Zinck leads way for Lehigh at Buckeyes

Columbus, OH– The Mountain Hawks capped off a perfect day at the Buckeye Duals, beating Eastern Illinois 38-10 to cap a 3-0 day. In earlier action, Lehigh defeated the home-standing Ohio State Buckeyes 22-17 and walloped Buffalo by a final of 32-6. The Mountain Hawks stretched their dual meet winning streak to nine straight, running their record to 9-1 (1-0 EIWA). Lehigh has not lost since an opening-night defeat to current No. 2 Iowa State at Grace Hall.

“The whole experience was great for us,” said head coach Greg Strobel. “Obviously winning all three of our duals was great, but also getting to wrestle everyone we weighed in is another plus. We weighed in 14, and we wrestled 14. Beating Ohio State was a huge victory, especially since they got a pin at 197. Our lightweights really stepped up and won that meet for us.”

At 157, Derek Zinck capped off an incredible afternoon with his third straight pin, this time over Clay French in 1:33. At 165, Ben Bishop from nearby Mansfield got a chance to wrestle in front of friends and family, but fell 11-3 in a major decision to Matt Veach. At 174, Troy Letters moved up a weight class to give Brad Dillon a break, and facing the extra pounds made no difference as Letters cruised to a tech fall by a score of 25-9.

After Travis Frick accepted a forfeit at 184, Dave Helfrich picked up his first dual victory of his Mountain Hawk career by a final of 5-2 over Jim Kassner at 197. At heavyweight, Anthony Livecchi scored an upset with a 4-3 win over No. 15 Peter Ziminski.

As Lehigh’s starters continued to take a break, John Stout impressed at 125 with a shutout tech fall, dominating Kevin McNicholas 15-0 for his first win of the season in his first appearance. After Matt Ciasulli took the second forfeit of the match at 133, Eastern Illinois got a second win, as Bob Fangenow pinned Taylor Graham in 6:22. In the final matchup, Matt Anderson scored a major decision, defeating Peter Jordan 15-2.

In a back and forth affair against the Buckeyes, the Mountain Hawks used a pair of three-match winning streaks to take the 22-17 victory.

At 157, Derek Zinck took his second straight pin on the day, taking down James King in an amazing 22 seconds. The pin was the quickest by a Lehigh wrestler this season by nearly 50 seconds. At 165, Troy Letters took home another big win, defeating John Clark by major decision 21-7. At 174, Brad Dillon took the third straight match for Lehigh, nearly gaining the major but falling short 11-4 to give the Mountain Hawks a 13-0 lead out of the gate.

Ohio State would rally though, taking three straight to take a 14-13 lead. A thriller at 184 featured a match-up of top-ten wrestlers, No. 6 Travis Frick and No. 8 Blake Kaplan. After being tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, Kaplan needed a takedown in double overtime to upset Frick 3-1. Then the Buckeyes really turned it on, as J.D. Bergman pinned Matt Cassidy at 197 in 1:56. Then at heavyweight, top-ranked Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State beat Paul Weibel with a tech fall, 20-5.

Undaunted, the Mountain Hawks would then take the next three weight classes to put the dual out of reach. At 125, Mario Stuart defeated Jermaine Jones 8-2, and Matt Ciasulli followed that with a 9-2 victory over Jesse Leng at 133, riding for an impressive 4:15. At 141, Taylor Graham recorded his first dual victory of his Lehigh career, holding off Theo Dotson 11-8 to clinch the dual victory. At 149, Jeff Ratliff finished the match with a 9-6 decision over Matt Anderson.

Against Buffalo to start the day, the Mountain Hawks All-Americans got off to a great beginning, as the match started at 157. Derek Zinck recorded his first pin of the season, taking just 2:16 to pin Casey Burchfield. Top-ranked Troy Letters then attained the team’s second straight pin in 4:49 over Nick Rausenberger. At 174, No. 2 Brad Dillon got a stiff challenge from Ed Pawlak, but prevailed 6-2.

At 184, Travis Frick dominated throughout to take a major decision 14-6 over Garrett Hicks. At 197, Kyle Cerminara upset No. Matt Cassidy, using a second period takedown to hold him off 4-3 for Buffalo’s first win of the day. At heavyweight, Paul Weibel continued his recent surge with his first major decision on the year, besting Greg Thomas 15-3.

Things were much closer at 125, as No. 13 Mario Stuart needed riding time to defeat Mark McKnight 3-2. In another exciting contest at 133, Matt Ciasulli allowed Cliff Smith to tie the match up late in the third period, before executing a reversal at the buzzer plus riding time gave Ciasulli the 8-5 decision. At 141, Mike Trotta gained Buffalo’s only other win, beating Taylor Graham 8-1. Graham was substituting for Cory Cooperman, who was out for the day with the flu.

Finally, at 149, Matt Anderson used a first period takedown and three-point near fall to take the advantage, but a late escape by Patrick Lloyd kept Anderson from gaining the major decision, as Anderson closed out the match with the 8-1 victory.

Lehigh will continue its season Tuesday as they return to Grace Hall for the first time since November, taking on the Penn State Nittany Lions at 7:00. Radio coverage will begin at 6:45 on WEEX 1260/1130, and the match can also be heard on Lehigh’s website at www.lehighsports.com. Service Electric will tape-delay television coverage, beginning at 9:30.

Lehigh 38 – Eastern Illinois 10

Weight matchup result score

157 Derek Zinck (LU) over Clay French (EI) WBF, 1:33

165 Matt Veach (EI) over Ben Bishop (LU) MD, 11-3

174 Troy Letters (LU) over Kenny Robertson (EI) WTF, 23-9

184 Travis Frick (LU) forfeit

197 Dave Helfrich (LU) over Jim Kassner (EI) 5-2

HWT Anthony Livecchi (LU) over Peter Ziminski (EI) 4-3

125 John Stout (LU) over Kevin McNicholas (EI) WTF, 15-0

133 Matt Ciasulli (LU) forfeit

141 Bob Fangerow (EI) over Taylor Graham (LU) WBF, 6:22

149 Matt Anderson (LU) over Peter Jordan (EI) MD, 15-2

Lehigh 32 – Buffalo 6

Weight matchup result score

157 Derek Zinck (LU) over Casey Burchfield (UB) WBF, 2:16

165 Troy Letters (LU) over Nick Rausenberger (UB) WBF, 4:49

174 Brad Dillon (LU) over Ed Pawlak (UB) 6-2

184 Travis Frick (LU) over Garrett Hicks (UB) MD, 14-6

197 Kyle Cerminara (UB) over Matt Cassidy (LU) 4-3

HWT Paul Weibel (LU) over Greg Thomas (UB) MD, 15-3

125 Mario Stuart (LU) over Mark McKnight (U) 3-2 (RT)

133 Matt Ciasulli (LU) over Cliff Smith (UB) 8-5

141 Mike Trotta (UB) over Taylor Graham (LU) 8-1

149 Matt Anderson (LU) over Patrick Lloyd (UB) 8-1

Lehigh 22 – Ohio State 17

Weight matchup result score

157 Derek Zinck (LU) over James King (OS) WBF, 0:22

165 Troy Letters (LU) over John Clark (OS) MD, 21-7

174 Brad Dillon (LU) over Anthony Magistrelli (OS) 11-4

184 Blake Kaplan (OS) over Travis Frick (LU) 3-1 (2OT)

197 J.D. Bergman (OS) over Matt Cassidy (LU) WBF, 1:56

HWT Tommy Rowlands (OS) over Paul Weibel (LU) WTF, 20-5

125 Mario Stuart (LU) over Jermaine Jones (OS) 8-2

133 Matt Ciasulli (LU) over Jesse Leng (OS) 9-2

141 Taylor Graham (LU) over Theo Dotson (OS) 11-8

149 Jeff Ratliff (OS) over Matt Anderson (LU) 9-6

Lehigh University Athletics

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling versus Brown and White Intrasquad on October 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling at Princeton Open on November 2, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling versus Virginia on November 8, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling versus Duke on November 8, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling at Journeymen Collegiate Classic on November 9, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling versus National Duals Invitational on November 15, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Wrestling versus Pittsburgh on December 5, 2025

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 22, 2025 , , 15th, 29 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 22, 2025 , , 15th, 29 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 21, 2025 , , 15th, 26 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 21, 2025 , , T11th, 26 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 20, 2025 , , 12th, 11 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling at NCAA Championships on March 20, 2025 , , 12th, 7 pts.

Completed Event: Men's Wrestling versus EIWA Championships on March 8, 2025 , , 1st, 143.5 pts.

Related News

Related News

Related Videos