Happy Holidays for Lehigh, Easton

They were happy holidays indeed for Lehigh and Easton

Jon Trenge had every reason to celebrate the first day of the New Year in style. The night before, the 197-pound Lehigh senior rang out the old year by becoming Lehigh’s first-ever two-time champion at the Midlands Wrestling Championships in Evanston, Ill.

Trenge, a two-time state champion while at Parkland High School, went 5-0 at the Midlands, defeating J.D. Bergman of Ohio State on a 6-4 decision in the finals. Bergman finished third at nationals last March while Trenge took an Olympic redshirt year in an attempt to make the U.S. Olympic Team.

The 23-year-old Trenge gave up no offensive points in the Midlands tournament as he became the 17th member of the ”20-in-4” club, wrestlers who have recorded 20 wins in their first four years at the Midlands. He has 21 Midlands victories.

Lehigh’s Matt Ciasulli, a sophomore out of Easton, finished third at the Midlands in the 133-pound weight class. Ciasulli, 11-1, defeated Matt Sanchez of Cal-Bakersfield 8-4 in sudden-death overtime for the bronze medal.

Ciasulli qualified for nationals last year after finishing second in the EIWA, but isn’t the Lehigh starter at 133 ” yet. He lost in wrestle-offs to Matt Santo, a freshman from Pen Argyl. It’s up to Lehigh coach Greg Strobel to decide when to allow Ciasulli to challenge for the starting spot.

Sophomore Paul Weibel (Quakertown) became Lehigh’s first heavyweight to place at the Midlands by finishing eighth.

The sixth-ranked Mountain Hawks return to dual-meet action this weekend with a match at Penn State on Friday, and at Pitt on Saturday. Lehigh wrestles Missouri at the New York Athletic Club next Tuesday before returning home for an EIWA meet with Cornell on Fri., Jan. 14.

Match of the week: The Kid Dome at Northampton Junior High School should be packed on Wednesday night when Nazareth visits the Konkrete Kids for a critical Lehigh Valley Conference match.

Tickets for the event are on sale at the NHS athletic office for Northampton School District residents from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and Wednesday. Student and senior citizen tickets are $2. Adult tickets are $4. Passes will not be honored due to a potential sellout.

Marching Red Rovers: They’re coming back to the Lehigh Valley, but they may never come down to Earth again, at least not this season.

Easton’s wrestling squad, ranked No. 6 in the nation at last look, is churning up the opposition. Coach Steve Powell’s Red Rovers chewed up the competition at the Reno Tournament of Champions two weeks ago and did the same at the Manheim Lions Tournament last week.

Seth Ciasulli (125), who won the OW at the Reno Tournament of Champions, recorded a double hat trick by winning his third titles at both the Reno and Manheim tournaments.

The Red Rovers crowned a Manheim-record eight champions and won that tourney title for a record 12th season, including 10 times in the last 13 years. Easton put nine wrestlers in the championship finals

Ciasulli, the younger brother of Lehigh’s Matt, was one of four Easton champions at Reno. Josh Oliver (130), Alex Krom (135) and Sal Crivallero (160) also won titles.

At Manheim, Jordan Oliver (103), Brad Gentzle (119), Ciasulli (125), Josh Oliver (130), Krom (135), Andrew Goldstein (140), Braylin Williams (145) and Zach Pizarro (189) won titles.

Easton returns to LVC action at Emmaus tomorrow night before hosting Delaware Valley (N.J.), Kittatinny (N.J.), Pleasant Valley, Wilson, Caesar Rodney (Del.), Southern Lehigh, Palisades, Allen, Warwick and Nazareth in the Easton Wrestling Invitational dual-meet tournament on Saturday. Easton will take on Caesar Rodney and Wilson in evening matches.

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