The Bloomsburg University wrestling team earned an important Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) victory on Saturday (Dec. 2) at George Mason 18-17. The win was one of significance for the Huskies, as it snapped both an 18-match league losing streak, and also snapped a three-match losing streak to George Mason dating back to the 2014-15 season. The win was also the first in the EWL under head coach Marcus Gordon.
The match began at 125 pounds, with George Mason’s Ibrahim Bunduka winning by major decision 19-7 over Drew Massetti to give the Patriots a 4-0 lead. Andy Schutz would respond at 133 pounds with a win by technical fall over Victor Echeverria 20-5. The win gave Bloomsburg a 5-4 lead. Mason responded with back-to-back decision wins coming from Tejon Anthony over Braden Stahlnecker (141 pounds, 10-4) and Matthew Raines over Evan Campbell (149 pounds, 13-3) to take an 11-5 lead. The Patriots won three of the first four bouts to get their lead, before Kevin Laubach, Jr. halted the momentum with a 9-5 decision win at 157 pounds over Creed Lumpp to cut the Patriots lead to 11-8. Nate Newberry) returned to action at 165 pounds, earning an 8-4 decision over Brendan May to knot the match at 11-all. The low-scoring affair was tied with just four bouts remaining, the next bout being 174 pounds. Kyle Murphy earned four big points for Bloomsburg, winning by major decision 12-3 over Levko Higgins to put the Huskies up 15-11. Trevor Allard would win the fourth straight bout for Bloomsburg, with a 10-3 decision over Austin Harrison at 184 pounds. Headed to the final two bouts, the Huskies led 18-11. Eli Spencer swung momentum back to the Patriots with an 8-6 decision win over Logan Womelsdorf, getting the match to within four headed to the final bout. At 285 pounds, Matthew Voss was able to get the win by decision (4-2) for George Mason over Bruce Graeber. The three points were not enough, and the Huskies prevailed with the win on the road.
Bloomsburg (2-2, 1-0 EWL) is back in action next Saturday (Dec. 9) when they travel to Edinboro University for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. The action is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m.