#17 LEHIGH STUNS #1 CORNELL IN WRESTLING, 17-15!

[ngineer]

Before more than 4,000 at Stabler Arena tonight the Mountain Hawks did the unthinkable knocking off the #1 team in the country. Of 10 weight classes, Lehigh was favored in only 2, and both of those guys came through with major decisions: #13 Fr. Cagnina at 133 and #1 Jr. Rey at 285. Huge upset occured at 167 when Jr. Hatchett, ranked #17 knocked off #3 Sr. Kerber, 3-2. Further, #6 So. Hamlin knocked off #4 Bosak, 5-4, with a tremendous takedown with 15 seconds remaining. Fr. Steve Dutton also pulled a stunner at 141 with a three-point near fall in the final 10 seconds to beat seasoned senior Manson, 8-5. Even those Hawks who lost went down swining with very close bouts. So. Napoli at 149 lost on riding time, 4-3 to #2 Dake, and #12 Kennedy lost to #1 Cam Simaz, 2-0. #9 Fr.Austin Meys at 174 took defending national champion Lewnes to the wire, losing 4-1 on a late takedown and riding time.

This was the first time in Lehigh's storied wrestling history that they defeated a team ranked #1 at the time. They have now wrestled 9 Top 20 teams this year with a trip to #3 Va. Tech coming up next week. Lehigh's record now stands at 10-5.

[SuperHornet]

How the cr@p was Cornell #1 to begin with, given the presence of Iowa State?!?

[ngineer]

We'll see soon enough as Cornell wrestles the Cyclones, at home, on Jan. 30. Iowa State is currently ranked #12 in the NWCA Poll and #11 in the AWN poll. Cornell was a unanimous #1 in both polls. With 7 wrestlers ranked in the top 15, they certainly have a potent lineup.

[MrTitleist]

How the cr@p was Cornell #1 to begin with, given the presence of Iowa State?!?

Iowa State plays second fiddle in the wrestling world to Iowa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, etc.

That said, I believe Cornell was a high finisher last year in the NCAAs.. they're a good team.

ngineer! Glad you're back. Your damn Mountain Hawks got the best of my Pokes a couple weeks ago. Cowboys have been a really iffy dual team, but are money in tournaments. Pokes lost to Nebraska and Oregon State.. shouldn't have lost either dual, then lost to Cal Poly.. not sure how that happened.

[clenz]

Your Pokes are going to lose next month in CF as well.


How's that for wrestling smack?

[MrTitleist]

Wyoming owns the WWC. They're gonna be incredibly tough to beat in WWC action this year. I watched last years UW/UNI dual online... good match.

[clenz]

Since when does wyoming own the WWC. How many times has Wyo won the conference the last 25 years? Pretty sure UNI has won it 24 times and the one time they lost it was by a half point

[MrTitleist]

It's theirs now. UNI had a huge streak. That was ridiculous. I was actually a little surprised when I read that UNI had that many titles in a row. Wyoming wrestling was really good for a while, then they really stagnated, but this new coach (3rd year now) is young, energetic, and really focuses on recruiting the best. He's got freshman coming into the program and beating down the walls. Pokes big weakness is 197 and heavyweight. Small gap in the middle weights as well. Otherwise they're a tough team.

[BlueHen86]

Just watch Penn St over the next few years. Sanderson is getting some great recruits.

[BlueHen86]

How the cr@p was Cornell #1 to begin with, given the presence of Iowa State?!?

Iowa State plays second fiddle in the wrestling world to Iowa, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, etc.

That said, I believe Cornell was a high finisher last year in the NCAAs.. they're a good team.

ngineer! Glad you're back. Your damn Mountain Hawks got the best of my Pokes a couple weeks ago. Cowboys have been a really iffy dual team, but are money in tournaments. Pokes lost to Nebraska and Oregon State.. shouldn't have lost either dual, then lost to Cal Poly.. not sure how that happened.

I think they finished second. Cornell is a top notch program. A very nice win for Lehigh.

[ngineer]

It was the 20th time in school history that Lehigh had faced a #1 team, but the first time they won. There is tremendous parity in the country this year. Penn State will likely be new #1 and, yes, Sanderson will certainly recruit his share of studs, but they can't all go to the Nits. This could be the first year, ever, than none of the 'Big 4' (Okahoma State, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Iowa State) finish in the top 4.

[clenz]

It's theirs now. UNI had a huge streak. That was ridiculous. I was actually a little surprised when I read that UNI had that many titles in a row. Wyoming wrestling was really good for a while, then they really stagnated, but this new coach (3rd year now) is young, energetic, and really focuses on recruiting the best. He's got freshman coming into the program and beating down the walls. Pokes big weakness is 197 and heavyweight. Small gap in the middle weights as well. Otherwise they're a tough team.

UNI is "down" this year, but it is a transition year. The coach we had for 10 years got fired after last seasons embarrassment (Not winning the conference and finishing something like 43rd at nationals). That was the tipping point of a 4 or 5 year downward spiral. Coach Penrith couldn't bring in the top wrestlers from the area, and there are some damn good wrestlers in the area right around Cedar Falls. Along with that he was always making excuses as to why he wasn't doing that, and why the teams were under performing....Long story short he made UNI very soft as a program

UNI brought in Dough Schwab http://www.unipanthers.com/sports/m-wre ... oug00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He was an assistant at Iowa and brings in that attitude that Iowa has. He still wrestles competitively (2008 Beijing Olympian at 145) and he brought in a staff that had the same attitude. Everything Penrith bitched about in terms of facilities Schwab uses as a home meet advantage. We've signed some nationally ranked wrestlers from the state of Iowa for the first time in a long time. The attitude is changing in CF and we appear to be on our way back to a top 20 team. We may not win the conference this year, although it is still expected, but it will come back to CF sooner rather than later.

Oh, and that streak you referred to was 24 in a row.

[MrTitleist]

UNI is "down" this year, but it is a transition year. The coach we had for 10 years got fired after last seasons embarrassment (Not winning the conference and finishing something like 43rd at nationals). That was the tipping point of a 4 or 5 year downward spiral. Coach Penrith couldn't bring in the top wrestlers from the area, and there are some damn good wrestlers in the area right around Cedar Falls. Along with that he was always making excuses as to why he wasn't doing that, and why the teams were under performing....Long story short he made UNI very soft as a program

That's what happened in Laramie.. team got soft and stagnated, which resulted in bad things. Our coach was an asst at Oklahoma State, and he brought that program's values to Wyoming.. it's really paying off right now. Wyoming HS wrestling has always been really good, but the former coach didn't recruit the in-state kids, instead they went to Chadron State, Northwest Wyoming (who is/was a perennial NJCAA power), etc. Now those kids are staying in-state and that's helping a bunch too.

[Ivytalk]

The enemy of Cornell is my friend!

Congrats!

[ngineer]

Thanks, Ivy. Next Sunday we host the Crimson in 'venerable' Grace Hall as part of a doubleheader with Brown. We wrestle Harvard at 1 p.m. and Brown at 3 p.m. If interested in seeing your boys wrestle in the best wrestling venue in the US, let me know. I have an extra ticket.