Lehigh wrestling experience a memorable one for Wolf

By Sarah Epstein '19, Lehigh Sports Communications

On the center mat at the 2016 NCAA Championships at Madison Square Garden, Gordon Wolf found himself in an unfamiliar setting, up against his toughest competitor yet.

Facing the No. 13 seed Alex Meyer of Iowa, Wolf was not expecting to come out victorious.

But he did.

As an unseeded wrestler in the tournament, Wolf wasn't even expected to qualify for Nationals.

Wolf was expected to just survive the bout. Instead, he and Meyer traded points throughout the three periods. A late escape for Wolf sealed the victory and the upset for the freshman Mountain Hawk.

"That entire arena was watching that match," head coach Pat Santoro said. "That's what happens at nationals. Seventeen thousand people basically cheering for Gordon to beat that kid from Iowa."

Had you asked Wolf a year or two before his victory at nationals if he expected to be winning on the biggest stage in college wrestling, his answer would have probably been no.

A redshirt during his true freshman campaign, Wolf was plagued with injuries that stifled his development into a collegiate wrestler.

"I don't want to say it was a wash, but I did have two knee surgeries and a sprained ankle, so I was out for the majority of the season," Wolf said. "It was nice in a way because the injuries didn't interfere with my actual eligibility, but I didn't get that year to really grow in my wrestling abilities."

Coming into the 2015-16 season as a deferred freshman, Wolf opened the season competing at 157, his natural weight. After injury opened up the 174 starting roster spot, Wolf moved up two weight classes and took over the starting position. This move proved successful, as Wolf's first-session victory at NCAAs was in the 174-pound weight class.

Teammate Cortlandt Schuyler described watching Wolf's nationals win as something out of a movie.

"He was wrestling this kid at 174 sort of as a last resort, since he'd been competing at 157 earlier in the season," Schuyler said. "A whole group of our teammates were sitting in the first row watching him. It was electric, the whole crowd was cheering for him."

To Wolf, though, the thing he's going to remember most after his Lehigh career is over isn't that NCAA performance.

"In terms of legitimately wrestling on the mat, I would say beating the Iowa kid who was the 13 seed at the time is probably my most memorable moment, but my most memorable experience as a Lehigh University wrestler is just the friendship, camaraderie and relationships I've made along the way," Wolf said. "Not one single moment stands out, but just the paradigm shift from fighting a kid as enemies on the mat to being really good friends."

Schuyler said his friendship with Wolf has developed over the past five years, both on the mat and off. As a teammate, Schuyler said that Wolf is incredibly motivated and passionate about everything he does, especially wrestling and academics, often stopping a teammate and helping them work through an issue they are having either in the gym or in the classroom.

That friendship and support between teammates is what has guided Lehigh's success on the mat.

Wolf said that momentum between teammates' bouts is a driver of the team's overall success during any given dual meet.

"If the five guys who wrestled before me all had dominating performances, I would have a little momentum going into my match where maybe the kid would be a little more scared and I would have a little bit more momentum to do well," Wolf said. "Success has just been the factor that pushes us to come together as a unit."

Success is also what is pushing Wolf individually during his final season.

A former NWCA All-Academic Team honoree who earned his degree in finance last May, Wolf is currently pursuing his master's degree in applied economics. He found it hard to work out over the summer while working as an intern at an investment management firm. This pause in action only led him to work even harder upon returning to Lehigh in August.

Wolf said his focus this season is making a serious run at his goals, especially seeing as it's his last year competing for the Brown and White.

"On the mat, it's always going to be 100 percent, there's never a question of that, and that's what we love about him," Santoro said. "He can do a lot of damage at the national tournament. It's all about keeping your head in the right place where it needs to be, because those big moments you need to have self-control to do all the right things."

For both Santoro and Wolf, the goal is All-American status and a win at NCAAs.

Santoro said that while getting a podium finish at nationals and reaching All-American status is a tall order for anybody, Wolf has wrestled hard enough that he thinks he can do it.

"I've dropped a couple of matches throughout the season, losing to kids I shouldn't have lost to, but it doesn't really matter," Wolf said. "Nothing matters except for one weekend in March.

"People aren't going to remember your dual meet record or your record at all in college. They're going to remember if you were a one-time All-American, a four-time All-American, a National Champion. That's what they're going to remember, so it doesn't really matter until then."

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Lehigh wrestling experience a memorable one for Wolf

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