Lehigh’s 197-pounder wrestles without trademark goggles.
By Gary R. Blockus
Of The Morning Call
ST. LOUIS, Mo. | The unique headgear worn by Lehigh University’s Jon Trenge has drawn a lot of attention.
For the past four years, Trenge has worn protective goggles attached to his headgear to protect him from potential eye pokes that could cause irreversible torn retinas for the extremely nearsighted Parkland High School graduate.
And, for the past four years, Trenge’s goggles have drawn a lot of attention from opponents, who repeatedly slap and grab them, or worse, jam them into his eye sockets, which has resulted in many nasty cuts around his eyes, and a pair of disqualifications for Trenge retaliating.
In his opening match at the 75th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Brendan McLean of Air Force attacked the goggles of the top-seeded 197-pounder with gusto. With McLean trailing 7-1, a hand shiver directly to the goggles broke them.
For Trenge, who looked like the World War I Flying Ace from the ”Peanuts” comic strip with the special gear, that was game over.
He resumed the match without the protective eyewear, fought off a headlock, scored a three-point nearfall, then pinned McLean in 6:37.
Afterward, Trenge declared that he had had enough.
”I was only going to wear the goggles [at nationals] until someone started messing with me, trying to change up my game plan,” admitted Trenge, a two-time NCAA runner-up who will most likely quit wrestling after this tournament because of the risk of permanent vision impairment. ”The kid broke them on me, so that solves that.”
Trenge came back in the second round and majored David Dashiell of North Carolina, picking up a penalty point in the final seconds when Dashiell punched him in the face.
”Those kinds of guys shouldn’t be in the sport,” Trenge charged, saying the North Carolina coaches repeatedly called for Dashiell to hit him in the face to provoke an unsportsmanlike response which never came.
”This is great,” Trenge said. ”I feel like nobody can take me down when I’m not wearing the goggles. I can see everything “¦ which is pretty cool “¦ I actually feel I can control a situation better [from a non-retaliation standpoint].”
”That’s the first time in four years, since his detached retina [as a freshman], that he’s wrestled without goggles,” said Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel. ”I told Jon [when the goggles broke] that there was just 1:13 left, to just go out and take care of business.”
”I had planned on not wearing them,” Trenge said. ”Everybody plans on hitting me in the goggles anyway, and when they get [crooked], I can’t see out of them anyway, and that screws me up more, so [forget] it. Now they can’t go after my goggles.
”If they go after my eyes, it’s a penalty. The refs won’t call it when I have the goggles on because they figure I’m protected.”
Trenge had relied on the protective eyewear so much that last year he took a forfeit at U.S. nationals during his Olympic redshirt year after his goggles broke in a match.
Strobel was extremely pleased with the way Trenge handled himself after he discarded the goggles and slapped on a regular set of headgear.
”I was amazed,” Strobel said. ”The guy came right back to his head and Jon deflected it and put the guy on his back.”
Trenge, Cory Cooperman (141) and returning 165-pound champion Troy Letters were the only area wrestlers advancing to this morning’s 11 a.m. (EST) quarterfinals. Trenge will meet No. 8 seed Matt Delguyd of Northwestern.
Cooperman, the No. 4 seed at 141, chalked up an 11-0 major decision over Steve Esparza of Cal Polly in the opening round, then got slowed down a bit in a 7-1 decision over Juan Mora of Cal State Fullerton in the second round.
Cooperman will meet No. 5 seed Andy Simmons of Michigan State in the quarters.
Letters (24-0) was barely tested. He scored a technical fall over John DeCeault of Purdue, then majored Columbia’s Matt Palmer, whom he had beaten in the EIWA finals. Letters will battle No. 8 seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State in the quarters.
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