Trailing at halftime, Lehigh University’s wrestling team came back to defeat Penn 24-14 on Friday night at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The No. 22-ranked Mountain Hawks won the last five matches of the evening, securing their seventh consecutive dual victory and improving their season record to 10-6.
The meet began with Lehigh taking a 6-0 lead after graduate student Sheldon Seymour won by injury default against Davis Motyka. Seymour scored an early takedown before Motyka was forced to withdraw due to a leg injury.
Penn then took control, winning four straight bouts. Evan Mougalian narrowly defeated Mason Ziegler 1-0 at 133 pounds, followed by major decisions from CJ Composto and Cross Wasilewski over Seamus Mack and Matt Repos, respectively. Jude Swisher edged out Logan Rozynski 3-1 in a match that saw two penalty points for stalling decide the outcome.
After the break, senior Max Brignola started Lehigh’s comeback with a 5-1 decision over Sean Seefeldt at 165 pounds. First-year Brady Collins made his dual debut for Lehigh at 174 pounds and delivered a 4-1 win over Caden Bellis, bringing the team within two points of Penn.
A key moment came when junior Rylan Rogers earned a 12-3 major decision against Liam Carlin at 184 pounds, giving Lehigh its first lead since early in the match.
Graduate student JT Davis extended the advantage with a sudden victory decision over Martin Cosgrove at 197 pounds. Senior Nathan Taylor finished the night with a technical fall against John Pardo.
Attendance for the event was reported as 1,338 spectators.
Lehigh will return to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Bucknell on Senior Day at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
The current wrestling season is presented by Historic Hotel Bethlehem.