South Mountaineer Volume 37, Issue 14

              SPORTS
"Sixteen guys wrestled on this trip (to
Pittsburgh and Michigan), and they gave
it their all. However, they all know that
they still weren't in shape this week, so
we'll train hard for Rider*"
-Head wrestling coach, Bob Latessa
Contents
Page 9
♦Winter sports updates
and schedules
♦ Wrestling national
rankings
SOUTH
Page 10
♦ Women's basketball
early season review
♦ Football: Kevin
Jefferson wearing
Bengal stripes
Page 11
♦ Men's basketball early
season review
♦ Men's basketball: Eric
Basser
♦ Track & Field: winners
in John Covert Classic
MOUNTAINEER
Volume 37, Issue 14
January 18,1995
Engineers pin down four more wins
Lehigh Wrestling off
to best start since
1966-67 season
By ROB SCHMIDT
South Mountaineer Editor
i
A battle-worn group of Engineers returned to
Taylor Gym in the early night hours of January 8,
and although their bodies showed bruises and scars
from competition, their record remained unscathed.
The Brown and White improved its record to 6-0, a
start not seen since the 1966-67 squad went 10-0
before facing defeat.
Lehigh's wrestling team was wrapping up a
road trip that saw it take on four opponents in three
days. Two of those foes were ranked in the top-25,
well rested and ready to take on the Engineers on
their home mats.
The Engineers pulled into Pittsburgh on January 4, less than a week after competing in the
Midlands Tournament to face a 22nd-ranked Pitt
squad that hadn't seen competition since December
5. While the Panthers were all healthy coming off
the holiday break, the Engineers brought in with
them cuts and bruises from Midlands.
Mike Sferra got the ball rolling for Lehigh at 118
pounds, decisioning Chris Stevens 12-5 in his first
dual match ofthe season. Jason Kutz dominated his
opponent at 126 pounds, scoring a 15-7 major decision over sophomore Eric Knopsnyder. Jung Lee
then picked up Lehigh's third win in a row, dropping
highly touted freshman Chad Jesko 4-1 and giving
the Engineers a 10-0 lead.
John McCumber fell to a hot J.J. Fasnacht at
142 pounds by an 8-3 decision. Fasnacht upped his
dual record to 5-0, and improved his overall record
to 11-2.
Pittsburgh native Brian Cipollone was forced to
miss his homecoming due to illnes, so his former
high school teammate Steve Cassidy moved up to
158 pounds to fill in. Ed Andres was inserted at 150
pounds where he fell to Larry Sprecher 6-4.
Cassidy squeaked by John Withrow in a 3-2
overtime decision with an escape in the 30 second
extra session to put Lehigh up 13-6.
Kyle Severson ran into another hot Pitt wrestler
in lOth-ranked Brian Matusic, a transfer from Penn
St. Matusic, who was undefeated in duals this
season and had only lost one match thus far, continued his winning ways, decisioning Severson 8-2.
Rick Hepp gave the Engineers their final points
ofthe match with a 12-4 major decision over John
Gibeaut. Lehigh was now up 17-9.
Andy Fitz and Bill Closson each experienced 3-
2 set backs. Fitz fell to Mark Bodo who broke a 2-2
tie with an escape in the third period while Pat
Wiltanger's second period escape was the difference
at heavyweight. Wiltanger's win over Closson was
his fourth victory against zero losses this season.
Pitt's two-time NCAA qualifier missed early season
Bill Closson (shown here vs. Rider last season) decisioned Michigan's Airron
Richardson to put away the 20th-ranked Wolverines. Photo by JOE RYAN.
action due to illness.
On the heels of their 17-15 victory, the Engineers headed for Ann Arbor, Michigan to face three
schools on Saturday, Jan. 7.
The 6-1 Eagles of Eastern Michigan University
would be Lehigh's first opponent on Saturday. The
noon match would see the Engineers roll to a 32-9
victory, kicked off by a 12-2 major decision by Mark
Keller over Jeff Wolfe at 118 pounds.
Michael Sculley downed Tom Koch at 126 pounds
by an 8-6 decision, but Dan Tashner gave Lehigh a
boost with a pin of James Amira in 4:25.
McCumber decisioned Brent Woods 10-9 before
Andres was pinned by Ramico Blackmon at 150
pounds to put the score at 13-9.
The Engineers then won each ofthe remaining
matches, culminating with a forfeit to Closson at
heavyweight.
Cipollone (158), Cory Brechbill (167), and Fitz
(190) each scored decisions while Hepp registered a
technical fall, 18-2, over Vernon Hill in 4:03 at 177
pounds.
Shortly after defeating the Eagles, Lehigh
squared off against Morgan St. The Bears came into
the day's competition banged up, and were forced to
forfeit the 118, 150, and 158 weights in all of their
matches. The Engineers used four pins and a major
decision to roll to a 46-9 victory, the highest Lehigh
pointtotalsincea51-0defeatofCornellin 1986. The
true test, however, was awaiting the Engineers in
the evening finale.
Lehigh would face a 20th-ranked Michigan team
that was looking to redeem a 17-16 loss to Big Ten
rival Illinois. After dropping the 126-150 weights,
the Wolverines needed four consecutive wins from
158-190 pounds to take a 16-14 lead over the Illini
into heavyweight, in which Airron Richardson lost
in sudden death overtime.
The Engineers gave Michigan fans a little feeling of deja vu, but this time the fans in maize and
blue saw their team drop
the first five bouts starting
with Mark Keller's 12-7 win
over Matt Stout. Kutz (126),
Tashner (134), McCumber
(142), and Cassidy each
scored decisions to give
Lehigh a 15-0 lead.
Michigan started mounting a comeback when sixth-
ranked Jeff Catrabone
decisioned Cipollone at 158
pounds. Cipollone, still not
100%, held Catrabone close
in their rematch of a Las
Vegas Invitational bout,
yielding a 4-1 decision.
Catrabone handed Cipollone
his only loss, 5-2, at Vegas.
Fifth-ranked Chad
Biggert then scored a major
decision over Severson at
167 pounds to set up a
strongly anticipated bout between seventh-ranked Hepp and eleventh-ranked
Jesse Rawls.
Hepp beat Rawls in last season's dual with an
escape at the buzzer, and then fell to him at Las
Vegas early this season.
The bout lived up to all expectations. The two
wrestlers staved off each other's shots in the first
period, and then Hepp scored an escape in the
second to take a 1-0 lead into the final session.
Rawls escaped to tie the score, but Hepp had
over one minute of riding time on his side. As the
clock ran out on the match, Rawls caught Hepp
trying to spin away, and got the takedown to the
sound ofthe final buzzer. Suddenly the score was
now 15-10.
Fitz then faced eighth-ranked Jehad Hamdan at
190, and was decisioned 11-5. The match was now
in Closson's hands.
The score was 15-13, and Michigan's Richardson
found himself in a familiar position, and when the
score was tied at two apiece in the third, it might
have seemed all too familiar.
Both wrestlers were fatigued as the match drew
near its close, but Closson had enough left to escape
from Richardson's grasp to take a 3-2 lead, and hold
off the Wolverine to give Lehigh an 18-13 win.
The Engineers were now 6-0, and first year
coach Bob Latessa was proud ofhis crew, but refuses
to let them look back and savor the victories.
"The guys showed unbelievable guts on this
trip," Latessa said. "We had guys banged up and
sick, but they still went out and left it all on the mat.
They should be proud.
"Sixteen guys wrestled on this trip, and they
gave it their all. However, they all know that they
still weren't in shape this week, so we'll train hard
for Rider."
-For the latest wrestling rankings, see pg. 9.