Cowboys win bout thanks to victories in recruiting
A pair of Oklahoma State wrestlers nearly chose Lehigh.
By Gary R. Blockus
Of The Morning Call
Oklahoma State is undoubtedly the No. 1 team in college wrestling.
The Cowboys, coached by the legendary John Smith, boast some of the top wrestlers in the country.
Lehigh University is small potatoes, enrollment-wise, to OSU, but packs a pretty good half-Nelson in national wrestling, too. The Mountain Hawks finished fourth at this year’s national duals, and third at last year’s NCAA Championships.
The difference between the two schools’ rankings this year ” Lehigh is No. 4 ” could have been reversed. Lehigh coach Greg Strobel doesn’t like to talk about the two that got away, but the two that got away from Lehigh are pretty darn good.
Cowboy Zack Esposito is ranked No. 1 in the country at 149, which has been a hole in the Lehigh lineup every since Zack’s brother, Dave, graduated from Lehigh after finishing second and third at the NCAAs in 2001 and 2000, respectively.
Steve Mocco, OSU’s heavyweight, originally chose Iowa, but after taking a redshirt season last year in an attempt to make the Olympic team, transferred to Smith’s program. He’s ranked No. 1 in the country, won a national championship in 2003 and was runner-up in 2002.
How close were either of them in choosing Lehigh instead of OSU?
”Real close,” admitted Mocco, a beast of a wrestler who used Lehigh heavyweight Paul Weibel like a yo-yo in front of the largest crowd for an indoor sporting event in Lehigh ” and Lehigh Valley ” history.
”I like the coaches. I really liked the school and the campus and the wrestling program. Oklahoma State was just more similar to what I was used to in athletics. I came from Iowa.”
But Mocco also came from Blair Academy, as did Esposito, and Blair had been a veritable pipeline to Lehigh for a number of years. And Mocco won a few national prep titles right in Stabler Arena.
”There weren’t this many people for national [preps],” he said of the loud crowd inside of Stabler, which was officially listed at 5,828.
”I was real close,” Esposito also admitted, after running up a technical fall on Lehigh’s Dave Nakasone at 149. ”Really close. For me, it came down to following in my brother’s footsteps and come here or try and do something on my own. I had to make a choice.”
Esposito is obviously happier with his choice than Lehigh’s coaches, but he commended the Lehigh staff for its class.
”Lehigh’s coaches have been nothing but respectful to me and supportive since then,” Esposito said.
Esposito, Mocco and Lehigh junior Cory Cooperman (141) attended Blair Academy together. Esposito and Mocco were roommates, and they were determined to wrestle together in college. Then Mocco chose Iowa.
”I didn’t want to go to Iowa,” Esposito said with raised eyebrows.
Esposito said that Mocco transferred to Oklahoma State probably because of the four wrestlers that Smith helped coach to the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, but admitted he had a little to do with recruiting the heavyweight there as well.
”This is a great environment for wrestling,” said Mocco, who enjoyed the loud crowd. ”The people here relate. They wrestled. Their fathers wrestled. A lot of the guys [on Oklahoma State’s team] never got to see this kind of a crowd. This is a great part of the country for wrestling.”
Had Mocco and Esposito been calling Bethlehem home this season instead of Stillwater, Lehigh would have won national duals.
Had they been wrestling for Lehigh on Sunday, the Mountain Hawks would have won 18-15 and been No. 1 in the country.
Recruiting is a funny thing indeed
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