has demonstrated why he is the No. 1 125-pounder in the country this season, as the Paramus, New Jersey, native has produced a perfect 20-0 record, including a 11-0 mark in duals during the 2017-18 season. Suriano has outscored his opponents, 142-39, with a fall, four tech falls, three major decisions and three decisions in his first 11 dual matches at RU. Overall, Suriano has outscored his opponents, 253-62, in his first 20 matches of 2017-18. Suriano's seven tech falls in 2017-18 are tied for second nationally.
• With his 6-2 decision on Jan. 12 against North Carolina, Scott DelVecchio picked up his 75th career varsity win at Rutgers. The senior now has 79 for his career, tied for 34th all-time at RU.
• Joseph Grello has now captured five dual victories in his last seven outings with wins against North Carolina, Hofstra, Nebraska, Illinois and Minnesota.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers wrestling, follow the program on Twitter (@RUWrestling) and Instagram (@RUWrestling). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com.