Mountain Hawks begin preseason practice
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
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“I think the freshmen have responded very well to the rigors of a Division I wrestling room,” said Strobel. “At this level you find that everybody’s tough, and it can be stressful, but they’ve handled it well.”
Strobel indicated he was pleased with the team’s preseason conditioning, which has helped the team do a lot of wrestling early on,
“We’ve been aggressive in the volume of wrestling, which has been a good thing,” said Strobel. “We’ve being doing a lot of technique; a lot of offensive stuff. There are a lot of things the new kids need to learn. Getting away can be tough for a college kid, so we’re going to be working on escapes.”
Prior to the start of preseason practice, Strobel was also able to complete his coaching staff with the re-addition of Jason Kutz ‘96 as the volunteer assistant coach. Kutz, a former EIWA Champion for the Mountain Hawks, coached at Lehigh from 2003-06 before spending last season as the head coach at
Last season, the Mountain Hawks put together a 14-9 dual season, but saw their string of five consecutive EIWA team titles snapped. Lehigh also failed to crown an All-American for the first time since 1996. The Mountain Hawks return five NCAA qualifiers, including David Craig who finished one win shy of earning All-American honors as a true freshman. Also returning are senior Dave Nakasone, junior Matt Fisk, sophomore Seth Ciasulli, and junior Trevor Chinn, who qualified for nationals as a freshman, but missed the second half of last season with an injury.
The Mountain Hawks also brought in one of the nation’s top recruiting class, which features several wrestlers who may get the opportunity to contribute right away.
Lehigh’s annual wrestle-offs are scheduled for Tuesday, October 30, while the Mountain Hawks will kick off the dual season on Sunday, November 11 when they host
