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Cleveland, OH – Another Lehigh match went down to the wire, but this time the heavyweight division was unkind to the Mountain Hawks. All-American Steve Mocco scored a pin over Tom Curl to give Oklahoma State a 20-16 victory in the semifinals of the 2005 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at the CSU Convocation Center. The loss is just the fifth-ranked Mountain Hawks’ second of the season as they fall to 14-2. No. 1 Oklahoma State improves to 11-0.

The Cowboys struck first at 125 pounds. Andrew Rizzi scored the first takedown for Lehigh, but Coleman Scott put 13 unanswered points on the board en route to a 13-2 major decision. The Mountain Hawks got on the board at 133 as Matt Ciasulli used a riding time advantage to score a 3-2 decision over Nathan Morgan. Cory Cooperman then gave Lehigh the lead at 7-4 with a major decision over Daniel Frishkorn.

Lehigh coach Greg Strobel called upon freshman Dave Nakasone at 149. Nakasone gave a spirited effort, but lost a 15-10 decision to top-ranked Zack Esposito and the teams were tied at 7-7 after four bouts.

Derek Zinck put the Mountain Hawks back on top with a gritty 3-1 decision over Kevin Ward.

In a battle of top-three grapplers top-ranked Troy Letters needed two overtime periods to hold off No. 3 Johny Hendricks. Letters scored an escape in the first 30 second overtime then rode out Hendricks in the second period give Lehigh a six point advantage after six matches.

Oklahoma State stopped the LU mini-run as top-ranked Chris Pendleton scored a major decision over Travis Frick. Jack Jensen then gave the Cowboys the lead with a decision over Matt Cassidy.

It was another case of No. 1 versus No. 3 at 197, Jon Trenge erased a one-point deficit entering the third period to beat top-ranked Jake Rosholt 10-8. The win is number 121 for Trenge, making him the Mountain Hawks All-Time leader in victories. Trenge’s victory put Lehigh up a point, but Mocco’s win by fall in the final bout gave the Cowboys the victory. Oklahoma State is now 6-0 all time against the Brown and White. The Cowboys will visit Lehigh’s Stabler Arena for a rematch on February 13.

Lehigh advanced to the semifinals with a pair of convincing victories this afternoon. The Mountain Hawks took advantage of three pins and a tech fall to defeat Cal Poly 37-8 in the first round. In the quarterfinals Lehigh took nine out of 10 bouts, scoring bonus points in five bouts, in a 36-3 rout over No. 14 Northern Iowa. Matt Ciasulli and Cory Cooperman each picked up a pair of bonus wins while Troy Letters picked up two pins in a combined 2:23.

With the loss, Lehigh will wrestle in the consolation semifinals tomorrow at 11:00 AM. The Mountain Hawks will face No. 10 Oklahoma, with the third or fifth place match to follow at 3:00. Top seed Oklahoma State will take on No. 2 seed Illinois in the championship match, also at 3:00.

Oklahoma State 20 Lehigh 16

Lehigh 36 Northern Iowa 3

Lehigh 37 Cal Poly 8

Photo Copyright 2005, Lehigh Athletics, Jeff Nolan