CLEVELAND, Ohio - January 15, 2022 – Hiram men's wrestling fell twice in their two matches at the Case Western Reserve University Duals on Saturday, dropping their opening match, 53-0, to Lake Erie College, before losing a close-contest to Case Western, 27-16.
 
MATCH 1: LAKE ERIE 53, HIRAM 0
The Storm took an early lead against the Terriers, picking up a pair of forfeit wins at 125 and 141 lbs. At 133 lbs., Grayson Smith (2-12) battled back-and-forth with Lake Erie's Corey Gamet, before falling by pin at 1:38.
 
Lake Erie then picked up three more wins by fall, with Seth Holt (4-12) falling to Jacob Potok at 157 lbs. (0:00), Lucas Marconi (3-3) to James Penfoled at 165 lbs. (1:09) and Jimmy Thomas (7-12) to John Penfold at 174 lbs. (1:03).
 
The Terriers and Storm then wrapped up the match with another pair of forfeit wins for Lake Erie at 184 and 197 lbs., before Isaac DeVault (3-8) fell to Lake Erie's Ronnie D'Amico, 16-0 by major decision, at 285 lbs.
 
Hiram and Lake Erie then wrestled a trio of extra, countable matches, with Smith (2-13) falling to Jacob Johnson at 133 lbs. (0:36), Kwame Stewart (0-4) falling to Jaron Patterson at 174 lbs. (2:22) and Zach Harper (0-13) falling to Paul Scaramuzzino at 285 lbs. (0:47).
 
MATCH 2: CASE WESTERN 27, HIRAM 16
After both sides forfeited at 125 lbs., Smith (3-13) picked up a forfeit win at 133 lbs. to give the Terriers a 6-0 lead. The Spartans then picked up a pair of forfeit wins at 141 and 149 lbs. to take a 12-6 lead, before Holt and Calvin Cai squared off at 157 lbs.
 
Holt (4-13) fell to Cai by decision, 8-2, giving Case Western a 15-6 lead. And next up at 165 lbs., Marconi (3-4) fell to Thomas Gallagher (0:29) to extend the Spartans' match lead to 21-6.
 
Thomas (8-12) then picked up the Terriers' second win of the day, a forfeit win at 174 lbs., to pull Hiram back within 10, 21-11.
 
The Spartans picked up a forfeit win at 184 lbs., before a double forfeit at 197 lbs. made it 27-12 heading into the heavyweight match.
 
At 285 lbs., DeVault (4-8) earned his first victory of the day, taking down Alex Torres by major decision, 8-2, to give Hiram four team points, and wrap up the match with a 27-16 Case victory.
 
The Terriers and Spartans then wrestled a trio of extra, countable matches. Stewart (0-5) picked up two points with a takedown by fell to Manhattan Gatton, 8-2 by decision.
 
At 141 lbs., Smith (3-14) fell to Brandon Callow by fall (1:44) and Harper (0-14) and Torres then wrapped up the day at 285 lbs., with Torres pinning Harper at 2:33.
 
Hiram next travels to Washington, Pa. on Saturday, Jan. 22 for the Jim White Duals, taking on host Washington & Jefferson at 10 a.m., Ohio Wesleyan at 1 p.m. and Alderson Broaddus at 2:30 p.m.