Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks in search of 12th straight
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Bethlehem, PA – No. 4 Lehigh will look to extend its 11 match win streak on Saturday afternoon, when Army marches into Stabler Arena for a 3:00 match. The Mountain Hawks have lost only once since the calendar turned to 2003 before starting the win streak that includes a Virginia Duals championship.
Lehigh is ranked higher this week than at any time in the last 23 years. Seven of the Mountain Hawks’ ten starters are nationally ranked, with six of those in the top ten. Junior All-American Jon Trenge is 26-2 and ranked No. 1 at 197. Freshmen Troy Letters, No. 3 at 165, and Derek Zinck, No. 6 at 157, each has only a single loss on the season. Letters only loss came against the nation’s No. 1 wrestler at Midlands, while a collegiate wrestler has not defeated Zinck since he dropped since his college debut. No. 8 at 133, fellow frosh Cory Cooperman dropped his first two bouts, but has since won 13 straight.
The Black Knights have been up and down in 2002-03. Six- and three-match win streaks book end a four-match match losing streak. Leading the way for the Cadets will be sophomore Phillip Simpson, who is currently ranked No. 7 at 141 and stands at 26-2.
The two schools have shared three common opponents on the season: Harvard, Hofstra, and Rutgers. The Mountain Hawks easily handled all three, while Army went 2-1, losing to ranked Hofstra. Lehigh has defeated the three by a combined score of 100-26, while the Black Knights are at an even 54-54.
Lehigh has won the last nine meetings and is 10-0-1 in the last 11. All-time, the Mountain Hawks hold a 46-8-3 advantage.
The match will be broadcast live on the Lehigh website at www.lehigh.edu and on ESPN 1230, WEEX. It will also be televised live on Service Electric Cable TV-2. Fox Sports Pittsburgh will rebroadcast the match on Monday at 1:00. Viewers with DirecTV will be able to find the rebroadcast on channel 628.
For more information, please contact Geoff Goyne, Lehigh Sports Media Relations.
Posted Thursday, February 13, 2003
