HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 1, 2020)  – No. 15 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling won seven of the 10 bouts to defeat ninth-ranked New York University 30-13 Saturday in a non-conference dual at Canavan Arena.

Sophomore Akhil Vega joined freshman Kyle Slendorn, graduate student Thomas Poklikuha, senior Troy Stanich, fellow sophomore Michael Dooley and juniors Brett Kaliner and Bruce Parola in earning victories for the Ducks, who won their fourth straight dual to improve to 6-5. The Ducks have won three of the last four dual meetings between the programs. NYU fell to 8-6.

"It was a great performance today," said head coach Joe Favia. "The team is having fun and it's fun watching them do battle. They are executing solid position, they are being relentless in their offense and they are being stingy in their defense. They are buying into the system and seeing success. We are going to keep building and improving through March."

After the dual began with a forfeit victory for NYU at 285, Vega was the recipient of a forfeit victory at 125 to even the score. Vega's victory sparked a string of four straight victories that saw Stevens swell its lead to 21-6. 

Slendorn, ranked ninth at 133 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, earned his 15th victory of the year with an 11-4 victory over Trent Furman. Furman opened the scoring with a takedown to begin the match, however Slendorn reversed the position to even the score. Furman earned a reversal of his own to take a 4-2 lead, but Stevens' 133-pounder scored the next nine points, including the riding time point, to secure the victory. Slendorn scored five of his 11 points in the final period.

Stanich, ranked first in the country at 141, earned his second pin of the weekend, stopping Quinn Dailey in 102 seconds. Over his two bouts, Stanich was on the mat for less than three minutes.

Kaliner, the top-ranked wrestler at 149, collected the Ducks' second straight pin, earning the fall of Evan Drill, who has spent time in the NWCA's top-10 at 149 in the third period. Kaliner appeared to be on the verge of either a major or a tech fall, but the West Chester, Pennsylvania native, who was leading 20-9 at the time of the pin, controlled Drill on the mat before scoring a two-point near-fall that directly led to the fall. 

After a decision victory by NYU's third-ranked Sean Lyons at 157, Poklikuha, ranked eighth at 165, earned his second win of the weekend with a hard-fought 8-4 decision victory over Cole Karam. The win pushed Stevens' advantage to 24-9. 

NYU remained alive in the dual with a 14-5 major at 174, however, Parola's 2-1 decision victory at 184 clinched the dual for the Ducks. Neither side was able to earn a point over the first period before Parola scored with an escape to start the second period. Despite Parola's slim advantage entering the final period, it was NYU's Miguel Ruiz that held the edge in riding time. However, Parola started the final frame on top and controlled Ruiz throughout the two-minute period to reverse Ruiz's riding time advantage and secure the extra point. The extra point proved to be the deciding factor after Ruiz briefly escaped Parola in the waning seconds of the match.

Dooley earned his second victory of the weekend with a tidy 8-3 decision of Jack La Corte at 197 to provide the final margin of victory. 

The dual began with the two forfeits and exhibition bouts were not contested.

Dual Results:
Final Score: No. 15 Stevens: 30, No. 9 NYU: 13
285: Will Ortman (N) won by forfeit; NYU leading 6-0
125: Akhil Vega (S) won by forfeit; Match is tied 6-6
133: #9/#6 Kyle Slendorn (S) won by decision over Trent Furman (N), 11-4; Stevens leading 9-6
141: #1/#1 Troy Stanich (S) pinned Quinn Dailey (N), 1:42; Stevens leading 15-6
149: #1/#1 Brett Kaliner (S) pinned Evan Drill (N), 6:24; Stevens leading 21-6
157: #3/4 Sean Lyons (N) won by decision over #9/6 Dylan Van Sickell (S), 8-1; Stevens leading 21-9
165: #8/NR Thomas Poklikuha (S) won by decision over Cole Karam (N), 8-4; Stevens leading 24-9
174: Izaake Zuckerman (N) won by major decision over Carl Vasti (S), 14-5; Stevens leading 24-13
184: Bruce Parola (S) won by decision over Miguel Ruiz (N), 2-1; Stevens leading 27-13
197: NR/#9 Michael Dooley (S) won by decision over Jack La Corte (N), 8-3; Stevens leading 30-13 (Final bout)

Up Next: No. 15 Wrestling heads to Grantham, Pennsylvania for the Messiah Open, hosted by Messiah College on Feb. 8. Messiah will serve as the hosting school for the Southeast Regional Championship in late February.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise