North Carolina State University Athletics
Second-Ranked Lehigh Takes Down NC State 39-3
11/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 12, 2004
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - After an easy opener against an overmatched Campbell team, NC State's wrestling team took to the road Friday night and took on one of the sport's elite programs, falling to Lehigh at Grace Hall, 39-3, before a sellout crowd of 1,979.
The match was the season opener for Lehigh, ranked second to defending national champion Oklahoma State in all the national wrestling polls. NC State, the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions, fell to 1-1.
The second-ranked Mountain Hawks' lineup is dotted with five All-Americans, two of whom are either defending or former national champions, and they gave the young Wolfpack more than it could handle, not that the Pack went down without putting up a fight.
"We went up against one of the great programs in college wrestling tonight, and they have a great team," Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. "We measured ourselves against one of the best programs in the country and came up short, but I don't think the score was indicative of how hard we wrestled. Our kids really fought hard, and I'm very happy about that. We obviously have a lot of work to do."
Garrett Cummings took the first bout of the evening, beating John Stout 7-6 at 125 pounds to give the Wolfpack a 3-0 lead in the team scoring. Jeff Breese then took the fight to Jeff Santo at 133 and appeared to have the bout won before a late call for stalling threw the match into overtime. Stout prevailed 14-12 in the extra period, tying the score at 3-3. Lehigh did not lose again, and wound up with three pins and three major decisions before the dust cleared.
Fourth-ranked Cory Cooperman, an All-American at 141 pounds a year ago, pinned NC State freshman Travis Varner at the 1:32 mark of that bout. Matt Anderson and Derek Zinck then won major decisions over Chris DeLuca and Kody Hamrah at 149 and 157 respectively, giving the Mountain Hawks a 17-3 lead.
The avalanche continued from there, Brian Lamay defeated Ryan Nowicki 10-3 at 165, and Travis Frick, an All-American last year at 184 pounds, got a major decision over Kevin Gabrielson 14-4 at 174. At 184, Matt Cassidy pinned Wolfpack freshman Jeremy Colbert at 1:57, and two-time national champion Jon Trenge pinned NC State Zach Garren at 6:01 in the 197-pound bout.
Heavyweight Jainor Palma tried valiantly to salvage the final bout for the Wolfpack, but dropped a 5-4 decision to Paul Weibel.
NC State will return to action next Saturday, November 20, at the Navy Classic.
Lehigh 39 NC State 3
125 - Garrett Cummings (NCS) dec. John Stout, 7-6
133- Jeff Santo (LU) dec. Jeff Breese, 14-12, ot
141 - Cory Cooperman (LU) pinned Travis Varner at 1:32
149 - Matt Anderson (LU) major dec. Chris DeLuca, 15-5
157 - Derek Zinck (LU) major dec. Kody Hamrah, 19-6
165 - Brian Lamay (LU) dec. Ryan Nowicki, 10-3
174 - Travis Frick (LU) major dec. Kevin Gabrielson, 14-4
184 - Matt Cassidy (LU) pinned Jeremy Colbert at 1:57
197 - Jon Trenge (LU) pinned Zach Garren at 6:01
Hwt - Paul Weibel (LU) dec. Jainor Palma, 5-4
