Lehigh rallied back Saturday to beat Cornell, sweeping three head-to-head battles between ranked wrestlers in the final three bouts to claim a 17-16 dual victory. 

With the dual on the line, sixth-ranked true freshman 125-pounder Luke Stanich followed up wins by Michael Beard (197) and Nathan Taylor (285) with a 3-0 victory against #14 Brett Ungar. 

Wrestling without 133-pound NCAA champion Vito Arujau on Saturday, Cornell raced out to a 13-5 lead at intermission after winning four of the first five bouts. The Big Red threatened to stretch their advantage when All-American Chris Foca put Jack Wilt on his back early in the 184-pound bout. Wilt escaped danger and later scored a pair of third-period takedowns to turn Cornell bonus points into a 16-9 decision in favor of Foca. 

The last three bouts belonged to the Mountain Hawks. 

After spotting eighth-ranked Jacob Cardenas an early takedown, #10 Beard stormed back to register a 10-3 win. Moments later, #11 Taylor put #20 Lewis Fernandes on his back early and went on to post a 6-2 win. 

The Taylor win left the dual in the hands of the 125-pounders. 

It remains to be seen whether Lehigh will keep Stanich in the lineup for the stretch run of the season or if the Mountain Hawks will opt instead to redshirt the New Jersey native who has yet to exceed his five allotted attached dates as a true freshman. 

But Stanich came through for Lehigh in a big way Saturday, using a second-period rideout to take control against Ungar. 

Lehigh 17, Cornell 16

133 — #1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) tech. fall Ethan Qureshi 20-4

141 — Vince Cornella (Cornell) dec. Malyke Hines 5-1

149 — Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) dec. Kelvin Griffin 6-3 

157 — #13 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) dec. #25 Max Brignola 8-2

165 — #4 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) major dec. #27 Jake Logan 11-3

174 — Connor Hereg (Lehigh) dec. Benny Baker 10-4

184 — #7 Chris Foca (Cornell) dec. Jack Wilt 16-9

197 — #10 Michael Beard (Lehigh) dec. #8 Jacob Cardenas 10-3

285 — #11 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) dec. #20 Lewis Fernandes 6-2

125 — #6 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) dec. #14 Brett Ungar 3-0