Seasoned Mountain Hawk group to vie for NCAA titles
11/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
The biggest strength of this year’s team is its experience. The Mountain Hawks boast five seniors who should all be major contributors this season. The Class of ’06: Troy Letters, Cory Cooperman, Travis Frick, Derek Zinck and Brian Lamay have combined to win one national title (Letters at 165 in 2004), have been honored as All-Americans seven times, and have won seven individual EIWA crowns during their time at Lehigh. In addition, the Mountain Hawks feature a pair of juniors, Matt Ciasulli and Matt Anderson, who qualified for the NCAA Championships and several other upperclassmen who gained valuable mat experience in their first two seasons.
“This year we have five seniors, who have all placed at Easterns,” explains Greg Strobel, who is entering his eleventh season as head coach. “With so many seniors and juniors expected to compete, we should have one of the more experienced teams we’ve had at Lehigh since I’ve been here.”
Strobel continues: “We can definitely count on team leadership. This is the first year we’ve named four team captains (Cory Cooperman, Travis Frick, Troy Letters, Derek Zinck). Our four captains have all been All-Americans, they all have special qualities and will be leaders in different ways.”
With the high expectations for the team this season, there will be some undoubtedly be some tough competition along the way. The Lehigh wrestling program prides itself on wrestling one of the toughest schedules in the nation and this year will be no different. The Mountain Hawks will hit the road to wrestle the top four team finishers at last year’s NCAA Championships, including a weekend road trip to
“This year we will wrestle what is arguably the toughest schedule in the country,” Strobel explains. “We will wrestle each of the top five teams from last years NCAA Championships:
Lehigh’s home slate will be just as challenging. Among the eight schools visiting Bethlehem this season will be Arizona State, projected to be a top-10 team in ’05-’06, and Penn State will visit Stabler Arena in January in the annual renewal of one of Eastern wrestling’s oldest and most bitter rivalries. A pair of tournaments also grace the Mountain Hawks slate this season. Lehigh will look to defend its title in the second annual Pennsylvania State Dual Championships in
The most significant loss for the Mountain Hawks is the graduation of Jon Trenge, a three-time All-American and EIWA champion who established a new school record for career victories with 133. While Lehigh will not have the luxury of wrestling Trenge at 197 pounds, head coach Greg Strobel has retained Trenge’s services as a volunteer assistant coach, who will work with the Mountain Hawks heavier weights. Despite the loss of Trenge on the mat, there is plenty of excitement heading into the coming season.
125 – In all likelihood, this starting job will go to a freshman. The Mountain Hawks lost EIWA place-winner Andrew Rizzi to graduation, while junior John Stout will probably move up in weight. That leaves a pair of prized recruits from the
133 – With Matt Ciasulli expected to bump-up to 149, sophomore Jeff Santo should get the first crack at this weight. Santo beat Ciasulli at wrestle-offs last season and went on post an impressive 6-2 record in early-season duals before giving way to Ciasulli in January. Juniors Matt Ennis and John Stout are also expected to compete for time at this weight class.
141 – Cory Cooperman returns for his senior season at what is expected to be one of the nation’s top weight classes. All eight All-Americans from 2005 are back this year, including Cooperman, who placed third a year ago to earn All-American stripes for the second straight year. Cory won his second EIWA title last year as well and will look to join an elite list of Lehigh three-time EIWA champions and three-time All-Americans this season. Ennis and Stout could challenge for a backup spot here as could junior Mark McCauley, who started three duals in a backup role a year ago.
149 – Junior Matt Anderson has taken his six-foot three-inch frame and moved up in weight this season, leaving three accomplished grapplers to challenge for the starting spot. Junior Matt Ciasulli will probably get the first chance. The two-time EIWA runner-up and NCAA qualifier has moved up from 133 pounds and will look to improve on an outstanding second half of last season. Redshirt freshman Trevor Chinn is another contender at 149. The former
157 – Three-time NCAA qualifier Derek Zinck is back, still looking to regain the form that saw him go 29-4 in his freshman year, winning an EIWA title and becoming an All-American. Zinck battled injuries as a sophomore, but had a tremendous regular season as a junior and lost a one-point thriller in the EIWA finals. At nationals, Zinck hit a tough draw in one of the nation’s deepest classes and lost both his bouts, but returns hungry to go out on a high note. Junior Matt Anderson will be one of Lehigh’s more intriguing performers. After wrestling at 149 his first two seasons, the six-foot three-inch
165 – Troy Letters was nearly perfect in defense of the national title he won in 2004, going 27-1, winning his third EIWA title and becoming a three-time All-American. The one-blemish however, was a 3-0 upset loss to
174 – After earning All-American laurels in 2004 while wrestling at 184 pounds, senior Travis Frick dropped down a weight class and had a successful 2005 season that saw him place third in the EIWA and win two matches at the NCAA Championships. Frick was ranked in Intermat’s top-15 all of last season and hopes to find himself back on the All-American platform in his senior season.
184 – Coach Strobel seemingly has many possibilities here. David Helfrich and Matt Cassidy split most of the time here a year ago, but at the end of the season; senior Brian LaMay won a wrestle-off with Helfrich and earned the starting spot at EIWAs, where he provided one of the tournament’s biggest surprises, placing fourth and finishing one victory shy of NCAA qualification. Helfrich, now a junior is back in the mix will compete for the starting spot, as will LaMay and junior Jon Bruno, who is a natural 184 pounder, but made four of his five appearances last year at 197.
197 – The Mountain Hawks must replace one of the best ever to don the Brown and White in Jon Trenge, who graduated as a three-time EIWA Champion, three-time All-American and established a new Lehigh record with 133 career victories. A pair of juniors will get the first crack at trying to replace Trenge in the Mountain Hawks lineup. Matt Cassidy started at 197 as a freshman when Trenge took his Olympic deferral year in 2003-04 and performed admirably, falling just short of NCAA qualification. Cassidy dropped down to 184 last season and went 6-9 before an injury ended his season. Challenging Cassidy will be Paul Weibel who will move down to his more natural weight class from heavyweight. Weibel was a clutch performer in dual competition for the Mountain Hawks last year. He posted 24 wins overall, won the East Stroudsburg Open, placed eighth at the
285 – With Weibel most likely moving down to 197, junior Tom Curl is expected to step in as the Mountain Hawks’ top heavyweight. The former transfer from the University at
