The Mountain Hawks were able to gain early momentum in their dual with Hofstra. Dave Nakasone got Lehigh off to a strong start, wearing down Alton Lucas en route to a 12-7 decision, before a pair of Mountain Hawks got Lehigh rolling with upsets over nationally ranked wrestlers.
At 174 seventeenth ranked senior Travis Frick opened his final Saturday inside Grace, scoring a first period takedown and second period reversal to hold off the Pride's No. 5 ranked Joe Rovelli 4-3. Then, at 184, junior Dave Helfrich scored a takedown near the edge of the mat with under 30 seconds left to edge nineteenth ranked Joe Rovelli.
Paul Weibel kept things rolling at 197, utilizing a five-point move in the first period to beat Chris Weidman 9-4.
Hofstra got six points back as Jon Andriac pinned Matt Cassidy at heavyweight, but Lehigh would come roaring back as Matt Fisk put some points on the scoreboard with an 11-2 major decision over Dave Tomasette at 125.
The final three bouts against the Pride were match-ups between nationally ranked wrestlers. The Mountain Hawks emerged victorious at 141 as senior Cory Cooperman got the best of Charles Griffin and at 157 where fellow senior Derek Zinck edged James Strouse 3-2. Lehigh avenged a 23-10 loss to the Pride last year on Long Island, when the Mountain Hawks were ranked second in the nation.
Against the Terrapins, Lehigh fell behind 6-0 when Adam Decosmo pinned Nakasone halfway through the first period. After Frick won by forfeit at 174, senior Brian LaMay was able to leave Grace Hall on a high note. LaMay had an early takedown, three-point near-fall combo to build an early lead, and cruised to a 17-2 technical fall, with the riding time point securing the 15 point margin of victory at the final buzzer.
Greg Strobel then once again flip-flopped his 197 pounders and Cassidy, wrestling at 197 held off a feisty Jerry Afari 12-9, while Weibel was a winner by forfeit at heavyweight.
Lehigh would secure wins in each of the final five bouts to put the dual away. Matt Fisk beat James Knox 7-0 to avenge a loss at the Southern Scuffle. Sophomore John Stout, Cooperman and Ciasulli all had wins by decision to extend the lead, and in the Mountain Hawks final bout of the day, Zinck wrapped up his Grace Hall career with a 14-4 major decision over Adam James to wrap up the 30 point win over a Maryland team that is coached by former Lehigh assistant Pat Santoro and former Lehigh All-American Brad Dillon.
The Mountain Hawks will return to the mat on Sunday, February 12, when they travel to West Point to take on EIWA rival Army. The dual gets underway at 7:30 and will be televised on ESPNU. As always, audio coverage of the dual will be available on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as online at lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now