Lehigh's Local Legacy

The city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been part of a traditional wrestling hotspot for generations. Nestled in the Lehigh Valley – which many consider to be home to the best wrestling in the country – Lehigh University sits a stone’s throw away from where the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation was located. The gritty, hard-working residents most likely stem from generations of steelworkers transferring this attitude onto the wrestling mat. 

Pennsylvania’s District 11 is known nationwide thanks to cities like Bethlehem, which have had various factories, cement plants, and other forms of blue-collar jobs since the Industrial Revolution. Lehigh’s pristine location creates a large sampling of top-notch talent in their own backyard. 

Lehigh has always excelled at keeping local talent home. They’ve seen success at all levels of wrestling. The goal in wrestling has always been to be the best in the world - ultimately, an Olympic Champion. The last Mountain Hawk to achieve this was Bobby Weaver – who won a gold medal at 48 kgs (105.5lbs) in 1984. Bobby Weaver was another local wrestler, graduating from Easton High School just up the road from Bethlehem. Weaver eventually began running a local club, where many of the best wrestlers went to train. Who wouldn’t want to learn from an Olympic gold medalist? Plus, how many young wrestlers have the opportunity? 

Current Lehigh Head Associate Head Coach, Brad Dillon was lucky enough to train under Bobby Weaver. This led to a fantastic high school career in District 11, and eventually earned him All-American honors twice while competing as a Lehigh Mountain Hawk. He stated “Bobby Weaver was probably the biggest influence of my career. I spent a lot of time with him in the wrestling room growing up. Fortunately, he’s trained a few guys I have coached here at Lehigh.” Dillon laughed as he said, “I remember a lot of the practices where he would kick my butt in live goes.” Many of the techniques and tricks learned from Weaver are still taught at Lehigh to this day. This Weaver connection helped local talent click with the coaches.

More recently, in the past decade, two local products have really made an impact. Not by coincidence, they both trained at Weaver Elite growing up. First is Darian Cruz, a 2013 graduate of Bethlehem Catholic. He became Lehigh’s first true freshman All-American in over 30 years when he earned 7th place at 125 lbs in March of 2014. Like Weaver, he was a lightweight who didn’t fear being smaller than the competition. Cruz was outsized but gained major confidence after putting together an incredible first season. This size difference was obvious to anyone who watched him compete that year. 

Cruz smiled as he remembered weighing in at 118lbs before morning practices multiple times his true freshman year. “Some days, they (the coaches) wouldn’t let me practice. I would go to lunch with Doug Vollaro and Max Wessel, the heavyweights, and sit there for hours to try and get my weight up. I had a gallon of water in the other hand.” 

Coach Dillon told a similar story where he had to “train Darian to eat.” He had to engrain the concept into Darian that he needed to expand his stomach to get more calories into his system. With more calories, he’d be able to put on mass. He was also lifting more often than the rest of the team, usually five to six times per week. This helped somewhat. But he would never get to be a full-sized 125 lb wrestler that first season. 

More impressively, Cruz weighed in at 121 lbs the final day of NCAAs that year. It’s commonplace to see wrestlers in the back cutting weight once they finish for the night. It is not rare for a wrestler having to lose ten pounds or more to compete the following day. Not Darian. He had the luxury of relaxing and going to bed on a full stomach.  

Cruz made history when he became an NCAA Champion a few years later in 2017. He was Lehigh’s 28th individual NCAA Champion, which is the 6th most of any NCAA D1 team. Coincidentally, his opponent that year, Ethan Lizak of the University of Minnesota, attended Parkland High School. For those wondering, Parkland and Bethlehem Catholic (BECA) high schools are exactly 12.5 miles apart. Cruz and Lizak have been wrestling each other since elementary school. Plus, they trained together growing up every now and then.  It was a great time to be a wrestling fan in the Lehigh Valley that day in March! 

Darian Cruz in the 2017 NCAA finals; Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo

Darian’s dream of winning an NCAA title for the program he grew up watching became a reality. It also created the same dream for young wrestlers in the area, especially Ryan Crookham. Ryan was sitting in the Lehigh section during Darian’s championship run. He also watched Zeke Moisey (another former Weaver Elite member) make his Cinderella story run two years prior. Moisey was a high school teammate of Cruz. 

During his college years, Darian did many clinics and private lessons with local talent. One of the talented up-and-coming studs was no other than Crookham. Ryan and Darian created a bond very early on, and that bond continues to this day. Crookham was a product of Saucon Valley High School, in Hellertown PA. Hellertown is a small town that borders the larger city of Bethlehem. Attending a Lehigh dual inside “the snake pit” is a unique atmosphere in college wrestling. The excitement of a dual is captivating from a young age. This was true for Ryan, as he was a season ticket holder. He fell in love with the quality of wrestling. “I’ve always associated this venue with high-level wrestling, even the ‘Who’s Number 1’ event for the high school level” Ryan’s list of favorite memories in this venue is almost endless. His retention of them is encyclopedia-like. You can get the sense his wrestling IQ is, and always has been, advanced. 

There were other options for Ryan Crookham – but he was barely interested. Lehigh was where he wanted to be. Between the wrestling and academics, it was the perfect fit. Being so close to home was just a bonus. Ryan explained he is in an honor’s program that combines engineering and business. Coach Dillon laughed when he said “Ryan is much like a 40-year-old man. He has, like, a portfolio of his NIL deals. Life after wrestling is not a concern for Ryan.” His competitiveness and desire to be great in all aspects of life will pay dividends in the long run. 

Crookham concluded, “I made the decision early and haven’t regretted it since. It’s been even better than I imagined. I’m more than happy being at Lehigh.” We went on a bit of a tangent regarding NIL and the sport of wrestling during our chat. He was full of great insight!

Both wrestlers were named All-Americans in their freshman season. Darian’s occurred while he was a true freshman. Ryan’s occurred after a redshirt season. Cruz was 28-9 that year, finishing 3rd in the EIWA and 7th at NCAAs. Darian’s was much quieter – not to any fault of his own. 

As we know, Crookham was blasted onto the scene in mid-November when he defeated returning NCAA and world champion, Vito Arujau of Cornell. Ryan took a loss later in March to Arujau – ending his NCAA tournament in 3rd place. It was his only loss of the season. In the end, Cruz ended his career as a three-time All-American. He is one of 19 in Lehigh’s history. Crookham is on path to become the school’s third-ever four-time All-American – he would be the first in over 40 years. For what it’s worth, his teammate, Luke Stanich, is also on this path. The Mountain Hawks have a special duo with these two freshmen. 

When looking at the two wrestlers, Darian and Ryan were nearly polar opposites. Coach Dillon discussed how Darian needed more “pushing and pulling when he was young” to understand what he needed to do in order to win. This vastly differed from Ryan’s “cerebral approach to everything.” Darian wanted to use his slickness all the time. He had to learn to do things the hard way when needed. Ryan came into college with the physicality and hand-fighting skills, so his approach varied. Darian was a mentor to Ryan – which may have helped Ryan mature at a quicker rate. Another aspect to keep in mind – Darian and Ryan’s freshman years were much different. Crookham was essentially the face of the program as a freshman. Darian’s time came later.  

At first glance, Darian’s career as a Mountain Hawk is already superior to Weaver’s. Weaver’s highest placement at NCAAs was 3rd in 1982. Darian’s 3X All-American status is better on paper, plus he holds an NCAA title to his name. Similarly, Ryan Crookham is on pace to overcome Weaver’s NCAA accolades. But, are Ryan’s goals in line with Darian and Bobby’s of becoming an Olympic Champion? 

Ryan’s freestyle results are minimal due to injuries in high school. “Anytime I am healthy in the future, I will be at the world team trials at 61kgs (134.5lbs). I love wrestling. I don’t specifically focus on one style… Competing at the 2028 Olympics would be the goal.” Unfortunately, he was still injured after NCAAs this season. It would have been great to see him compete against some of the best to see where he stands. He did not shoot down the possibility of coaching in the future, but it’s not currently on his radar. “Things may change in the future because I do like coaching. I’ve doing clinics this offseason at local schools, and it’s been fun,” he said with a smile. 

Before Cruz and Weaver, Gerry Leeman was a silver medalist at the 1948 Olympic Games. Leeman was the program’s head coach from 1952-1970, where he amassed 161 wins with a whopping .803 win percentage. Currently, Grace Hall is the building where Lehigh wrestles dual meets. The arena on the ground floor is called “Leeman-Turner Arena” after legendary coaches Gerry Leeman and Thad Turner. Leeman’s attributions go beyond his days of coaching and wrestling at Lehigh. Only time will tell how the legacy of Darian Cruz and Ryan Crookham will live on at Lehigh. Darian plans to get into coaching after competing. The ideal location for him would be his alma mater, similar to current coaches Brad Dillon and Zach Rey. 

Ryan Crookham’s assumption on Darian’s coaching ability parallels Coach Dillon's. Dillon stated Darian is very relatable to kids and has learned a lot from him over the years. Ryan mentioned how selfless Darian is as a person. “It was about a week or two before the Pan-Am qualifiers. I was coming back from injury and needed a workout partner. Darian volunteered without hesitation to let me get every rep in I needed for two to three days in a row. He was essentially a dummy partner for me as he was preparing to qualify for the Olympics.” Ryan promises to return the favor and give Darian all the reps he needs leading up to the Summer Games. 

On a personal note - I will never forget the night Darian won that NCAA title. I saw him that night with his Lehigh teammates hanging out after the final session concluded. He came over to chat. He didn’t need to. I congratulated him. After a minute of chit-chat, he said something I’ll never forget – “How cool is it that a normal guy like me won an NCAA title?” Maybe it’s the fact I’ve known Darian forever and watched him grow up. The thrill of being part of that special group of wrestlers was exciting to him. Next month, he will join an even smaller group of wrestlers who have been able to call themselves an “Olympian.” This was a reminder that his LVWC coach, Kerry McCoy mentioned to him shortly after qualifying. McCoy was an Olympian in 2000 and 2004. Cruz said, “It’s never ‘former.’ You are an Olympian forever.”

Darian Cruz is set to compete at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. He will represent Puerto Rico and is slated to compete on Thursday, August 8th. His weight class (like Bobby Weaver’s) is the smallest class at 57kgs (125.7lbs). Although he will be repping Puerto Rico, the wrestling fans from the United States will be rooting for Darian (except if he draws Spencer Lee). The Lehigh faithful and local wrestling community will be cheering on Darian no matter what. He’s been one of the most successful wrestlers hailing from District 11 in the past two decades, with an opportunity to become one of the best ever. Darian has been a local favorite since he was impressing crowds with his unbelievably advanced sweep singles at the age of six.  

When he puts on that singlet to represent the island nation of Puerto Rico, he isn’t doing it for himself. That’s what makes Darian so special. During our interview, it was made clear when he said “I’ve always been excited to represent something more than myself.” He explained there is no better feeling than seeing young athletes look up to him when he goes to train in Puerto Rico. “Every time I go there to train, I leave clothes and shoes and whatever for many of the kids. You never know how much it could mean to them.” 

There has been a wave of younger wrestlers competing for the island hailing from the USA, following in Darian’s footsteps. He would be Puerto Rico’s first Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. “I could care less about trophies and medals. The biggest thing for me is to mean something to somebody else and inspire them to do great things.” Now, he’s a family man with a wife and two young children. Regardless of the outcome in August, he is already a hero to them and many more.