Tigers take down Northern Lehigh

There’s one match every season that the Northwestern wrestling team wants to win more than any other. It doesn’t matter if the teams are battling for first place or last place, if they’re both bound for the postseason or if neither team will compete in league or district team tournaments.

The biggest things at stake each year when Northern Lehigh meets Northwestern are bragging rights and pride. And the Tigers claimed both this season.

“This is always a match we want to win, and I know Northern Lehigh wanted to win as badly as us,” said Tiger head coach Jim Moll after his team’s 51-18 victory last week. “Whether it’s here [at Northern Lehigh] or at our place, it’s always a very competitive match and tonight was no different.”

Despite the final score, there were reasons for concern for Moll. Overall he was pleased with a strong showing by his team, which improved to 2-1 on the season.

“If we wrestle like this for the rest of the year, I’ll be really, really happy,” Moll said. “I’m really proud of the guys for the way they wrestled tonight.”

The winners nabbed five of the six contested matches, as Lucas Miller (152), Ryan Haverkamp (195), Ben Griffith (132) and Mason Brensinger (138) all earned pins, and Eli Dellicker (120), pulled out a 10-9 decision.

Eli Dellicker and Ben Griffith both faced opponents they lost to last season.

“Eli’s win was just six minutes of effort,” said Moll. “It was an excellent match, and probably the best he’s wrestled for us all year.”

Against Brendan Smoy, the back-and-forth nature of the bout left the winner in doubt until a late maneuver tilted the win in Dellicker’s favor.

“He got a takedown with 15 seconds to go to take the lead, and then just held on,” Moll said.

“I’m pretty sure the coaches had me losing that match,” Dellicker said. “So it’s just a great feeling to come back from a loss last year and win it this year. I just worked for it, and I used all six minutes of that match, which is really hard to do, but you just have to keep fighting to the absolute end.”

Griffith took advantage of his opportunity against the Bulldogs’ Preston Bauer.

“Ben lost a couple of times to that kid last season, so for him to come out and wrestle and win in the fashion he did was just great,” Moll said. “He’s really put in a lot of hard work in the offseason, and it’s starting to show.”

“It was definitely a good match for me,” Griffith said, “because I wrestled him three of four times since my freshman year and lost to him every time. The offseason work really is helping me and the team out.”