Lehigh University
NCAA Finals
The Man of Troy! Letters a national champion at 165
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
St. Louis, MO – Troy Letters capped off the greatest team performance in Lehigh history Saturday night, winning a national championship at 165 pounds with a 5-2 victory over
Letters and Lewis had met twice before, with
“It was great,” said a euphoric Letters after the match. “I came in trying to take it one match at a time, and once I got that near fall in the first period, I could sense I was close. The last five minutes of the match seemed like the longest time of my life, but it just feels awesome.”
Letters’ title capped off an impressive performance by all the Lehigh wrestlers who came to the NCAA Championships, as the Mountain Hawks placed five All-Americans, the second most ever for the school (they had six in 1980). The 77.5 points scored by the team broke the old mark of 67.5, accomplished by the 1979 squad that featured two national champs in Mark Lieberman and Darryl Burley.
“Everyone did their part,” said Lehigh head coach
Joining Letters as an All-American was senior Brad Dillon, a two-time place winner who finished a career-best fourth at 174 this year. 125-pounder Mario Stuart placed as the highest unseeded wrestler for the second time in his career with his 4th place finish. At 141, Cory Cooperman fought back from a devastating loss in the pigtail round to place seventh and earn his first All-American stripes, while Travis Frick also earned his first certificate with an 8th place finish at 184.
The Mountain Hawks’ third place finish was the best since taking 3rd also in 1979, and is only the fourth top-three finish ever for the school. With a fourth place finish in 2003, the two year total of 3rd and 4th is the best since the school finished 3rd in 1965 and 4th in 1966.
National Finals
Weight | Matchup | Result | Score | |
125 | Jason Powell ( | over | Kyle Ott ( | WTF, 17-2 ( |
133 | Zach Roberson (ISU) | over | Josh Moore (PSU) | 7-3 |
141 | Cliff Moore ( | over | Matt Murray ( | 5-2 |
149 | Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) | over | Zach Esposito (OSU) | 9-3 |
157 | Matt Gentry (Stanford) | over | Jake Percival ( | 4-2 |
165 | Troy Letters (LU) | over | Tyrone Lewis (OSU) | 5-2 |
174 | Chris Pendleton (OSU) | over | Ben Askren ( | 11-4 |
184 | Greg Jones (WVU) | over | Ben Heizer (UNI) | 10-5 |
197 | Damion Hahn ( | over | Ryan Fulsaas ( | 7-2 |
HWT | Tommy Rowlands (OSU) | over | Pat Cummins (PSU) | 5-2 |
Team Standings
1. | 123.5 | |
2. | 82 | |
3. | Lehigh | 77.5 |
3. | 77.5 | |
5. | 74 | |
6. | 70 | |
7. | 69.5 | |
8. | 65.5 | |
9. | 62.5 | |
10. | 60.5 |
