RIT Wrestling takes first at RIT Invitational
December 03, 2022

 


ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Senior Austin Lamb won the 165 lb. division to lead the host RIT Wrestling team to first place at the annual RIT Invitational on Saturday.

Lamb defeated John Caroll's Aiden Ashburn by Tech Fall before defeating Case Western's John Conover and Oneonta State's Ayden DeForest on major decisions and then winning on medical forfeit in the semifinals. In the finals, he won by 3-2 decision over John Carroll's Luke Reicosky to end his tournament 5-0. For his performance, he was named this year's winner of the Tony Wallace Award.

The Tony Wallace Award honors the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. Wallace wrestled at RIT from 1998-2002. A native of Loveland, OH, Wallace was the third RIT wrestler to earn three All-American honors. He finished his career with a 108-27 record and was inducted into the RIT Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008. Wallace died on Aug. 28, 2010, while on duty with the Hoonah (Alaska) Police Department. Wallace, a business administration major, was an assistant coach for the Tigers from 2003-05 and worked in the RIT Office of Public Safety from 2005-08.

The Tigers won the team title with 169.5 points, beating out John Carroll's 133 and Wesleyan's 111.

Tiger wrestlers, including Lamb, won three divisions of the competition, and notched two runner-up finishes.

Graduate student Christopher Horton won the 141 lb. division, going 5-0 in the tournament and defeating Williams College's Scotty Richter in the final on a 5-0 decision. Two of his wins came by tech fall, while another- his second round victory over Oswego State's Billy Piatti- came on a major decision.

Sophomore Josh Harkless and first-year Nick Smith made the 197 lb. division final an All-Tiger contest, as the teammates faced off after notching 3-0 starts to their tournaments. Ultimately, Harkless would defeat Smith for the title, pinning him at 3:27.

Senior Ben Dougherty finished second in the 174 lb. division, going 3-1 on the tournament with his only loss coming in the first place match.

First-year Tyler Balent finished third in the 174 lb. division, going 6-1 during the tournament.

Six Tigers ended their tournaments in fourth: Sophomore Lee Rubin (133), senior James Ost (157), junior Liam Strouse (165), first-year Zach Swyers (174), senior Colby Giroux (174), and sophomore Nate DeGroff (285).

First-year Gabe Scalise and junior Michael Glynn III finished sixth in the 133 lb. and 149 lb. divisions, respectively.

RIT will return to play after the winter break when they head to Louisville, Kentucky for the NWCA National Duals on Jan. 6 and 7.





Comments