"It was a very good show," said head coach Greg Strobel. "The kids were in good shape, there were no conditioning problems. The matches were very competitive, a lot of the new kids have really been impressive. We've seen it in the wrestling room over the last month and the fans got to see it tonight."
The nights opening bout was a wrestle-off to determine who would wrestle junior Matt Ciasulli for the starting spot at 149 later in the evening. Freshman Trevor Chinn scored on a four point move early in the first period, then scored the winning takedown with three seconds remaining in the third to defeat sophomore Dave Nakasone 8-6.
At 125 true freshman Matt Fisk built a third period riding time advantage to edge sophomore Patrick Berger 2-1.
A pair of 141 pound bouts followed. First junior Matt Ennis posted an impressive 16-5 major decision over Phil Koehler in an exhibition bout, then returning All-American senior Cory Cooperman delivered the first fall of the evening, defeating true freshman Frankie Gayeski.
Two former NCAA qualifiers squared off at 157 with senior Derek Zinck outlasting junior Matt Anderson 7-2. Fellow senior Troy Letters then shut out true freshman Mike Galante at 165.
One of the more anticipated bouts came at 184, which was a rematch of a pre-EIWA tournament wrestle-off from a year ago. Senior Brian LaMay won last year's match-up in the wrestling room, but on Tuesday night it was Helfrich utilizing two first period takedowns to win the bout 5-3.
Another intriguing match-up followed at 197 where junior Matt Cassidy built an early lead and went on to defeat classmate Paul Weibel, 13-8. A minor upset occurred at heavyweight, where 197 pounder Dan Murrer scored the only takedown of the bout in a 3-2 win over heavyweight Tom Curl.
Two more 149 pound bouts closed out the evening's action. First Nakasone bounced back from his loss in the night's opening bout with a 10-3 win over Mark McCauley. The night's finale was a dandy of a match that needed two overtimes before a winner was declared. Junior Matt Ciasulli and Chinn were knotted at one after regulation, and then tied at two after the first series of overtime periods. After another scoreless sudden death period, Ciasulli scored an escape in the next overtime period and was on his way to riding out the final overtime period before Chinn escaped late to tie the bout at three, but Ciasulli's riding time advantage gave him the victory.
"There were a couple upsets, like Murrer beating Curl, and that match between Chinn and Ciasulli was about as close as they come," Strobel added.
The Mountain Hawks will open the regular season on Thursday November 10 when they welcome Rider to Leeman-Turner Arena. For tickets call (610) 7LU-GAME, or visit the Lehigh ticket office located in Grace Hall.
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