Edwardsville, IL
- Two Lehigh wrestlers showed their skills on the national stage Monday night, as they took part in the 2004 Marines All-Star Classic presented by Real Pro Wrestling. Juniors
Cory Cooperman and
Troy Letters represented the Mountain Hawks in the annual exhibition, which is organized by the NWCA and this year was hosted by SIU-Edwardsville.
Cooperman, ranked fourth in the country was the first Lehigh grappler to take the mat, facing third ranked Teyon Ware of Oklahoma at 141 pounds. It was a tight, low-scoring affair that featured zero takedowns. Cooperman, who was 5-0 on the season heading into this exhibition, gave up an escape in the second period, and then tied the match with an escape of his own in the third. The bout went to double overtime, where Ware was able to score a one point escape 14 seconds in to claim the 2-1 victory.
At 165 defending national champion and top-ranked Troy Letters took on No. 2 David Bolyard of Central Michigan. Bolyard took an early 2-0 lead, but Letters would battle back to tie the bout at 2-2, gaining valuable riding time in the process. The match came down to riding time, and Letters’ advantage gave him the extra point and the 3-2 victory.
Senior Jon Trenge was scheduled to wrestle at 197 pounds but pulled out, choosing to rest a sore shoulder instead.
The second ranked Mountain Hawks have started the season 5-0 and will return to the mat on Sunday against Hofstra. The match gets underway at 5:00 from Hempstead, N.Y. and will be broadcast via tape delay Sunday evening on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley as well as on the web at lehighsports.com.
