Mountain Hawks finish fourth in National Duals
They get past Oklahoma, 29-14, before losing to Minnesota, 23-13.
Lehigh University placed fourth in the 2005 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at Cleveland, Ohio after suffering a controversial 23-13 loss to No. 8 Minnesota.
With the fifth-ranked Mountain Hawks up a point, Jon Trenge was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct in his 197-pound bout with Matt Koz as the Golden Gophers took the lead and went on to take third place.
The loss drops Lehigh’s record to 15-3; the Mountain Hawks finish the tournament with a 3-2 record.
The Golden Gophers (6-4) jumped out to an early lead, taking decisions in the first two bouts, including Mack Reiter’s 1-0 victory over Lehigh’s Matt Ciasulli at 133 with riding time the difference in that bout.
Cory Cooperman got the Mountain Hawks on the scoreboard with a 4-1 decision over Tommy Owen at 141.
C.P. Schlatter extended the Minnesota lead back to six with an 8-3 decision over Lehigh’s Dave Nakasone at 149.
Lehigh’s Derek Zinck picked up the first bonus points of the match, scoring a major decision over Jeremy Anderson 157.
Troy Letters then gave Lehigh the lead with an 8-2 decision over Matt Nagel at 165.
Travis Frick made it three straight for the Brown and White with a major decision over Jeremy Larson at 174.
Minnesota stopped the bleeding at 184 as Roger Kish scored a major decision over Matt Cassidy, cutting the Mountain Hawks’ lead to one with two bouts remaining.
Late in the first period of his bout with Koz, Trenge was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Mountain Hawks chose to forfeit the heavyweight division and had to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Earlier Sunday, Lehigh handled No. 10 Oklahoma 29-14 in the consolation semifinals. The Mountain Hawks were aided by a pair of Sooner forfeits and also got a win by fall from Letters and a tech fall from Ciasulli.
On the tournament’s opening day, Lehigh topped Cal Poly and Northern Iowa before losing to No. 1 Oklahoma State 20-16.
Lehigh will return to action Saturday when the Mountain Hawks welcome a pair of EIWA foes to the Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh will host Brown at 1 p.m. and then will face off against Harvard at 3 p.m.
Wrestling Gear
