Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh off to a tough start
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Albany, NY – Lehigh is off to its toughest start since 1996 at the 2002 NCAA Championships. The Mountain Hawks suffered overtime sudden victory losses in its first two bouts, lost its third by technical fall and was upset at 165. Only two of Lehigh’s six wrestlers advanced to the second round. Rob Rohn and Jon Trenge each picked up wins and will wrestle on Thursday evening. Lehigh is in 23rd place with five points after the first session. Oklahoma is in first place with 25.5 points.
Lehigh is not the only top ten team to have suffered an upset in the preliminaries. All together seven wrestlers seeded in the top nine suffered losses in the first round. NCAA powers Iowa, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia all fell victim to upsets.
Sophomore Mario Stuart lost 3-1 in overtime to 12th seeded Twam Pham of Illinois at 125 in the pigtail bracket. Stuart was on the offensive the entire match while Pham was very defensive but was warned for stalling just one time. Each wrestler scored an escape point before Pham won in sudden victory with a takedown with one second remaining on in the overtime period as both wrestlers were going out of bounds. In a controversial call, Pham was awarded the takedown and given the win. Stuart will take on Mike Pitts of Chattanooga on Thursday night at 6:30 in the wrestle-back bracket. With a win, Stuart will advance and wrestle again at approximately 8:25 against Jerold Limongelli of Rider. Stuart will be eliminated from competition if he loses before reaching the place bouts, which are a long way away.
Senior Dan Hyman also suffered a sudden victory overtime loss. Hyman lost 3-1 to 11th seeded Chad Hay of Illinois at 133. The bout was very similar to Stuart’s match with Hyman being very offensive. He did find himself in some dangerous positions but managed to wiggle free before giving up any points. Hay recorded a takedown early in the overtime period to pick up the win. Hyman will take on Efren Ceballos of Cal State Bakersfield at approximately 8:35 on Thursday evening. Hyman also has his back against the wall and will be eliminated with another loss.
Warren Stout took on top seeded and Easton native Bryan Snyder of Nebraska at 157. The match lasted just 4:54 as Snyder cruised to an easy 25-10 technical fall over Stout, taking him down early and often. Stout recorded all ten of his points by way of escape as Snyder released him after each takedown. Stout will take on Frank DeFillippis of Eastern Illinois on Thursday evening at approximately 8:15 and must win to stay alive in the tournament.
In one of a number of major upsets in the first session, Chris Vitale, seeded sixth at 165, fell to unseeded Burt Pierson of UC-Davis by an 11-7 score. Vitale found himself on his back early in the first round and spent the entire period trying to escape. Pierson took Vitale down and earned three quick back points to take a five point lead into the second period. Vitale managed to eventually escape but was taken down again before scoring a reversal. Heading into the third Vitale trailed 9-3 and could not catch Pierson scoring only two takedowns in the period while allowing an escape and sacrificing a point to Pierson in riding time. Vitale will face Chris Carlino of Cal St. Fullerton in the first round of wrestle-backs. Vitale, like three of his teammates must win to continue wrestling. That match should take place at approximately 9:00 on Thursday evening.
Rohn picked up the first Lehigh win of the afternoon with an 8-4 win over Blake Kaplan of Ohio State. Rohn led early and finished the match with three takedowns, an escape, and a point for riding time. Rohn will take on Josh Millard of Lock Haven in the second round Thursday evening at approximately 7:45. Rohn defeated Millard earlier in the season in Lehigh dual meet with Lock Haven.
Trenge cruised to an easy victory over Marcio Botelho of Fresno State at 197 winning by fall in 1:47. Trenge recorded two early takedowns before dumping Botelho on his back directly into a turk ride for the pin. Trenge will take on Matt Greenberg of Cornell at approximately 8:10 on Thursday evening. Trenge defeated Greenberg in the finals of the EIWA Tournament by a 5-2 score.
All of the Lehigh matches can be heard live on the Internet at www.lehigh.edu. Times listed above are approximate times only and fans are encouraged to tune in early as not to miss any of the action. The first session lasted three hours and 45 minutes. KC Wennogle calls the action will provide a plethora of information regarding the other bouts taking place, in addition to the Lehigh bouts.
Weight | Decision | Score |
125 – Pigtail | #12 Twam Pham, Illinois dec. Mario Stuart | 3-1 SV |
133 – Prelim | #11 Chad Hay, Illinios dec. Dan Hyman | 3-1 SV |
157 – Prelim | #1 Bryan Snyder, Nebraska tech fall Warren Stout | 25-10 4:54 |
165 – Prelim | Burt Pierson, UC Davis dec. #6 Chris Vitale | 11-7 |
184 – Prelim | #8 Rob Rohn dec. Blake Kaplan, Ohio State | 8-4 |
197 – Prelim | #2 Jon Trenge WBF Marcio Botelho, Fresno State | 1:47 |
Attendance: 12,644
Complete brackets can be found on the NCAA website at www.ncaawrestling.com
