Lehigh wrestlers face tough individual tests with Brown, Harvard
Neither opponent is ranked, but both have quality wrestlers.<\/p>\n
By Gary R. Blockus
Of The Morning Call<\/p>\n
Fresh off a highly successful trip to the national duals in Cleveland, the nation’s fifth-ranked wrestling team returns to home action today for a double dual meet.<\/p>\n
”It was a good national duals for us,” said Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel, whose No. 5-ranked Mountain Hawks will face off against EIWA opponents Brown (1 p.m.) and Harvard (3 p.m.) at Grace Hall today.<\/p>\n
”Our guys wrestled real well in Cleveland, and now [today’s] matches will be important for seeds at Easterns [March 4 and 5 at Navy].”<\/p>\n
Lehigh’s wrestlers must qualify for the NCAA Championships at Easterns.<\/p>\n
”It’s a big weekend for us because of that,” Strobel continued. ”Neither of these teams [Brown and Harvard] are nationally ranked, but we can’t look past any of them, and from an individual standpoint, there will be some pretty good matches.”<\/p>\n
Lehigh is 15-3 overall after going 3-2 at the national duals and finishing fourth, and is 3-0 in the EIWA. Brown is 3-3 (1-1) and Harvard, coached by Allen High graduate Jay Weiss, is 0-4 (0-0).<\/p>\n
One wrestler Lehigh fans won’t see today is Jon Trenge (197). At the national duals, Trenge defeated No. 1 Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State 10-8, but then picked up his second disqualification of the year after an incident against Minnesota in the third-place match. Trenge had requested ” and received ” injury time when the Minnesota wrestler charged him. Trenge reacted too physically and picked up the disqualification.<\/p>\n
”We’re giving Jon a little cooling-off period so that he’s not right back into it again,” Strobel said. ”Jon needed a break to get out of the competitive phase for a little while.”<\/p>\n
Trenge took over the No. 1 ranking in the InterMat\/NWCA rankings last week after the win over Rosholt and is Lehigh’s all-time wins leader with 122 career victories.<\/p>\n
The Mountain Hawks still have plenty of firepower in their lineup, beginning with junior Troy Letters, the defending 165-pound NCAA champion. Letters, 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in his weight class, isn’t scheduled to meet any top EIWA-ranked wrestlers this weekend.<\/p>\n
Senior Andrew Rizzi (125), however, will be tested. It’s an important day for him in terms of earning an EIWA seeding. He will meet Brown’s Jeff Schell, No. 4 in the EIWA, and Harvard’s Robbie Preston, who is ranked No. 2 in the EIWA.<\/p>\n
Lehigh heavyweight Tom Curl, who is filling in for Paul Weibel (ankle injury) is also expected to get a big test from EIWA No. 3 Bode Ogunwole of Harvard. Ogunwole finished third at the Midlands Championships.<\/p>\n
Lehigh sophomore Matt Ciasulli (133), ranked No. 2 in the EIWA, will face No. 6 Dan Appello of Brown in the first match. Lehigh 184-pounder Matt Cassidy is unranked in the EIWA, but Brown’s Doran Heist is ranked No. 6.<\/p>\n
gary.blockus@mcall.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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