Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Wrestling Hosts Lehigh
February 11, 2004 | Cowboy Wrestling
The week of preparation is here when Oklahoma State and Lehigh battle it out Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys and Mountain Hawks have met six times previously with OSU coming out on top each time.
The Cowboys improved to 16-1 on the year after defeating Oklahoma for the third time this year last weekend. OSU traveled to Norman last weekend and came away with a 26-10 victory. After dropping the first two matches, the Cowboys came back to win the next seven matches to seal the victory.
On Lehigh
Lehigh extended its winning streak to eight straight matches with a convincing 26-16 victory over North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon at Grace Hall. With the win the Mountain Hawks improved to 20-3 for the season.
Greg Strobel enters his ninth season as the head coach of the Mountain Hawks. During his stint at Lehigh, he has compiled 108 wins against 50 losses, including this year's total. He has coached three teams to EIWA championships, as well as three top 10 finishes at the NCAA tournament.
The Mountain Hawks return seven NCAA qualifiers from last year's team, including All-Americans Troy Letters and Brad Dillon. Letters returns as the national runner-up, while Dillon placed fifth in the tournament.
On the air
Oklahoma State wrestling is carried live by Stillwater Radio KSPI 93.7 FM. J. Carl Guymon is the play-by-play voice of the Cowboys in 2003-04. Fans unable to pick up the over-the-air broadcast will be able to listen to the games via the Internet at www.okstate.com. The duals against Lehigh and Minnesota will be broadcast live on 780 AM rather than on 93.7 FM.
Rosholt Named Conference Wrestler of Week
Oklahoma State's wrestling earned its third wrestling honor this year when Jake Rosholt was named as the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for the week of Feb. 2-8, the conference announced Monday.
This past week Rosholt posted a 2-0 record in both of OSU's conference victories. Last Saturday, the top-ranked Cowboys defeated second-ranked Nebraska, 25-9, and then a day later beat in-state rival Oklahoma, 26-7, for the third time this season. OSU is currently 16-1 overall on the season, including 6-1 in conference.
Against NU, Rosholt, who is currently ranked third nationally at 184 pounds, handed fourth-ranked Travis Pascoe his first loss of the season. The Sandpoint, Idaho, sophomore recorded a takedown with a three-point nearfall in the second period before dropping Pascoe, 6-3.
Rosholt scored three takedowns and a reversal before claiming defeating Oklahoma's Justin Dyer, 11-7, in last Sunday's Bedlam match.
With two top 10 individual wins to his credit last week, Rosholt has compiled a 16-2 record in 2003-04. He also has put together a string of nine straight triumphs.
Lewis/Letters; Pendleton/Dillon; Hendricks/Zinck .....
Is there anything else one could say about these three matchups and a slew of others, when these two teams hit the mat this weekend?
Tyrone Lewis and Chris Pendleton enter the weekend hungry for revenge from last year's NCAA tournament. They will each get their chance Sunday afternoon.
Both Cowboys lost to the pair of Lehigh wrestlers. Now, all four are undefeated and ranked in the top two of their respective weight class. Letters enters the dual at 22-0 and is ranked first at 165 pounds, while Lewis is second and is currently 27-0. At 174 pounds, Pendleton is first at 27-0 and Dillon is second at 22-0.
Lewis and Letters are two of the most dominant 165 pounders in the nation. The quickness and athleticism they both possess is uncanny. Pendleton is not the biggest 174-pounder in the nation, but he has become one of the most complete wrestlers. He has won 57 of his last 59 matches, and will look to stay on track when he faces Dillon.
Johny Hendricks is riding a seven match win streak coming into the weekend. During that stretch, he has knocked off defending NCAA champ Ryan Bertin (6-5, s.v.), beat Kenny Burleson (3-1) and didn't back down to a stocky Trent Paulson (7-1). He enters the dual at 29-4 and is ranked sixth nationally at 157 pounds. His counterpart is Derek Zinck. The sophomore from Pennsylvania only loss to former Cowboy Shane Roller 9-8 last year in the NCAA tournament. Zinck is ranked 11th with a 14-5 record.
These three matches alone will be worth the price of admission.
