Lehigh Preps for Oklahoma State
Top 5 Matchup to hit the mats this weekend.
Feb. 11, 2005
By Robert Schwarz and Rich Shanfeld The Brown and White
BETHLEHEM, PA (U-WIRE) — The No. 4-ranked Lehigh wrestling team will face No. 1 Oklahoma State University Sunday in what Head Coach Greg Strobel believes will be the match of the year.
“This may be the best match students will see in their four years of college, “he said.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are undefeated this season and are the defending national champions. The Cowboys have three wrestlers who are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes, including senior Chris Pendleton at the 174-lb. weight class, junior Jake Rosholte at 197 lbs. and junior Steve Mocco at heavyweight.
Lehigh, meanwhile, has only one top-ranked wrestler in junior Troy Letters in the 165-lb. weight class, and has lost to Oklahoma State once already this season when they battled the top competition in the nation in Cleveland at the 2005 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.
Senior co-captain Jon Trenge earned his 121st win in the loss on that Saturday against the Cowboys to become Lehigh’s all-time victories leader. Trenge defeated top ranked Rosholte to give the Mountain Hawks the lead. Mocco then beat sophomore Paul Weibel in a win by fall in the heavyweight to give the Cowboys the victory.
Yet, Trenge’s status is uncertain for Sunday’s match. The two-time NCAA runner-up has not wrestled in an official match since the National Duals last month.
Trenge was suspended for his two disqualifications this season, the last of which came against the University of Minnesota in the final match of the weekend at the National Duals. Sophomore Jon Bruno has filled the gap at the 197-lb. weight class since Trenge left.
Although both teams split five matches each, Oklahoma State managed to score more bonus points and won the meet, 20-16, on Jan. 22.
Despite the loss, Strobel and his players agreed that they are in Oklhaoma State’s league.
Strobel, also, believes that the loss was a valuable learning experience coming into this weekend’s match.
“We learned that for us to compete with them, we need to wrestle at a higher pace and with more intensity, “he said.
Strobel said the key to winning this weekend is to either to win one more individual match than they did the first time, or prevent Oklahoma State from getting bonus points.
Junior Cory Cooperman agreed with Strobel that bonus points will be a major factor in this weekend’s match and said that there are several crucial bouts, including the 184-lb. weight class that the team must win. Jack Jensen of the Cowboys defeated sophomore Matt Cassidy in a close 5-3 match in January.
A second important match could prove be the Cowboys’ Pendleton against junior Travis Frick. Frick lost a in a major decision 9-1 last month.
Junior Derek Zinck said many of these important bouts could go either way.
“Every match should be close, but if we win the close ones, there is no reason why we can’t win the entire dual meet, “he said.
In preparation for the meet, the team is focusing on fixing the mistakes they made in the first match.
“We are always working very hard, and we always continue concentrating strictly on improvement, “sophomore Matt Anderson said. “We, as a team, probably match up with Oklahoma State better than any team out there.”
At the same time, however, the team is sticking to the basics and not letting the hype of this match change their game plan.
“We are preparing for Oklahoma State just like it was any other match, “Zinck said. “Although there is a lot of hype around the match, our team is very good at keeping everything in perspective.”
Lehigh is not intimidated by Oklahoma State’s 23 NCAA wrestling titles and is confident in their position as underdogs.
“There is no pressure wrestling Oklahoma State even though they are the undisputed No. 1 team in the country, “Zinck said. “We are in a great situation being the underdogs and having a match of this magnitude in our home gym is very exciting.”
Cooperman agreed that home advantage could be a deciding factor in the match.
“At Stabler, anything is possible, “he said.
The Moutain Hawk team is currently 19-3 on the year and have won there last four straight dual matches.
Their next match is today at 7 p.m. against the United States Military Academy. The match is in Grace Hall. Army is also a member of the EIWA, the league in which Lehigh competes.
The match against Oklahoma State begins on Sunday at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on Service Electric 2 and ESPN radio.
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