Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005
Penn State, Lehigh clash tonight
By Andy Elder
UNIVERSITY PARK – Everyone knows the old cliché about throwing the records out the window when rivals compete, right?
Well, in the case of the Penn State-Lehigh wrestling rivalry, that old cliché just happens to be true.
The 91st meeting of that storied series, the most for both schools, will be renewed at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Rec Hall. And, if recent history is any guide, Lehigh’s No. 6 ranking and Penn State’s No. 16 ranking, hinting at a Mountain Hawk win, might not mean a thing.
“I throw the rankings out the window when we wrestle certain teams. Penn State would be one; Cornell and Penn would be two others. When we wrestle those teams we say, ‘Who cares where we’re ranked. It will be a battle,’ “Lehigh coach Greg Strobel said. “Penn State has proven over the last nine years it doesn’t matter where Lehigh is ranked. We’ve only beaten Penn State twice at their place (on Strobel’s watch). There’s definitely a home-mat advantage. We’ll have to come into the match on fire.”
The rankings previewed the outcome at the inaugural Pennsylvania State Dual Championship on Nov. 14 as then-No. 2 Lehigh defeated then-No. 17 Penn State, 24-15. But in the intervening seven weeks, the lineups of both teams have changed a bit. In three of the past four years, Lehigh has entered the dual meet the higher ranked team only to watch Penn State win.
“I always hear about how little Lehigh beats up on Penn State, “Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. “Any time any school in the East can beat Penn State it’s a big deal.”
If Lehigh is to beat Penn State again tonight it will do so with two new faces in the lineup. Senior Andrew Rizzi takes over at 125 and No. 10 sophomore Matt Ciasulli steps in at 133.
Penn State has one lineup change since the Nov. 14 meeting. Bryan Heller will wrestle at 133 in place of Tim Haas, who was scheduled to undergo knee surgery Thursday for a torn ACL.
“He’s right on that bubble where he needs to get a big win and turn the corner, “Sunderland said of Heller. “That would have been a nice win for him, beating Enright from Ohio State, who was the fourth seeded kid (at Midlands). He deserved to win the match.”
Those two weights, as well as 157, 174 and heavyweight, figure to be crucial weights in the dual.
“I see the key weights, the ones that could go either way, as 125, 133, 157 and heavyweight. They have the rubber match coming up. And it was a close match at 174, “Strobel said. “Those are all close bouts that really could go either way.”
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