Lehigh sets lofty goals for the coming season
9/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
The 2003-04 season was another banner year for Lehigh wrestling, perhaps one of the best in the long history of the program. The team won its third straight EIWA crown (and fourth in five seasons) and finished tied for third at the NCAAs, scoring the most points, 77.5, in Lehigh history. Troy Letters became the 20th wrestler in the program’s history to win a national title, winning at 165 pounds. Lehigh has very little room to improve on such a performance, but they may just do so anyway. Though they lose two two-time All-Americans in Brad Dillon and Mario Stuart, the team will welcome back two-time national runner-up Jon Trenge off his Olympic deferral year. Also, four freshmen gained great experience as starters, and will put that to good use as they return for their sophomore years. In all, the team will return five All-Americans and eight NCAA qualifiers. With the return of Jon Trenge to the Lehigh lineup, things are looking up for the Mountain Hawks this season. “Although we could have used Jon Trenge in a few duals last season, it was certainly best for Jon to take the Olympic year to tryout for the Olympic Team,” said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel, set to enter his tenth season. “I think Jon matured physically and mentally during this year and improved technically. He was seeded tenth going into the trials and finished fifth, beating two athletes he had never beaten before. Jon is excited about returning to the Lehigh wrestling team and pursuing his quest for an NCAA title. In the process, he will set several Lehigh wrestling records.” With high expectations for the team this season, there will no doubt be some tough competition along the way. The schedule for Lehigh will be just as challenging as each of the last two seasons. “Once again we have an extremely tough schedule,” Strobel points out. “I think it is probably more challenging than last year. We will wrestle
Two senior All-American starters in Brad Dillon and Mario Stuart are lost to graduation, and Strobel knows it won’t be easy to replace them. “Brad Dillon and Mario Stuart will be missed as they graduated after outstanding careers for Lehigh,” Strobel points out. “Brad and Mario have a lot in common. They wrestled each other early in their high school careers. Neither won state titles, both wrestled in high school in the
Despite the loss of Dillon and Stuart, with eight returning starters, there is plenty of room for excitement about the coming season.
125 – The Mountain Hawks lose a real fighter in Mario Stuart, who earned All-American status twice in his years at Lehigh despite being unseeded both times. Tthis weight class will be up in the air for the starting spot. John Stout, who saw some action last season in relief of Stuart, could factor in here. 133 – Matt Ciasulli returns as the starter for his sophomore campaign. Ciasulli had an excellent freshman year, ranking in Intermat’s Top 20 for nearly the entire season and placing second at EIWAs to qualify for an NCAA bid. Sophomore Matt Ennis and newcomer Stephen Seemuller will vie for time as the back-up to Ciasulli. 141 – Cory Cooperman begins his second year as the starter at 141 after wrestling at 133 as a freshman. Cooperman earned his first All-American stripes last year, placing 7th at NCAAs, despite losing his first match in the pigtail round to fall to the wrestlebacks. Cory is looking to earn his second EIWA title in his junior campaign after winning as a freshman and taking second last season. Matt Ennis may see time here as well in a backup role. 149 – Freshman Matt Anderson came out of nowhere to claim the starting role at this spot early on in the season after Tommy Rohn went down with an injury. 157 – Derek Zinck returns, looking to regain the form that saw him go 29-4 record on his freshman campaign (17-1 in dual matches), winning an EIWA title and becoming an All-American. Zinck struggled with injuries for much of his sophomore year, but still managed to take second at EIWAs (he defaulted in the finals due to injury) and finished just one win shy of All-American. Backing him up most likely will be sophomore Ben Bishop. 165 – Troy Letters returns to defend his national title, the 26th in Lehigh history. Letters had a dominant season as a sophomore, finishing the season 36-1 and ranking among the top five nationally in pins at his class. Letters was ranked #1 for most of the season, and his only loss was to 174 – Lehigh loses one of its all-time great competitors in two-time All-American Brad Dillon. Dillon set new Lehigh records in his senior season, including a new mark with 39 consecutive dual wins, and most career dual wins. Trying to replace him will be tough, and sophomore David Helfrich will probably get first crack at it. 184 – Travis Frick continues to grow as a wrestler, earning his first EIWA title and All-American placement during his sophomore year. Ranked in Intermat’s top-20 the entire season, Frick showed his promise with an upset of defending NCAA champion Jake Rosholt in the dual match at 197 – Former two-time NCAA finalist Jon Trenge returns here fresh off his Olympic deferral, and looks to cap his career off at Lehigh with a potential national title. The senior co-captain was the runner-up at this weight class in 2002 and 2003, and would have been a favorite to win last season if he hadn’t taken the year to train for the Olympic team. Sophomore Matt Cassidy, who performed very capably during his freshman season and came up just shy of qualifying for NCAAs may take a year as an apprentice under Trenge, if he doesn’t move up to challenge for a starting spot at heavyweight. HWT – Freshman Paul Weibel came out of nowhere to take over for the injured Joe Sahl as the starter last season, despite starting out the year wrestling-off with Cassidy at 197. The two might mix it up again this year for the starting nod, though Weibel acquitted himself well as the starter a year ago. Transfer Tommy Curl will also figure into the action at this weight class as well.
