LEHIGH SCHEDULE/RESULTS SHERIDAN DUAL: No. 8 LEHIGH vs. No. 10 STATE

Nov. 10 Thu. RIDER (Grace) W 26-15 ARIZONA STATE (3-0) at LEHIGH (3-1) 13 Sun. vs. Williamson@ W 50-6 STABLER ARENA (5,600) 13 Sun. vs. Lock Haven@ W 32-3 13 Sun. at Penn State@ L 18-17 BETHLEHEM, PA • NOV. 17, 2005 • 7:00 17 Thu. ARIZONA STATE (Stabler) 7:00 27 Sun. RUTGERS* (Grace) 2:00 Dec. SETTING THE SCENE 2 Fri. at Oklahoma State 8:00 It will be a showdown between top-ten teams at Stabler Arena as No. 8 Lehigh 3 Sat. at Oklahoma 8:00 welcomes the tenth-ranked Sun Devils of Arizona State in the 2005-06 Billy Sheridan 29-30Thu.-Fri.at Southern Scuffle TBD Memorial Dual. The Mountain Hawks are looking to bounce back from a tough one- Jan. 6 Fri. PENN STATE (Stabler) 7:00 point loss to rival Penn State on Sunday in the finals of the Pennsylvania State Dual 8 Sun. at Michigan 2:00 Championships. The Sun Devils opened the season with three victories at the Portland 8 Sun. at Eastern Michigan 5:00 State Duals. Arizona State won the Pac-10 a year ago and finished 13th nationally with a 13 Fri. (Grace) 7:00 pair of All-American selections in current seniors Brian Stith and . 14 Sat. NAVY* (Grace) 3:00 22 Sun. at Cornell* 1:00 28 Sat at Harvard* 10:30 FAST FACTS 28 Sat. at Brown* 3:00 • Lehigh has won the last four EIWA team championships and has placed in the top ten Feb. at the NCAA Championships in five of the last six years. 4 Sat. HOFSTRA (Grace) 1:00 4 Sat. MARYLAND (Grace) 3:00 • In 2005 the Mountain Hawks placed three wrestlers in the top-three at nationals for 12 Sun. at Army* 5:00 just the fifth time in 75 years. 19 Sun. at Penn* 2:00 19 Sun. at Drexel 5:00 PROBABLE MATCHUPS Mar. 4-5 Sat.-Sun.EIWA Championships (at Lehigh)11:00 16-18Thu.-Sat.NCAA Championships TBD LEHIGH ARIZONA STATE (at Oklahoma City)

Home matches in CAPS 125 Matt Fisk (Fr., Wyalusing, Pa.) * - EIWA Opponent vs. No. 9 Jeremy Mendoza (Sr., Temecula, Calif.) @ - Penn State Dual Championships (at Penn State) 133 Jeff Santo (So., Wind Gap, Pa.) vs. Adam Hickey (So., Mayfield, Ohio) OR MEDIA INFORMATION 141 No. 3 Cory Cooperman (Sr., Easton, Pa.) Contact vs. Jason Robbins (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) Steve Lomangino 149 Trevor Chinn (Fr., Canandaigua, N.Y.) Office: ...... (610) 758-3174 vs. Pat Payne (So., Poway, Calif.) Cell ...... (917) 579-0976 157 No. 12 Derek Zinck (Sr., Upper Perkiomen, Pa) E-mail: ...... [email protected] vs. Kevin Gaughan (Jr., New Fairfield, Conn.) On Television 165 No. 2 Troy Letters (Sr., Shaler, Pa.) Tonight’s match can be seen live on vs. No. 11 Patrick Pitsch (So., Spanaway, Wash.) Service Electric 2 Sports with Doug 174 No. 7 Travis Frick (Sr,. Nazareth, Pa.) Heater and Bob Hartman delivering vs. Alex Pavlenko (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) OR all the action. Jamie Robbins (Jr., Mesa, Ariz.) 184 David Helfrich (Jr., Sweet Home, Ore.) On the Radio and Internet vs. Jason Trulson (So., Fountain Hills, Ariz.) Tonight’s match will be broadcast on 197 Matt Cassidy (Jr., Plum, Pa.) ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320, as well as vs. No. 10 (Sr., Reno, Nev.) www.lehighsports.com. Coverage HWT Tom Curl (Jr., Paulsboro, N.J.) will begin at 6:45 and will be pro- vs. No. 4 Cain Velasquez (Sr., Yuma, Ariz.) vided by Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell. Streaming audio and video of tonight’s match is powered by 33-TIME EIWA CHAMPIONS Yahoo! Sports. 26 INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Lehigh Athletic Media Relations • 6Experience41 Taylor Stree Lehight, Bethlehem, Football PA 2003• Phone 610-758-3174 • Fax 610-758-4407 No. 8 LEHIGH VS. No. 10 ARIZONA STATE • PAGE TWO

IN THE POLLS LAST TIME THEY MET JANUARY 19, 2002 - COLUMBUS, OHIO ARIZONA STATE 21 - LEHIGH 21 THE WRESTLING MALL Top 15 (Preseason) Lehigh was ousted from the NWCA National Duals when Arizona State claimed a rare 21-21 criteria decision over Lehigh. The ten bouts were split five and five, with each 1. Oklahoma State team holding a six-point victory. Tristan Boyd won by forfeit to get the Mountain 2. Oklahoma Hawks on the board, but Kellan Fluckinger of ASU pinned Joe Sahl at . 3. Michigan The next criteria was five point technical falls, in which Arizona State led 1-0. Warren 4. Iowa Stout, Brad Dillon and Rob Rohn all won bouts by major decision while Jon Trenge 5. Minnesota picked up a sudden victory win over Erik Gladish at 197. 6. Illinois 7. Iowa State 125 Mike Simpson (ASU) maj. dec. Mario Stuart (LU) 18-9 133 David Douglas (ASU) dec. Dan Hyman (LU) 4-0 8. Lehigh 141 Tristan Boyd (LU) W Forfeit 9. Arizona State 149 Quinn Foster (ASU) dec. Troy Minarovic (LU) 6-0 10. Cornell 157 Warren Stout (LU) maj. dec. Danny Alcocer (ASU) 18-7 11. Indiana 165 Nick Frost (ASU) tech. fall. Ted Dufresne (LU) 19-3 12. Penn State 174 Brad Dillon (LU) maj. dec. Chris Petrie (ASU) 13-4 13. Northwestern 184 Rob Rohn (LU) maj. dec. Will Carr (ASU) 14-4 14. Missouri 197 Jon Trenge (LU) dec. Erik Gladish (ASU) 6-4 s.v. 15. Central Michigan HWT Kellan Fluckinger (ASU) WBF Joe Sahl (LU) 1:35

LEHIGH HEAD COACH GREG STROBEL Coach Strobel is in his eleventh season guiding the Mountain Hawks. Through his first ten-plus seasons, he has posted a dual record of 153-56 (.733). Last season, Strobel INTERMAT RANKINGS coached three All-Americans and guided Lehigh to its fourth straight EIWA title and Top 15 (Preseason) fifth of the Greg Strobel Era. Just two years ago Strobel coached five All-Americans (the most since 1980) and was named NWCA National Coach of the Year. His teams have finished in the top ten at nationals in five of the last six years. Since arriving at Lehigh, 1. Oklahoma State Strobel has coached 27 All-Americans, 23 EIWA Champions and two National Champi- 2. Oklahoma ons. The 1975 Oregon State graduate also coached the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. 3. Michigan 4. Illinois ARIZONA STATE HEAD COACH THOM ORTIZ 5. Iowa Coach Ortiz is in his fifth season at the helm of the Arizona State wrestling program. 6. Minnesota Ortiz led the Sun Devils to their fifth Pac-10 Championship in 2005 and was honored as 7. Iowa State the conference’s Coach of the Year for the second time (2003). In four-plus seasons in 8. Lehigh Tempe, he has guided the Sun Devils to a 46-26-1 dual record. Prior to coming to 9. Cornell Arizona State, Ortiz served as an assistant under Bobby Douglas at Iowa State, where he 10. Arizona State recruited and coached the legendary Cael Sanderson. A 1990 graduate of Arizona State, 11. Northwestern Ortiz was a three-time All-American and Pac-10 Champion on the mats for ASU. 12. Penn State 13. Central Michigan BILLY SHERIDAN: TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND 14. Missouri Tonight’s Lehigh-Arizona State match is the annual Billy Sheridan Memorial Dual. 15. Wisconsin Sheridan guided the Lehigh wrestling program from 1912-1952. The All-time leader in dual wins at Lehigh, Sheridan amassed a record of 222-86-8. He guided Lehigh to a 51-4 record from 1928-1934, a time in which the Brown and White won 13 individual EIWA titles and six team crowns. He guided the Lehigh teams that won five EIWA team championships in a row from 1931-35, a feat the 2005-06 Mountain Hawks will look to duplicate. Sheridan coached Lehigh’s first five NCAA Champions and also started the popular Lehigh Intramural Tournament, which was a South Mountain tradition for over 60 years.

Lehigh Athletic Media Relations • 641 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA • Phone 610-758-3174 • Fax 610-758-4407 No. 8 LEHIGH VS. No. ARIZONA STATE • PAGE THREE SERIES HISTORY SENIOR SUCCESS Lehigh and Arizona State have met three times before, with The Mountain Hawks are led by five seniors this season, giving the Sun Devils holding a 2-1 series advantage. Two of the Greg Strobel one of his most experienced teams at Lehigh. A three meetings have taken place as part of the National Duals, look at the class of 2006 and their wrestling accomplishments. including the last meeting in which Arizona State won 21-21 by a criteria decision in Columbus, Ohio in 2002. Tonight’s 141 - Cory Cooperman match marks Arizona State’s first ever visit to Bethlehem. Two time All-American: 2005 (3rd), 2004 (7th) Three time NCAA Qualifier: 2005, 2004 (141), 2003 (133) Meets Record First Most recent EIWA Champion: 2005 (141), 2003 (133). Runner up: 2004 Lehigh vs. Arizona State 3 1-2-0 1998 2002 157 - Derek Zinck 1/19/02 Arizona State 21 Lehigh 21 All-American: 2003 (8th) Columbus, Ohio - National Duals Three-time NCAA Qualifier: 2003, 2004, 2005 Highlight: ASU wins by criteria decision, eliminates Lehigh EIWA Champion: 2003. Runner-up 2004, 2005

11/26/99 Lehigh 26 Arizona State 9 165 - Troy Letters Tempe, Ariz. - Desert Duals 2004 NCAA Champion Highlight: Dave Esposito 14-3 MD over top ten Quinn Foster Three-time All-American: 2005 (3rd), 2004 (1st), 2003 (2nd) Three-time EIWA Champion 1/18/98 Arizona State 22 Lehigh 15 Iowa City, Iowa - National Duals 174 - Travis Frick Highlight: Esposito upsets Foster for first time with WBF All-American: 2004 (8th - 184) Three-time NCAA Qualifier: 2003, 2004 (184), 2005 (174) NCAA CHAMPIONS EIWA Champion: 2004 (184) EIWA Third place: 2003, 2005 Twenty Lehigh Wrestlers have won 26 NCAA championships, ranking fifth nationally. Troy Letters was victorious in 2004 174/184 - Brian LaMay at 165, notching Lehigh’s most recent title. EIWA - 4th place (2005 - 184) West Virginia Open - 1st place (2004 - 165) Rank School Championships 1. Oklahoma State ...... 130 RANK AND FILE 2. Iowa ...... 72 In Intermat’s rankings, Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in five of ten 3. Oklahoma ...... 65 weight classes, including a pair of top-five ranked grapplers in 4. Iowa State ...... 62 returning All-Americans Troy Letters and Cory Cooperman. 5. Lehigh ...... 26 6. Michigan State ...... 24 Weight Wrestler Rank Number 1 7. Northern Iowa ...... 21 141 Cory Cooperman 3 Teyon Ware, Oklahoma 8. Penn State ...... 20 149 Matt Ciasulli 20 Zack Esposito, Okla. State Illinois ...... 20 157 Derek Zinck 12 Joe Johnston, Iowa 10. Michigan ...... 19 165 Troy Letters 2 Johny Hendricks, Okla. State 11. Wisconsin ...... 17 174 Travis Frick 7 Ben Askren, Missouri 12. Minnesota ...... 16 13. Pittsburgh ...... 15 MATTS ARE MOVIN’ ON UP 14. Oregon State ...... 12 Its not uncommon for wrestlers to move up or down in weight 15. Ohio State ...... 11 class from season to season. This year, three Mountain Hawks named Matt moved up in weight. Junior Matt Ciasulli, jumped ALL-AMERICAN HEROES two classes from 133 to 149 where he is expected to be Lehigh’s Only four schools in the last 50 NCAA tournaments have had starter. Fellow junior Matt Anderson, a two-time NCAA All-Americans in 46 or more championships, Oklahoma St., qualifier at 149 has bumped up to 157 where he will back up Oklahoma, Iowa St. and Lehigh. Lehigh teams have finished Derek Zinck. A third junior named Matt, Cassidy, moved back in the Top 5 a remarkable 16 times. up to 197 after wrestling at 184 last year. Cassidy wrestled at 197 as a freshman in 2003 and is in a tight competition with class- Rank School All-Americans mate Paul Weibel, who moved down from heavyweight at 197. 1. Oklahoma State ...... 403 2. Iowa State ...... 259 A FRESH START 3. Iowa ...... 258 When Matt Fisk defeated Penn State’s Brad Pataky at the Penn- 4. Oklahoma ...... 249 sylvania State Dual Championships (11/13) he became just the 5. Michigan ...... 156 sixth true freshman to start for Greg Strobel and the first since 6 Penn State ...... 151 Tristan Boyd started at 133 in the 1999-2000 season. Boyd finished 7. Michigan State ...... 129 the year 15-18 and placed 5th in the EIWA. 8. Minnesota ...... 125 9. Lehigh ...... 124 10. Northern Iowa ...... 111

Lehigh Athletic Media Relations • 6Experience41 Taylor Stree Lehight, Bethlehem, Football PA 2003• Phone 610-758-3174 • Fax 610-758-4407 No. 8 LEHIGH VS. No. 10 ARIZONA STATE • PAGE FOUR THE MAN OF TROY IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR Senior Troy Letters became the 20th Lehigh wrestler to win a The 2005-06 Mountain Hawks have one grappler who is the son national championship, doing so at 165 in 2004. Letters is a of an NCAA champion, and one who is the grandson. Senior three-time EIWA Champion, who has placed 2nd, 1st and 3rd Travis Frick’s father Mike won in '75-76 at 134 lbs and was the in three NCAA appearances. He has a chance to become just Outstanding Wrestler in '75. Junior Ben Bishop’s grandfather Ben the fifth four-time EIWA Champion and the third four time Sr. was Lehigh’s second NCAA champ ever, in 1934. All-American at Lehigh. Letters opened the 2005-06 season with a pair of wins at the Slippery Rock Open last week then collected career win number 100 against Rider on November LAST TIME OUT 10 in front of the home fans at Grace Hall. Letters also ranks Another Lehigh-Penn State dual came down to the final bout, but in the top three in career winning percentage. this time the Nittany Lions prevailed by a 18-17 score in the finals of the Pennsylvania State Dual Championships at Rec. Hall Best Overall Win Percentage - Lehigh in State College. The bouts were split 5-5, but Penn State erased 1. Mike Caruso (1965-1967) 98.27 (57-1-0) an eight point deficit with two bouts remaining as 2. Kirk Pendleton (1961-1963) 96.97 (64-2-0) pinned Paul Weibel and then heavyweight Joel Edwards scored 3. Troy Letters (2002-Present) 96.22 (102-4-0) the winning takedown with under 30 seconds left to edge Tom Curl and secure the one-point victory in the dual for Penn State. THE CENTURY CLUB 125 Matt Fisk (LU) dec. Brad Pataky (PSU) 13-9 With a win by fall over Rider’s Ryan Cunningham, Troy 133 Jake Strayer (PSU) dec. John Stout (LU) 15-12 Letters became the 11th Lehigh grappler to amass 100 career 141 Cory Cooperman (LU) MD Dewitt Driscoll (PSU) 9-1 victories. Letters joins an elite club with some of the best to 149 James Woodall (PSU) dec. Matt Ciasulli (LU) 10-4 ever don the Brown and White. Here are the Lehigh wrestlers 157 Derek Zinck (LU) dec. Nathan Galloway (PSU) 2-1 2ot who have won 100 career bouts: 165 Troy Letters (LU) MD Brian Cantalupi (PSU) 10-1 174 James Yonushonis (PSU) dec. Travis Frick (LU) 6-4 s.v. 1. Jon Trenge (2001-2005) 133 184 Dave Helfrich (LU) dec. Neil Bretz (PSU) 8-7 2. Chris Ayres (1996-1999) 120 197 Phil Davis (PSU) WBF Paul Weibel (LU) 5:20 3. Rick Hepp (1992-1995) 113 285 Joel Edwards (PSU) dec. Tom Curl (LU) 8-7 4. Steve Cassidy (1991-1995) 110 5. John Van Doren (1996-1999) 108 6. Rob Rohn (1999-2002) 106 NOT AFRAID TO TANGLE WITH THE BEST 7. Dave Esposito (1997-2001) 105 Lehigh will wrestle what is arguably one of the toughest dual 8. Bill Closson (1994-1998) 104 schedules in the nation. The Mountain Hawks will face three top 9. Troy Letters (2002-present) 102 ten teams before the holidays and will eventually wrestle each of t10. Pete Yozzo (1984-1987) 101 the top four team finishers from the 2005 NCAA Championships t10. Brad Dillon (2001-2004) 101 in dual meets on the road. Here’s a look at some of Lehigh’s early season opponents. SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS Arizona State comes to south Bethlehem after going 3-0 at the Date Opponent Rank (Then) Current Rank Result season-opening Portland State duals in Portland, Ore. The Sun 11/13 at Penn State 12 12 L 18-17 Devils cruised to victories against Pacific (Ore.), Southern Oregon and then host Portland State. The Sun Devils were 11- Upcoming Opponents 6-1 in duals a year ago and claimed their 15th Pac-10 team Date Opponent Rank/ Notes: championship in 2005. At the NCAA Championships, Arizona ‘05 NCAA finish State finished 13th with a pair of All-Americans: Brian Stith, 11/17 Arizona State 10/13 ‘04-’05 Pac-10 Champs who was sixth at 157 lbs. and Cain Velasquez who finished 6 individuals ranked top 12 fifth at heavyweight. The Sun Devils return seven starters 12/2 at Okla. State 1/1 3x defending nat’l champs from a season ago and currently have six matmen ranked in 4 returning indiv. champs the top 12 according to Intermat. 197 pounder Ryan Bader 12/3 at Oklahoma 2/3 6 individuals ranked top 10 claimed All-American honors in 2004. 1/6 Penn State 12/23 4th dual in 14 mos. 1/8 Michigan 3/2 four returning ‘05 A-A’s IT’S ACADEMIC Fifth-year seniors Travis Frick and Brian LaMay experienced ON DECK success both on the mat and in the classroom in 2005. The Lehigh will be off until Sunday, November 27 when the Lehigh duo, and former Lehigh great Jon Trenge were named Mountain Hawks will welcome the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers to to the NWCA All-Academic team. LaMay posted a 3.41 GPA Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall in what will be Lehigh’s first while earning his degree in electrical engineering, while EIWA dual meet of the 2005-06 season. The Mountain Hawks Frick earned a 3.22 while graduating in industrial engineer- were dominant in a 40-4 victory at Rutgers on December 4, 2004. ing. Both Frick and LaMay are now taking graduate classes at Lehigh is 34-1 all time versus the Scarlet Knights, including Lehigh victories in the last 31 dual meets.

Lehigh Athletic Media Relations • 641 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA • Phone 610-758-3174 • Fax 610-758-4407