Lehigh wrestlers face tough individual tests with Brown, Harvard
Neither opponent is ranked, but both have quality wrestlers.
By Gary R. Blockus
Of The Morning Call
Fresh off a highly successful trip to the national duals in Cleveland, the nation’s fifth-ranked wrestling team returns to home action today for a double dual meet.
”It was a good national duals for us,” said Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel, whose No. 5-ranked Mountain Hawks will face off against EIWA opponents Brown (1 p.m.) and Harvard (3 p.m.) at Grace Hall today.
”Our guys wrestled real well in Cleveland, and now [today’s] matches will be important for seeds at Easterns [March 4 and 5 at Navy].”
Lehigh’s wrestlers must qualify for the NCAA Championships at Easterns.
”It’s a big weekend for us because of that,” Strobel continued. ”Neither of these teams [Brown and Harvard] are nationally ranked, but we can’t look past any of them, and from an individual standpoint, there will be some pretty good matches.”
Lehigh is 15-3 overall after going 3-2 at the national duals and finishing fourth, and is 3-0 in the EIWA. Brown is 3-3 (1-1) and Harvard, coached by Allen High graduate Jay Weiss, is 0-4 (0-0).
One wrestler Lehigh fans won’t see today is Jon Trenge (197). At the national duals, Trenge defeated No. 1 Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State 10-8, but then picked up his second disqualification of the year after an incident against Minnesota in the third-place match. Trenge had requested ” and received ” injury time when the Minnesota wrestler charged him. Trenge reacted too physically and picked up the disqualification.
”We’re giving Jon a little cooling-off period so that he’s not right back into it again,” Strobel said. ”Jon needed a break to get out of the competitive phase for a little while.”
Trenge took over the No. 1 ranking in the InterMat/NWCA rankings last week after the win over Rosholt and is Lehigh’s all-time wins leader with 122 career victories.
The Mountain Hawks still have plenty of firepower in their lineup, beginning with junior Troy Letters, the defending 165-pound NCAA champion. Letters, 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in his weight class, isn’t scheduled to meet any top EIWA-ranked wrestlers this weekend.
Senior Andrew Rizzi (125), however, will be tested. It’s an important day for him in terms of earning an EIWA seeding. He will meet Brown’s Jeff Schell, No. 4 in the EIWA, and Harvard’s Robbie Preston, who is ranked No. 2 in the EIWA.
Lehigh heavyweight Tom Curl, who is filling in for Paul Weibel (ankle injury) is also expected to get a big test from EIWA No. 3 Bode Ogunwole of Harvard. Ogunwole finished third at the Midlands Championships.
Lehigh sophomore Matt Ciasulli (133), ranked No. 2 in the EIWA, will face No. 6 Dan Appello of Brown in the first match. Lehigh 184-pounder Matt Cassidy is unranked in the EIWA, but Brown’s Doran Heist is ranked No. 6.
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