On a blustery evening in Painesville, the Lake Erie wrestling program took to the mats for a dual meet against the Mercyhurst Lakers at the Osborne Center. While the Storm battled hard, they fell by an overall score of 23-16. 

The meet got off to a great start for the Storm as Jordan Rodriguez won the first match of the night on a pin. After a brief Mercyhurst rally in the next two bouts, Jack Haskin and Tyler Swiderski would even the score for the Storm with back to back wins. However, the Lakers would rally again to lead the meet by a score of 17-12 entering the final two bouts of the night. Christopher Droege would bring the Storm within a point of the Lakers with a major decision victory in the 197 pound bout. However, the Storm would fall in the heavyweight bout and the Lakers would come away with the team victory by a score of 23-16. 

Coach Breese's Insights on the Mercyhurst Dual

"I am extremely happy with the effort tonight.  We had two nationally ranked wrestlers out with injury.  If you were a fan that didn't know our lineup, you would not have been able to tell that."

"We put ourselves in nearly every match and had a real chance to win this dual.  We ultimately needed more bonus points and more bout wins period to win this dual.  Our effort gave us a chance."

"I am really excited for the guys that got their hands raised tonight.  We scored 16 team points and 12 of those 16 came from a 2nd year freshmen and two freshmen.  That's extremely encouraging.  Sixth year senior Chris Droege also brought a lot of hustle and emotion for the team tonight as we have come to expect."

"Tough night, but we turn the page to an even bigger challenge next week with the Midwest Classic."

As coach Breese mentioned, The Lake Erie Storm wrestling program will return to action on December 18th and 19th at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, Indiana on the campus of the University of Indianapolis.