Saturday, March 18
Oklahoma City, Okla.
11:00 AM

Lehigh University

at

NCAA Championships

Lehigh ties for ninth at NCAA Championships

3/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The 2006 NCAA Championships came to an end Saturday at Ford Center and Lehigh finished in a tie for ninth place with 53.5 team points. The Mountain Hawks crowned three All-Americans, with Cory Cooperman finishing third at 141, Derek Zinck taking fifth at 157 and Travis Frick finishing sixth at 174 as Lehigh finishes in the top ten in the team standings for the fifth straight season.

 

Cooperman won both of his matches on Saturday by major decision to take third for the second straight year. He blew open a close match with a takedown and two near-falls in the third period to defeat West Virginia’s Brandon Rader 12-4 in the consolation semifinals. In the third place match, Cooperman scored six points in the first period, a takedown and two two-point near falls, and went on to beat Northwestern’s Ryan Lang in a rematch of yesterday’s quarterfinal, in which Cooperman won by fall. A three-time All-American, Cooperman wraps up his illustrious career with a 99-12 record.

 

After losing in the semifinals at 157, Zinck lost his consolation semifinal match-up against top seeded Trent Paulson of Iowa State 6-1. Wrestling for fifth place, Zinck outlasted Joe Johnston of Iowa 9-8, to end his career with a win as a two-time All-American. In the fifth place match, Zinck scored a first period takedown, then yielded one to Johnston and trailed 4-2 heading into the third period. In the final period, Zinck slapped a headlock on Johnston and threw him for a five-point move to take the lead, but the Hawkeye battled back benefiting from a stall call against Zinck before scoring a takedown late in the third to tie the match at eight. Zinck would not be held down, escaping with less than 20 seconds left to grab the victory. He finishes his career with a 95-23 record for the Brown and White.

 

Frick was not as fortunate on Saturday, losing both his matches to place sixth earning his second career All-American medal. He faced another Iowa wrestler, Mark Perry in the consolation semifinals. The Hawkeye scored with an early takedown and added several cradles for near falls to build a big lead after the first period. In the second period Perry worked another cradle and scored a pin at 3:16, the first time Frick had been pinned in his career. In the fifth place match, Frick met Matt Herrington of Penn in a rematch of the EIWA finals. Frick scored a regulation takedown for the first time in three matches this year versus the Quaker. However, when a second controversial stalling call against Frick tied the match at three Frick tried to attack to avoid overtime, but got caught on his back and pinned with 16 remaining in regulation. Despite the two losses on Saturday, Frick’s career ends with a 95-33 record.

 

Following Saturday’s afternoon session, Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel offered his thoughts on the Mountain Hawks’ tournament.

 

“We did all we could do to throughout this tournament to place in the top ten as a team,” said Strobel. “To place in the top ten is really outstanding. To come in with five guys who have never been here before. Everyone contributed, even without Letters at full strength. It was a great team effort and our guys were able to get bonus points, which certainly helped. 

 

Oklahoma State crowned six All-Americans and two national champions to claim its fourth consecutive team championship and 34th overall with 120.5 points, 38.5 more than second place Minnesota. Lehigh finished tied for ninth with longtime rival Penn State. Missouri’s 174 pound champion Ben Askren was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.

 

 

 

Consolation Semifinals

Weight

Match-up

Result

 

Score

141

Cory Cooperman (LU)

maj. dec

Brandon Rader (WVU)

12-4

157

Trent Paulson (Iowa State)

dec.

Derek Zinck (LU)

6-1

174

Mark Perry (Iowa)

WBF

Travis Frick (LU)

3:16

 

Third Place match

Weight

Match-up

Result

 

Score

141

Cory Cooperman (LU)

maj. dec.

Ryan Lang (Northwestern)

9-0

 

Fifth Place match

Weight

Match-up

Result

 

Score

157

Derek Zinck (LU)

dec.

Joe Johnston (Iowa)

9-8

174

Matt Herrington (Penn)

WBF

Travis Frick (LU)

6:44

 

Championship Finals

Weight

Match-up

Result

 

Score

125

Joe Dubuque (Indiana)

dec.

Troy Nickerson (Cornell)

8-3

133

Matt Valenti (Penn)

dec.

Chris Fleeger (Purdue)

3-2

141

Nate Gallick (Iowa St.)

dec.

Teyon Ware (Oklahoma)

3-2

149

Dustin Schlatter (Minn)

dec.

Ty Eustice (Iowa)

4-0

157

Ben Cherrington (Boise St.)

dec.

Brian Stith (Arizona St.)

7-3

165

Johny Hendricks (Okla. St.)

dec.

Ryan Churella (Michigan)

9-8

174

Ben Askren (Missouri)

maj. dec.

Jake Herbert (N’western)

14-2

184

Shane Webster (Oregon)

dec.

Roger Kish (Minnesota)

3-2

197

Jake Rosholt (Okla. St.)

dec.

Phil Davis (Penn State)

10-3

285

Cole Konrad (Minnesota)

dec.

Steve Mocco (Okla. St.)

5-2 tb2

 

Team Scores (Final)

Team

Points

1. Oklahoma State

122.5

2. Minnesota

84

3. Oklahoma

80.5

4. Iowa

70

5. Cornell

62

6. Arizona State

61.5

7. Michigan

57.5

8. Edinboro

56

T9. LEHIGH

53.5

T9. Penn State

53.5

 

Inside Photo © 2006 Lehigh Athletics, Jeff Nolan

Homepage Photo © 2006 Danielle Hobeika

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