Mountain Hawks add eleven to wrestling program

5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel has announced the signing of eleven student-athletes who will join the Mountain Hawks’ wrestling program in the fall of 2006.  This year’s class features eleven grapplers, who hail from nine different states and have combined to win 14 state championships. Four members of this year’s recruiting class are ranked in the top 60 in the nation by Intermat, meaning the future looks bright for a Lehigh program that has won five straight EIWA team championships and has placed in the top ten at the NCAA Championships in five consecutive seasons.

 

“We knew graduating this year’s class of seniors that we would have to re-stock the shelves,” said head coach Greg Strobel, who will begin his 12th season at Lehigh in the fall. “This is a great class in full, with a few more good additions that should make this an exciting time for our program and for our fans.

 

Leading the pack of signees is David Craig out of Brandon, Florida. Craig has been pegged the number one recruit in the country by Intermat, and has a sparking resume that features a 184-0 record and four state titles, wrestling for Brandon High School. He has won junior national championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, and was recently named winner of the Dave Schultz High School Excellence award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Craig projects at 184 pounds for Lehigh and plans to study business.

 

Another top-five recruit, Mike Grey comes to Lehigh after becoming the first four-time state champion in the state of New Jersey. Wrestling for the Delbarton School, Grey finished his high school career with a record of 158-2, including 120 wins by fall while wrestling at 125 pounds. Grey has won a junior national freestyle championship and an NHSCA championship, and is rated the number three recruit in the country by Intermat. He ranks second, behind only Craig among recruits who have signed on at Division I universities.

 

The lone Pennsylvanian in this year’s class, Pat Flynn will make the short trip north from Quakertown to wrestle for the Brown and White. Flynn is a three-time state place winner and won a state championship at 189 pounds this past season. Hailing from the same high school as current Mountain Hawk Paul Weibel, Flynn, who ranks 12th in the nation by Intermat, has 94 career falls and projects at 197 for Lehigh.

 

The fourth top-60 recruit for Lehigh is Alex Caruso from Watchung Hills, New Jersey. Caruso amassed a record of 140-11 in high school and went undefeated as a senior on the way to a state championship, and placed all four years at the New Jersey state tournament. Rated 52nd in the nation by Intermat, Caruso placed third at the NHSCA meet and projects at either 157 or 165 for the Mountain Hawks.

 

Levi Mele, the fifth recruit to sign on during the fall, comes to Lehigh from Uintah High School in Verna, Utah. A three-time state champion, Mele was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Utah state tournament in 2006. Mele placed second at the NHSCA championships, losing to fellow Lehigh signee Mike Grey in the finals. Both Mele and Grey should be in the mix for Lehigh at 125 pounds.

 

The Mountain Hawks signed six more student-athletes in the spring, including heavyweight Justin Allen from Raleigh, North Carolina. Allen did not take up the sport until he arrived at Millbrook High School, but went on to lose just one match in his final two seasons, placing first and third in the North Carolina state tournament.

 

Also signing on to wrestle for the Brown and White, are Matt Croshal from Colorado; Justin Hall, a three-time state place winner from Nashville, Tennessee; Greg Hilbert, who placed fifth in Ohio; and a pair of Californians: Nate Spangler, who placed fourth in the state for De La Salle High School, and Matt Upton from Durham High School.

 

“(Harmon-Rauch Assistant Coach and recruiting coordinator) Chris Ayres was instrumental in identifying guys that we had a shot at getting,” notes Strobel. “We pursued a lot of these guys relentlessly, and got a break when Flynn signed on as the initial guy. Once you get one, it became like a domino effect and turned out to be an outstanding class.”

 

Strobel continues, “All across the board, we lose seven guys from this year’s team and we will lose 12 more after next year. This year’s class had to be a good one and next year’s will need to be as well.”

 

The Mountain Hawks return one EIWA champion in Matt Cassidy for the 2006-07 season, and a total of seven grapplers who have previously qualified for the NCAA Championships.

 

 

Name

Hometown/High School

Projected

Weight

College

Justin Allen

Raleigh, N.C./ Millbrook

285

Engineering

Alex Caruso

Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills

157-165

Business

David Craig

Brandon, Fla./Brandon

184

Business

Matt Croshal

Centennial, Colo. Arapahoe

141

Engineering

Pat Flynn

Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown

197

Engineering

Mike Grey

Rockaway, N.J./Delbarton

125-149

Business

Justin Hall

Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Acad.

133

Business/Engineering

Greg Hilbert

Akron, Ohio/Revere

141

Arts and Sciences

Levi Mele

Vernal, Utah/Uintah

125

Business

Nate Spangler

Concord, Calif./De La Salle

157

Engineering

Matt Upton

Durham, Calif./Durham

174

Business

 

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