PRINCETON, N.J. - East Stroudsburg University won its first dual match of the season with a 36-12 decision over Princeton, and dropped a competitive match 29-16 to Stanford to open the 2008 portion of its dual schedule on Sunday at Princeton.

Redshirt junior Matt Swallow (133) recorded his first two pins of the season, decking Princeton's Nikhil Pereira in 5:18 and Stanford's Blair Matsuura in 4:58. Redshirt sophomore Shane Mallory earned a pair of victories in his first career action at 184, including a technical fall against Princeton.

At 285, sophomore Chris Birchler turned in a pair of major decisions, 23-9 over Mark Shughart of Stanford and 16-8 against Princeton's Sam Ritter.

In the win over Princeton, redshirt sophomore Matthew Benedetti (125) picked up his first victory of the season with a 16-11 decision over Tony Comunale. Swallow followed with his pin of Pereira and Sean Carr (141) and Jesse Dunn (149) both earned forfeit victories.

In the 157-pound match, redshirt sophomore Kyle Heselpoth pinned Aaron Casp in 4:49 to give ESU a 27-0 advantage. Princeton took decisions at 165 and 174 before Mallory's first tech fall of the year put the Warriors ahead 32-6. ESU forfeited at 197 and Birchler finished the day with a major decision to run his record to 17-4.

In the first match of the day against Stanford, nationally-ranked wrestlers Tanner Gardner (125 - No. 6) and Josh Zupancic (157 - No. 16) both had pins, and the forfeit at 197 was enough to push the Cardinal past ESU. Stanford also took bonus points with major decisions at 149 and 165.

Swallow matched Gardner's pin at 125 with his pin in the 133-pound match-up to tie the dual at 6-6, and Carr took a 6-4 decision from Max Rosefigura to put ESU in front 9-6.

Stanford won the next four bouts to go ahead 23-9. Mallory earned a 9-8 overtime decision against Luke Feist at 184, Stanford picked up six points with the forfeit at 197, and Birchler majored Shughart at 285 to close the match.

ESU will travel to Rutgers for a 7 p.m. dual on Thursday before returning home to Koehler Fieldhouse for the first of three straight home duals on Friday, Jan. 18 vs. Navy.

Stanford 29, ESU 16
125 - No. 6 Tanner Gardner (Stanford) pinned Matthew Benedetti, 4:59
133 - Matt Swallow (ESU) pinned Blair Matsuura, 4:58
141 - Sean Carr (ESU) dec. Max Rosefigura, 6-4
149 - Lucas Espericueta (Stanford) maj. dec. Jesse Dunn, 20-10
157 - No. 16 Josh Zupancic (Stanford) pinned Kyle Heselpoth, 4:34
165 - Peter Miller (Stanford) maj. dec. Joe Schick, 9-0
174 - Alex Muller (Stanford) dec. Tom Pagano, 9-7
184 - Shane Mallory (ESU) dec. Luke Feist, 9-8 (OT)
197 - Jake Johnson (Stanford), forfeit
285 - Chris Birchler (ESU) maj. dec. Mark Shughart, 23-9

ESU 36, Princeton 12
125 - Matthew Benedetti (ESU) dec. Tony Comunale, 16-11
133 - Matt Swallow (ESU) pinned Nikhil Pereira, 5:18
141 - Sean Carr (ESU), forfeit
149 - Jesse Dunn (ESU), forfeit
157 - Kyle Heselpoth (ESU) pinned Aaron Casp, 4:49
165 - Alex Enriquez (Princeton) dec. Joe Schick, 9-2
174 - Mike Alvarez (Princeton) dec. Tom Pagano, 7-4
184 - Shane Mallory (ESU) tech. fall Travis Erdman, 22-7
197 - Zach Morse (Princeton), forfeit
285 - Chris Birchler (ESU) maj. dec. Sam Ritter, 16-8