Tuesday, January 06
No. 11 Penn State rallies for upset of No. 3 Lehigh, 19-15
Bethlehem, Pa., Jan. 6, 2004 “Wounded, backed into a corner and down 15-0 at a hostile Grace Hall on the Lehigh Campus, the 11th-ranked Penn State wrestling team mounted a torrid rally to silence a packed house and down No. 3 ranked Lehigh 19-15 Tuesday night in Bethlehem, Pa.
Lehigh jumped out to an early 15-0 lead after pulling an upset in the first bout and then riding the strength of three top ranked wrestlers to victories in the first four matches. But, despite the early deficit and a vocal crowd, the Nittany Lions rallied to win the last six matches including a pair of upsets of their own to defeat the Mountain Hawks at home for the first time since 1998. The win kept Penn State undefeated at 2-0 heading into a pair of road matches at Pittsburgh and West Virginia this weekend. Lehigh fell to 9-2, their only other loss on the season coming to Iowa State.
Lehigh got off the a great start as unranked Matt Anderson downed No. 9 ranked Penn State freshman Matt Storniolo, 9-2, at 149 pounds. The long and thin Anderson matched styles with Storniolo and used a pair of third period near falls for the victory. Lehigh kept the points coming and the crowd humming as they got big wins from No. 6 Derek Zinck, No. 1 Troy Letters and No. 2 Brad Dillon in the next three bouts. Zinck posted a 13-7 decision on James Woodall at 157. Letters pinned Jarrad Turner, wrestling up a weight, in 43 seconds at 165 and Dillon got a 7-4 win over a game James Yonushonis at 174.
Then the tables turned as a pair of up-and-coming Penn State red-shirt sophomores posted the biggest wins of their young careers. Sixteenth-ranked Eric Bradley got the scoring started as he ran his record to 15-1 with a 6-2 upset of No. 10 Travis Frick at 184 pounds. Bradley held a slim 1-0 lead after two periods, but wore Frick down earning a stall point and a pair of takedowns in the third period for the final margin.
Sixteenth-ranked Joel Edwards followed with a hard fought 2-0 victory over No. 19 Matt Cassidy. Edwards mounted 1:57 in riding time in the third period to go with a second period escape for the victory.
With the momentum swung in their favor, the Lions sent No. 2 ranked heavyweight Pat Cummins to the mat. He worked Paul Weibel for a 15-7 major decision posting six takedowns in the bout. Junior Adam Smith, who defeated freshman Matt Smith in a wrestle-off on Sunday for the starting job, then pulled off the victory of the dual meet as he posted a 4-2 upset of No. 8 ranked Mario Stuart at 125 pounds. Smith and Stuart battled through a scoreless first period and Stuart posted a second period escape for a 1-0 lead heading into the third. With Smith set in the down position, he sprang off the whistle, turned in on Stuart and got a quick reversal. He wasn’t done there as he continued the motion to take Stuart to his back and got a two-point near fall. Stuart escaped with about 30 seconds remaining for the final margin.
With the gap closed to 15-13, No. 2 ranked Josh Moore then gave Penn State the lead as he improved to 23-3 on the year with a 4-1 win over No. 18 Matt Ciasulli. Leading 16-15, Penn State then had its hopes pinned on sophomore DeWitt Driscoll, who returned just a week earlier from a six week absence after surgery on his right arm. He delivered using a pair of takedowns, a big second period reversal and 2:38 in riding time for an 8-3 victory that capped one of the most memorable wins in recent Penn State history.
#11 Penn State 19, #3 Lehigh 15
149 Matt Anderson (L) dec, #8 Matt Storniolo (PS), 9-2 3 0
157 #6 Derek Zinck (L) vs. James Woodall (PS), 13-7 6 0
165 #1 Troy Letters (L) vs. Jarrad Turner (PS), F;0:43 12 0
174 #2 Brad Dillon (L) vs. James Yonushonis (PS), 7-4 15 0
184 #16 Eric Bradley (PS) vs. #10 Travis Frick (L), 6-2 15 3
197 #16 Joel Edwards (PS) dec. #19 Matt Cassidy (L), 2-0 15 6
Hwt. #2 Pat Cummins (PS) vs. Paul Weibel (L), 15-7 15 10
125 Adam Smith (PS) vs. #8 Mario Stuart (L), 4-2 15 13
133 #2 Josh Moore (PS) vs. #18 Matt Ciasulli (L), 4-1 15 16
141 DeWitt Driscoll (PS) vs. Taylor Graham (L), 8-3 15 19
Penn State: 2-0
Lehigh: 9-2
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