South Mountaineer Volume 37, Issue 18

              \
SPORTS
"This is the most spi
Lehigh team in a loi
of respect for that p
they've accomplish*
fm    l>illiV/>      M.   V V*   Cvv   **   lUt
Contents
Page 13
♦Winter sports updates
and schedules
♦ Patriot League
basketball standings.
Page 14
♦ Women's basketball:
Week in review
♦ Men's basketball: Brian
Herold
Page 15
♦ Track & Field:
Overcoming injury
hurdles
♦ Men's basketball:
Week in review
SOUTH
MOUNTAINEER
Volume 37, Issue 18
February 15,1995
Lehigh Upperweights Pound Penn State
Cory Brechbill gave Lehigh its first lead, from which the
Engineers wouldn't look back, with an 11-1 major decision at
177 pounds.  Photo by JOE RYAN
Swimming Preps for Patriots
The men's and women's swimming and diving
teams head to Army for the Patriot League Championships beginning on Thursday.
By ROB SCHMIDT
Sports Information Director
It could have been fate that helped Lehigh beat
Penn State on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers
arrived in State College with a 9-2 record, the most
wins by a Lehigh wrestling team since 1981, a year
that should ring a bell for the brown & white
faithful. The last time Engineer grapplers beat the
Nittany Lions was on January 24, 1981.
So the stage was set in front of a crowd exceeding 2,700 fans in Recreation Hall. Both teams had
something to prove, each coming off of a loss to Lock
Haven. Even the hometown public address announcer hadn't recovered from the Nittany Lions'
loss, referring to Lehigh as Lock Haven on a number of occasions.
Lehigh's Mike Sferra came out fired up, taking
down John Strittmatter early in the first period of
the 118-pound bout. Strittmatter settled down,
however, and controlled the rest ofthe bout on his
way to a 7-2 decision. Tom Koch then tied the score
with a 6-2 decision over Eddie Jayne at 126 pounds.
Penn State won the next two bouts to take a 9-
3 lead. John McCumber lost a 4-3 decision in his
season debut at 134 pounds, and Dan Tashner
followed with a 7-3 loss in his first bout at 142
pounds.
Steve Cassidy then stepped on the mat with a 9-
0 record in dual match competition to face the
nation's second best 142-pounder. John Hughes
was bumped up to 150 pounds to face Cassidy, who
was ranked seventh at that weight.
The wrestlers exchanged escapes, and grappled
to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Nothing was
decided in the ensuing overtime
period, so it came down to a 30-
second tiebreaker. Hughes won
the toss and elected the bottom
position, but Cassidy was able to
control the Lion wrestler, throwing him to the mat after two efforts to escape.
"I was pretty confident we
would be able to win that bout,"
Penn State head coach John Fritz
said. "But John needed to take it
to him more."
"We're both pretty conservative, neither one of us takes a lot
of risks," explained Cassidy, who
picked up his 100th career win,
tying him for second on the all-
time Lehigh wins list with Pete
Yozzo. "I would have rather been
on the bottom - most would - but
once you stop the first move you're
OK in those situations."
Penn State extended the lead
to six points once again, as Glenn
Pritzlaff managed a last second
escape to tie his score with Brian Cipollone at 5-5.
Pritzlaff had acumulated 1:42 of riding time advantage, which tipped the 158-pound bout in his favor,
6-5.
Rick Hepp then took the mat at 167 pounds, a
position he hadn't been in since a season opening
loss to Drexel's Scott Morgan. Lehigh's all-time
wins leader (102) put the Engineers within two
points with a 16-4 major decision over- Matt
Postlethwait.
It was now Cory Brechbill's turn to bring the
section of Lehigh supporters behind the Engineer
bench to their feet. In only his third dual match of
the season, the walk-on of two years ago dominated
Penn State's Matt Hardy on his way to an 11-1
major decision to put Lehigh on top for the first
time, 14-12.
Lehigh would never relinquish the lead, as
Andy Fitz gave the Engineers the insurance they
needed with a 5-3 decision over Rob Piper.
With Lehigh ahead 17-12, Penn State's only
hope was for its defending national champion,
Kerry McCoy, to pin Bill Closson. In last season's
match, McCoy erased a 19-16 Lehigh lead with a
pin of Closson in 5:45 to give the Nittany Lions a 22-
19 victory. History would not repeat itself, however, as Closson held off McCoy's attempt for the
fall.
Right off the whistle in the first period, McCoy
put Closson on his back, but the Engineer heavyweight was able to roll over. From then on, Closson
strategically stalled McCoy, being penalized in each
- see STATE, pg. 13.
Two at the top
Senior co-captains Rick Hepp (left) and Steve
Cassidy (right) are now atop Lehigh's all-time
wins list. Hepp picked up his school best 102nd
career victory against Penn State. Cassidy grabbed
his 100th victory vs. PSU, tying him for second
with Pete Yozzo.