PHILADELPHIA—Zac Walsh's (Denville, NJ, Morris Knolls) win by decision in the final bout of the day helped rally Bloomsburg University to a 25-23 win over 23rd ranked University of Pennsylvania on Sunday in collegiate wrestling action. The win also extended the Huskies winning streak to nine.

Walsh's win capped a furious comeback for the Huskies that saw them fall behind by a score of 14-0 after the Quakers got two wins by major decision and one by fall in the first three matches.

Bloomsburg's Josh Roosa (Mountaintop, Crestwood) though got things started for the Huskies earning a 12-2 win at 149 pounds over Andrew Lenzi. Roosa picked up four takedowns in the match and had a two-point near fall along with one point for riding time.

At 157 pounds Frank Hickman (Castle Hayne, NC, E.L. Laney) earned a win by injury default to close the gap to 14-10. At 165 pounds Penn's Stephan Burak put the home team back up by 10 points after getting a win by fall over Josh Veltre (Rochester, NY, Greece Olympia).

But the Huskies answered the pin by the Quakers in a big way. First Mike Dessino (Middlesex, NJ, Middlesex) posted his 11th win by fall earning the win in 4:53. Dessino was trailing 3-2 after one period, but Dessino was able to turn Canaan Bethea and scored the pin.

At 184 pounds Nate Graham (Selkirk, NY, Ravena) kept the Huskies momentum going when he scored a late first period pin in 2:43. Graham picked up a takedown just 30 seconds in and then continued to work till he secured the pin. The win gave the Huskies a 22-20 lead with two bouts left.

At 197 pounds seventh-ranked Micha Burak posted a 7-0 win over Richard Perry (Meriden, CT, Middletown) putting Penn back on top 23-22 with one match to go. At 285 pounds Walsh and Kyle Cowan would square off for the match.

After a scoreless first period, Cowan chose bottom to start the second and scored a late escape to go up 1-0. In the third period with the wrestlers starting neutral, Walsh was finally able to get a takedown with 20 seconds left to lead 2-1. Cowan escaped with eight seconds to go, but Walsh won the bout and the match for the Huskies with 2:08 of riding time.

Bloomsburg coach John Stutzman was naturally thrilled for his team. 

“The guys are really starting to believe in the system,” said Stutzman. “Anytime you beat a good team it shows that what we are doing is working. Penn has been ranked in the top 25 this year so this is obviously a huge win for the program.”

The win was the first-ever for the Huskies over the Quakers in four career meetings. Bloomsburg, now 11-2, will be idle till hosting EWL-rival West Virginia on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. 

Bloomsburg - 25
Pennsylvania - 23 

Individual Matches