Lehigh University
North Carolina State
No. 2 Mountain Hawks open season in convincing fashion
11/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Bethlehem, PA – Lehigh opened up the 2004-05 season in impressive fashion Friday night, beating NC State 39-3 in front of 1,979 spirited fans at the Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks won nine of 10 bouts, scoring three pins and three major decisions, as they win their season opener for the first time in three years. NC State falls to 1-1.
The Wolfpack would take the evening’s first bout as Garrett Cummings got three points in the third period to overtake John Stout 7-6. From there the Mountain Hawks would reel off eight straight victories starting with a thriller at 133. Freshman Jeff Santo led Travis Varner 6-0 after the first period, but after Varner mounted a comeback Santo was able to force overtime late and won the bout on a takedown 15 seconds into the extra session.
“Santo did a good job of scoring a lot of points,” said coach Greg Strobel, who improved to 8-2 in season openers. “He’s a tough kid and he will be good for us all year.”
Lehigh would get its first pin of the new season at 141 as No. 4 Cory Cooperman bested Travis Varner at the
The Mountain Hawks seemed to get better as the night went on. Travis Frick won a major decision at 174 and Matt Cassidy and Jon Trenge followed him up with pins at 184 and 197. Heavyweight Paul Weibel made it nine in a row after beating Jainor Palma 5-4.
“This was a good one to get out of the way,” Strobel said. “The guys were a little nervous heading in, but it was good to get some matches in before we face the big boys.”
The victory was Lehigh’s seventh in a row over the Wolfpack. The Brown and White lead the all-time series 9-0-1. Lehigh will be back in action on Sunday, when the Mountain Hawks travel to
Lehigh 39 NC State 3
Weight | Matchup | Result | Score | |
125 | Garrett Cummings (NCS) | Over | John Stout (LU) | 7-6 |
133 | Jeff Santo (LU) | Over | Jeff Breese (NCS) | 14-12 (OT) |
141 | Cory Cooperman (LU) | Over | Travis Varner (NCS) | WBF 1:32 |
149 | Matt Anderson (LU) | Over | Chris Deluca (NCS) | MD, 15-5 |
157 | Derek Zinck (LU) | Over | Kody Hamrah (NCS) | MD, 19-6 |
165 | Brian Lamay (LU) | Over | Ryan Nowicki (NCS) | 10-3 |
174 | Travis Frick (LU) | Over | Kevin Gabrielson (NCS) | MD, 14-4 |
184 | Matt Cassidy (LU) | Over | Jeremy Colbert (NCS) | WBF 1:57 |
197 | Jon Trenge (LU) | Over | Zach Garren (NCS) | WBF 6:01 |
HWT | Paul Weibel (LU) | Over | Jainor Palma | 5-4 |
