Lehigh crushes Penn in finale
By BRIAN FORTNER
The Express-Times
BETHLEHEM — The long grind of college wrestling’s regular season is littered with peaks and valleys that every team inevitably encounters.
Those who can navigate through the rough patches are the ones who live to bask in the glow of postseason honors.
Lehigh hasn’t spent much time in the lowlands this season. And by the looks of things, the Mountain Hawks are primed for the stretch run.
Lehigh, ranked fourth nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, finished the regular season Sunday with a convincing 37-6 blowout victory over Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association rival University of Pennsylvania at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
The Mountain Hawks finish the season at 21-4 — one win shy of last season’s school record of 22 dual meet victories — with a 12-4 mark against 14 opponents ranked in the top 25 in the country.
The attention now turns to the EIWA Tournament in Annapolis, Md., on March 4-5.
“I was real impressed with how the entire team wrestled, “All-American 141-pounder Cory Cooperman said. “This is definitely the way to end the (regular) season.”
Cooperman (19-2) closed out the Sunday’s win with an impressive 14-5 major decision over the Quakers’ Doug McGraw, who beat him 10-8 in overtime in the EIWA finals a year ago.
“That match has haunted me since the day it happened, “Cooperman added.
Injuries and illness — among other issues — makes Lehigh’s accomplishments so far this season even more impressive. Defending NCAA champ Troy Letters has battled hip and knee problems since claiming the 165-pound national title last March.
All-American Derek Zinck missed a start against Harvard with a neck stinger he suffered in a lopsided win over Brown.
Starting 184-pounder Matt Cassidy is most likely out for the season with a severe high ankle sprain that has him in a walking cast.
Two-time All-American and NCAA runner-up Jon Trenge from Parkland High School continues to fight through several nagging injuries on top of coping with the prospect of competing with a potentially career-threatening eye condition.
Trenge, Lehigh’s all-time leader in career wins, wears protective goggles attached to his headgear.
“This (win over Penn) is exactly what we needed, “Nazareth graduate and Hawk 174-pounder Travis Frick said. “After last Sunday, we wanted to finish strong and have a building block for Easterns and the NCAA tournament.”
Frick (17-5), who defeated Penn’s Dustin Wiles 7-3 on Sunday, was referring to the Hawks’ 24-9 loss to top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Oklahoma State last weekend in one of the season’s few low points.
After charging out of the gates and winning their first five duals, the Hawks stumbled to a 23-10 loss on the road against Hofstra — ranked No. 10 nationally at the time — on Nov. 28.
“We came into that match totally overconfident against (Hofstra), “said Cooperman, who placed seventh at nationals a year ago. “It was a wake-up call for the whole team.”
The loss to Hofstra dropped Lehigh out the top 5 nationally for the only time this season. The Hawks quickly rebounded with wins over Rider (31-6) and Rutgers (40-4), sending them into the Christmas break at 7-1.
The New Year brought Lehigh seven more wins in a row — thanks in large part to the return of Easton’s Matt Ciasulli — and a date with Oklahoma State in the semifinals of the National Duals at Cleveland State University.
The Hawks earned a 5-5 split in bouts with the Cowboys, eventually falling 20-16 on a pin by All-American 285-pounder Steve Mocco out of Blair Academy.
A 24-13 loss to Minnesota in the consolation match for third place followed.
But true to form, Lehigh would reel off five more wins, setting up the rematch with OSU. And after a less-than-stellar performance against the Cowboys, the Mountain Hawks were able to refocus on a deceptively-dangerous Penn team that came into Leeman-Turner ranked 24th in the nation.
“Our schedule sets us up for this time of year, “junior 157-pounder Derek Zinck said. “The coaches bust us up pretty good and now we have a nice tapering period before Easterns. They do a great job of not pumping us too much when we’re rolling or hammering on us too much when we lose.
“We’re notorious for wrestling well at the end of the year. So (today) was a good sign.”
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