Rutgers wrestling coach Scott Goodale blames himself for team's defeat to Northwestern

PISCATAWAY - Rutgers University head wrestling coach Scott Goodale put the blame on himself for his team's flat performance in a 28-6 defeat to Northwestern Sunday before a crowd of 4,044 at Jersey Mike's Arena.

"I guess I didn't have them ready to go,'' Goodale said. "I just didn't have them ready. For some reason, I don't think they were ready. I thought we were, but we just weren't ready. That's on me. I've got to figure out some things. Maybe, in the room (the wrestling room), we've got to go a little bit harder.''

Northwestern (5-2, 4-2) was a large part of the reason for the Scarlet Knights' performance. Rutgers (9-5, 1-4) just did not match up well with a talented, veteran team that had three returning NCAA All-Americans, another past NCAA All-American and nine ranked wrestlers in its lineup.

The strength of Rutgers' lineup through the first four Big Ten matches was 125-141 pounds with redshirt freshman Dean Peterson (125), graduate student Joe Heilmann (133) and sophomore Joey Olivieri (141). Those three were a combined 10-2 in Big Ten matches before Sunday. Peterson and Olivieri were both 4-0 in Big Ten matches before Sunday.

However, Northwestern's three wrestlers - redshirt senior Michael DeAugustino (125), redshirt junior Chris Cannon (133) and redshirt sophomore Frankie Tal Shahar were all ranked higher than the Rutgers' trio. DeAugustino and Cannon are returning NCAA All-Americans and Tal Shahar is a returning NCAA qualifier.

The Wildcats, who defeated the Scarlet Knights for the first time in five all-time meetings, won all three weights and they allowed just one reversal in the three bouts. The wins were by a combined six points, but they took any suspense and drama out of the match.

"Once the schedule was released (last September), I knew where Northwestern was at and how tough of a dual (dual meet) this could be for us,'' Goodale said. "We looked forward to those matchups, and when we didn't get one of those, I knew it could be tough sledding.''

Northwestern, ranked No. 14 in the country, won the first seven bouts to build a 22-0 lead. Rutgers, ranked No. 23 in the nation, had just two reversals and no takedowns through the first five bouts.

As strange as it may read and sound, Rutgers may have matched up better with Michigan, which was then ranked No. 3 in the country, in a 24-9 defeat on Jan. 22, than it did with Northwestern.

That is not saying that Northwestern is a better team than Michigan. It is just saying Sunday was a perfect example of what matchups mean in a dual-meet.

Northwestern set tone right away

DeAugustino, the NCAA fourth-place finisher at 125 last year, hung on for a hard-fought 3-2 win over Peterson.

Peterson was close to a takedown as the buzzer sounded, but it was not awarded and the call was upheld after a video review challenge even though the crowd chanted loudly "2'' to signify the takedown should be awarded. The crowd booed when the call was upheld

A takedown 33 seconds into the bout was the difference for DeAugustino was the difference.

Cannon, seventh in the country at 133 the last two seasons, defeated Heilmann 7-3.

An Oceanport native and former Blair Academy wrestler, Cannon pulled away from a 3-3 tie after two periods with an escape, takedown and riding time point.

Tal Shahar defeated Olivieri 5-3 with takedowns in the second and third periods.

"I know they're (Northwestern) really good,'' Goodale said. "But, you know what you're in for in this conference. You have to bring the fight. They brought it to us. That's on me. I've got to get them ready to go. I knew this could be a tough day.''"

Two that got away

Rutgers had a chance in the second half of the match to make the final score much more respectable.

The Scarlet Knights were in position to win at both 165 and 174, but Robert Kanniard (165) and Jackson Turley (174) both let leads get away late.

The one at 174 was particularly galling for Rutgers as Turley built a six-point lead in the first period against Troy Fisher when he threw Fisher to his back. He almost had Fisher pinned.

However, Fisher chipped away with five takedowns in the second and third periods to record an 11-10 win. The winning takedown came with 30 seconds left.

Before that, it looked like Kanniard was going to make a successful return to the Rutgers lineup after he missed the last three matches with a knee injury.

However, a takedown and four back points by Maxx Mayfield in the final nine seconds enabled him to record a 9-4 win.

The bout was tied 3-3, and Kanniard had the riding time point locked up to win the bout by a point after he rode Maxfield for the last 54 seconds of the first period after a takedown, which was Rutgers' first takedown of the match, and the first 1:37 of the second.

But, off an extended scramble Mayfield finally got the takedown after Kanniard had desperately hung on to Mayfield's ankle for about 20 seconds and put Kanniard to his back.

"You've got to be able to wrestle for seven minutes, and I'll leave it at that,'' Goodale said about the bouts at 165 and 174.

Soldano with late magic

There was a real chance Rutgers was going to get shutout with three bouts remaining before freshman Brian Soldano (184) came up with some late heroics.

Tied 5-5 with Evan Bates and with sudden victory on the horizon, Soldano turned Bates to his back four back points in the final 20 seconds to record a 9-5 win and break a three-bout losing streak

It was the second time Soldano had defeated Bates in dramatic fashion this season. He pinned in a Midlands Championship quarterfinal when he flipped Bates to his back in a bout Bates was leading 14-8 at the time and had had Soldano on his back a couple of times.

Through the first five bouts, Northwestern allowed just two reversals and no takedowns.

Janzer continues to progress

Redshirt junior 197-pounder Billy Janzer continued to show he is turning the corner with a 3-1 win in sudden victory over returning NCAA qualifier Andrew Davison.

It was the second straight win for Janzer (5-8), who was an NCAA qualifier at 184 in 2020, when the pandemic canceled the national tournament, and in 2021, before he was redshirt last season with injuries.

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Northwestern 28, Rutgers 6

125: Michael DeAugustino (N) d. Dean Peterson 3-2

133: Chris Cannon (N) d. Joe Heilmann 7-3

141: Frankie Tal Shahar (N) d. Joey Olivieri 5-3.

149: Yahya Thomas (N) md. Anthony White 12-4

157: Trevor Chumbley (N) d. Andrew Clark 5-3.

165: Maxx Mayfield (N) d. Robert Kanniard 9-4.

174: Troy Fisher (N) d. Jackson Turley 11-10

184: Brian Soldano (R) d. Evan Bates 9-5.

197: Billy Janzer (R) d. Andrew Davison 3-1 (Sudden Victory)

HWT: Lucas Davison (N) p. Kyle Epperly 4:44

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers wrestling: Coach Scott Goodale faults himself for defeat