By MIKE WEILAMANN
The Express-Times
ST. LOUIS — Lehigh’s disappointing weekend has turned into a horror show.
As a result, the Mountain Hawks will not be represented in today’s national finals for the first time in five years.
Both defending champion Troy Letters and two-time runner-up Jon Trenge suffered stunning semifinal losses Friday night in the 75th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships before a crowd of 16,014 at the Savvis Center.
The three-day tournament concludes today with the consolation finals for third through eighth places at 10:30 a.m. (EST), with the championship finals at 5. All wrestlers who place in the top eight earn All-America status.
“I’m in shock. I really am, “said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel, who watched both of his No. 1 seeds go down on the same mat. “It’s typical of our weekend. We were beat by guys that we’ve beaten before. We haven’t been sharp and I don’t know why.”
Three former Blair Academy wrestlers successfully navigated their way to the finals, including Oklahoma State’s Zack Esposito (149) and Steve Mocco (285).
Iowa’s Mark Perry, another former Buccaneer, began Lehigh’s nightmare semifinal round with a 3-0 win over Letters, last year’s 165-pound champ.
Trenge, second in 2002 and 2003, was beaten 5-3 by Northern Iowa’s Sean Stender, the No. 5 seed at 197. Trenge was hoping to repeat the same scenario as when he beat Stender 3-2 and Oklahoma State’s Jake Rosholt 10-8 back-to-back in the National Duals.
Instead, it will be Stender and Rosholt, who beat Nebraska’s B.J. Padden 10-9 in the other semifinal, meeting for the 197-pound national title.
Perry (27-4), a redshirt freshman, turned Letters for three back points off a crab ride in the second period for the victory, which ended Letters’ 36-match winning streak dating to last season.
“I remember hearing (Lehigh assistant coach) Kerry McCoy say over the summer that no one would touch Letters and that no one would come within five points of him, “said Perry, the Big 10 champ and No. 4 seed who will meet Oklahoma State’s Johny Hendricks for the third time this season in the finals.
“(Letters) is a great wrestler, but I’ve gotten to the point that if I wrestle the way I know I can, I feel I have the ability to beat anyone, “added Perry, who is 0-2 this season against Hendricks.
Letters, 95-4 overall, hadn’t tasted defeat since a loss to Oklahoma State’s Tyrone Lewis near the end of the 2003-04 season — avenging that loss a few weeks later by beating Lewis 5-2 to win the national title.
The Lehigh wrestler, who appeared tense from the opening whistle, nearly had a reversal of his own plus back points during a second-period during scramble that eventually turned into a stalemate situation.
“That’s how I got my three points with the tilt, “Perry said. “He’s a good scrambler but I wasn’t ever worried. I wanted to get into scrambles. My game plan wasn’t to let him shoot in on me, but he never took a shot.”
Both Letters and Trenge were seeking to make their third appearances in the national finals. Letters, a runner-up in 2003, was also bidding to become Lehigh’s first repeat winner since Darryl Burley won the second of his two national crowns in 1983.
No Lehigh wrestler has won back-to-back titles since Mark Lieberman in 1978 and ’79.
Trenge (28-4), Lehigh’s all-time victories leader with 131, was ankle-picked by Stender for a takedown with two seconds left in the first period. Stender added another takedown with 59 seconds left in the second period to go up 4-2 heading into the final period.
Stender (34-6) escaped with 42 seconds left, and after Trenge took a second injury timeout, took bottom on the restart where they finished as the buzzer sounded.
“That takedown at the beginning was the match, “Strobel said.
Lehigh’s Cory Cooperman also earned All-America status for the second straight year with an impressive 23-8 technical fall of Rider’s Don Fisch in wrestlebacks.
Cooperman (25-3), who finished eighth last year, has a chance to finish as high as third after winning a second consolation round match Friday. Former Nazareth standout Travis Frick, a 2004 All-American, was eliminated in the 174-pound wrestlebacks, as was Easton’s Matt Ciasulli at 133.
Esposito was a runner-up last year, while Mocco won his only title in 2003 after finishing second the previous year. They were among five Cowboys in the semifinals.
Esposito (34-1) reached his second straight final with a workmanlike 7-2 win over Big 10 champ Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan.
“My experience from last year’s defeat helped me and definitely sticks with me, “said Esposito, who will face first-time finalist Phillip Simpson of Army in the finals.
Oklahoma State is well on its way to a third straight national championship. Lehigh enters today sitting in 10th place, somewhat disappointing for a team expected in the preseason to challenge for the national title.
The Hawks finished tied for third here last year behind five All-Americans, including Letters who won the 165-pound title.
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