Mountain Hawks too much for No. 25 Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA “No. 6 Lehigh completed a weekend sweep of in-state foes, jumping out to a 12-0 lead and coasting to a 34-12 victory over No. 25 Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon at Fitzgerald Field House. The win is the Mountain Hawks fourth consecutive dual victory and improves their dual record to 9-1. Pittsburgh falls to 1-2.
Lehigh got off to a fast start as Andrew Rizzi scored a technical fall over Zach Bowman and then No. 10 Matt Ciasulli picked up a major decision over ninth ranked Drew Headlee at 133. Lehigh extended its lead to 12-0 when third ranked Cory Cooperman won a 7-3 decision over Pitt’s No. 5 Ronald Tarquinio.
Each team had a wrestler not make weight, so forfeits were awarded to the Panthers at 149 and the Mountain Hawks at 157.
Mountain Hawk grapplers won seven of eight contested bouts on the afternoon. It was a homecoming for Lehigh’s Troy Letters and Matt Cassidy, who are both from the Pittsburgh area. With friends and family on hand both posted impressive results. Letters picked up a major decision over Justin Nestor, while Cassidy scored a second period pin over Eric Cassidy (no relation).
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mat on Tuesday as they head to the Big Apple for a showdown against yet another nationally ranked opponent. Lehigh will face No. 13 Missouri at the famous New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. The match gets underway at 7:00 and will be broadcast in the Lehigh Valley on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with coverage beginning at 6:30. The match will also be broadcast worldwide on the Lehigh website at lehighsports.com with streaming provided by Yahoo! Sports.
Weight
Match-up
Result
Score
125
Andrew Rizzi (LU)
WTF
Zach Bowman (PITT)
5:49, 16-0
133
Matt Ciasulli (LU)
Maj. Dec.
Drew Headlee (PITT)
10-0
141
Cory Cooperman (LU)
Dec.
Ronald Tarquinio (PITT)
7-3
149
Matt Kocher (PITT)
WFF
157
Derek Zinck (LU)
WFF
165
Troy Letters (LU)
Maj. Dec.
Justin Nestor (PITT)
17-6
174
Travis Frick (LU)
Dec.
Zachariah Doll (PITT)
3-2
184
Matt Cassidy (LU)
WBF
Eric Cassidy (PITT)
4:01
197
Dave Helfrich (LU)
Dec.
Lou Thomas (PITT)
6-1
285
Zach Sheaffer (PITT)
WBF
Paul Weibel (LU)
2:14
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