Coming off a strong run in last weekend's eight-team Nazareth Invitational, which included a fourth-place team finish and four finalists, the Northwestern wrestling team didn't miss a beat in its Colonial League opener.

Hosting Southern Lehigh on Wednesday night, the Tigers left little doubt in regards to the improvements they've made since the end of last year.Led by seven Northwestern pins, including four in the first six bouts, the Tigers dominated Southern Lehigh for a 60-18 Colonial League victory. The Tigers captured just one win all of last season in league play."It just shows all the work that we've been putting in," said Alex Russo, who captured a decision at 195 pounds. "All of those losses have resonated with us since last year. We know that we have the talent, and now we just have to put it together."Some of the Tigers' early-season success has to do with the increase in numbers, but the way head coach Jim Moll's team is fighting in each bout is what is most impressive."The way we wrestled is more important than the score," Moll said. "We wrestled well at Nazareth on Saturday at the tournament and tonight our kids picked up where they left off."If we can continue to wrestle like that, we'll do real well in the league."Coming in Moll thought his team would have an advantage in the lighter weight classes. But it wasn't just success at those bouts as the Tigers cruised through the first eight matchups without a defeat.Matt Peters led the way with a pin at 106, and Bailey Wehr (113) and Quentin Bernhard (120) earned forfeit victories in the next two bouts.The Tigers then doubled that early 18-0 lead as Jackson Bernhard (126), Jared White (132) and David Van Blargan (138) all captured victories by fall."We knew we matched up pretty good at the bottom," Moll said. "We kind of got what we expected out of our light weights."With that comfortable lead in tact, Caleb Clymer stepped to the mat at 145 pounds against Southern Lehigh's Anthony Colasurdo. It wasn't another pin for the Tigers, but it may have been their most impressive victory of the night.Clymer, a freshman, took a 2-0 lead with 1:13 remaining in the second period after starting off in the down position. He held a 4-2 advantage in the final 30 seconds, and as Colasurdo attempted a late takedown, Clymer was able to stage off a potential overtime period."I just kind of stuck with it and kept my head in it," Clymer said. "I never gave up on the takedown, and I was able to scramble out of it.""He probably had the biggest toss up when we were looking at the lineups," Moll said. "He outwrestled him for six full minutes. It was nice to see."The Spartans took three of the next four matches, including a pin from Rick Frable at 182 pounds, to make the score 45-18.Northwestern's Russo then edged out Wyatt Noone for a hard-fought 9-6 decision."It's good that I picked up the win, but I still feel I have a lot of things I have to improve if I want to make it far in the postseason," Russo said. "Overall, it was a pretty good day.""We kind of anticipated them bumping up," Moll said, "and we knew Russo was going to get the tougher of those guys around his weight class. He was ready for it. He wrestled well."Northwestern 60, So. Lehigh 18*106 - Matt Peters (NW) pinned Irwin Venzia in 2:44.113 - Bailey Wehr (NW) won by forfeit.120 - Quentin Bernhard (NW) won by forfeit.126 - Jackson Bernhard (NW) pinned Dylan Holswander in :33.132 - Jared White (NW) pinned Nathan Derby in 1:57.138 - David Van Blargan (NW) pinned Bradford Schaeffer in 2:54.145 - Caleb Clymer (NW) dec. Anthony Colasurdo, 4-2.152 - Jason Hottinger (NW) pinned Emmett Noone at 1:15.160 - Zack Fitzgerald (SL) won by forfeit.170 - Sam Johnson (SL) won by injury default.182 - Rick Frable (SL) pinned Anthony Fillis in 3:38.195 - Alex Russo (NW) dec. Wyatt Noone, 9-6.220 - Quinn Moyer (NW) pinned Alex Baca in :54.285 - Jacob Murray (NW) pinned Brandon Derby in 1:16.*Match started at 106 pounds.