Lehigh University
Pittsburgh
No. 8 Lehigh easily defeats No. 15 Pitt
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Bethlehem, PA – Eighth ranked Lehigh trailed 6-0 after two bouts but won the next eight en route to a 29-6 victory over fifteenth ranked Pittsburgh on Thursday evening at Grace Hall in front of 1,749 fans.
Pittsburgh jumped out to an early lead behind decisions by Jacob Lininger at heavyweight and Mike May at 125. Lininger defeated Lehigh’s Joe Sahl 9-6 and May upset Mario Stuart 4-3. Stuart entered the bout ranked fourth in the nation but could not control May.
"I’m always nervous before the first dual because you train so hard and you don’t know if it will pay off," said head coach Greg Strobel. "In this case, our hard work paid off. Our guys were in good shape and we beat them in key situations."
After losing the first two, Lehigh recorded eight unanswered wins including two major decisions and a pin. Senior Dan Hyman started the charge with a 3-1 victory over Shawn Amistade at 133. Freshman Tommy Rohn picked up one of two major decisions for the Mountain Hawks defeating Blaise Mucci 14-6 at 141. Rohn used a riding time point to secure the major decision.
"Tommy recorded a big win for us," added Strobel. "The fact that he was able to record a major decision gave us a little breathing room after losing the first two."
Mike Pirozzolla recorded the only fall of the night, pinning Jim Mangan in 4:48 to give Lehigh a 13-6 lead midway through the bout. Pirozzola was standing in for an ill Troy Minarovic but was quite impressive in the win. At 157, Nate Cote looked impressive defeating Don Rush 9-4.
"I was very impressed with Mike’s win," said Strobel. "He looked a bit tentative coming off a shoulder injury but finished strong recording the fall."
In a battle of two nationally ranked wrestlers, Lehigh’s Chris Vitale defeated Carl Fronhofer 7-5, giving Lehigh a 19-6 edge with three bouts remaining. Vitale entered the bout ranked fourth in the nation while Fronhofer is ranked eighth.
At 174, Brad Dillon rolled over Matt Catullo 18-7 and Rob Rohn handled Dan Stine rather easily defeating him 12-5. The Rohn-Stine battle was the second of three ranked bouts with Rohn ranked eighth and Stine ranked twelfth.
Third ranked Jon Trenge sealed the deal for the Brown and White with a 7-5 victory over eighth ranked David Sandberg at 197 in the last bout of the evening.
Lehigh improved its dual meet record to 1-0 on the season while the Panthers fell to 0-1 on the year. The Brown and White return to the mat on Sunday evening at Lock Haven. The match can be heard live on the Sports Monster WEEX 1230 AM, the flagship station of Lehigh wrestling, and on the Internet at www.lehigh.edu.
Weight | Decision | Score | Team Score |
HWT | Jacob Lininger, Pitt dec. Joe Sahl, LU | 9-6 | 0-3 |
125 | Mike May, Pitt dec. Mario Stuart | 4-3 | 0-6 |
133 | Dan Hyman, LU dec. Shawn Amistade, Pitt | 3-1 | 3-6 |
141 | Tommy Rohn, LU Major dec. Blaise Mucci, Pitt | 14-6 | 7-6 |
149 | Mike Pirozzola, LU WBF Jim Mangan, Pitt | 4:48 | 13-6 |
157 | Nate Cote, LU dec. Don Rush, Pitt | 9-4 | 16-6 |
165 | Chris Vitale, LU dec. Carl Fronhofer, Pitt | 7-5 | 19-6 |
174 | Brad Dillon, LU Major dec. Matt Catullo, Pitt | 18-7 | 23-6 |
184 | Rob Rohn, LU dec. Dan Stine, Pitt | 12-5 | 26-6 |
197 | Jon Trenge, LU dec. David Sanberg, Pitt | 7-5 | 29-6 |
