Boyertown grad Wood finishes fourth at 285
PITTSBURGH >> The rebound proved to be a brief one.
Briefer than Jordan Wood obviously may have hoped.
Deprived of competing for a gold medal Friday, Wood came back Saturday in the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships with designs for scoring the highest finish possible. The Boyertown alumnus and current Lehigh University sophomore put himself in position to place third, but he was blanked in the medal bout and left fourth in the 285-pound weight class.
Dropped into consolations Friday, the fourth-seeded Wood came on strong in a consi-semifinal against Amarveer Dhesi of Oregon State. He took a 2-1 lead in the first period, then rode out the bottom-starting Dhesi — the bracket’s sixth seed — in the second on the way to a 7-3 decision.
The win put Wood against third-seeded Gable Steveson of Minnesota. Steveson controlled the action, getting a first-period takedown and second-period escape to build a 3-0 lead going into the third, where he added a point for a 4-1 verdict.
“That’s a really good wrestler that Jordan beat,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said of Wood’s win over Dhesi. “And Jordan beat him convincingly. Against Steveson, we learned that we need to make some adjustments. We need to get a little stronger. Jordan’s willing to do all the work so I feel confident about his future.”
After becoming an All-Amer-
ican early Friday, courtesy of a 2-0 win over Iowa’s Sam Stoll in the quarterfinals, Wood found himself up against top-seeded Derek White of Oklahoma State. The semifinal ended up in a 1-1 tie through regulation time — both wrestlers scored escapes in the second and third periods — but in the sudden-victory overtime scenario, White was scored for a takedown in a decision upheld by official review.
Wood, who finished his sophomore campaign with a 25-5 record, came away from the competition at PPG Paints Arena as one of three Lehigh grapplers to attain All-America status this weekend. He was joined by Ryan Preisch, who finished fourth at 184 to close out his collegiate career; and Jordan Kutler, making his second AllAmerica claim while placing seventh at 174.
Kutler (25-6) battled through an injury that affected him in Friday night’s consolation quarterfinal loss to Virginia Tech’s David McFadden, coming back to top Devin Skatzka 5-1 to claim seventh place.
Kutler scored a first period takedown, rode out the second period and then reversed early in the third, racking up 4:22 of riding time advantage. He finishes his junior campaign at 25-6.
“Jordan showed great toughness,” Santoro said of Kutler. “He hurt his ankle last night and it really hurt him in the match.
“He regrouped today. He knew he had to win it on top and he did. He’s just a tough kid. It was really good to see.”
Preisch (24-5) earned a spot in the third place match with a 3-0 decision over Chip Ness of North Carolina. He earned a third period escape and then sealed the win with a takedown.
“On day three everybody’s hurt and everybody’s tired,” Santoro said. “Ryan had a guy who wrestles really hard. Ness is a two time All-American so you knew it was going to be a scrap. Ryan fought hard. He never panicked. He wrestled all three periods and that’s how he won.”