Pittsburgh Falls to Lehigh in Season Opener
11/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Pittsburgh Falls to Lehigh in Season Opener
11/19/2000
Pittsburgh - University of Pittsburgh wrestling team, ranked 17th in the Amateur Wrestling News and 20th in the InterMat Wrestling preseason polls, was defeated by national-power Lehigh, who is ranked eighth in both polls, 23-11, in the Panthers' 2000-01 season opener (Sunday, Nov. 19 at Fitzgerald Field House).
Senior Rob Loper (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), a three-time NCAA qualifier, kept his dual match streak alive with a 16-1 technical fall victory over Tristan Boyd in the 133 weight class. Loper, who was 33-0 in dual matches over his junior and sophomore seasons, has not lost a dual match since Jan. 12, 1997 (his freshman season), when he lost to Ohio State's Robbie Archer, 5-4.
Lehigh started the meet with consecutive wins as Dave Esposito, who finished third at the NCAA Championships last season, defeated Blaise Mucci (Blairsville, Pa./Derry Area), 12-6, and Ryan Bernholz, who placed sixth at nationals last season, defeated freshman Zach Doll (Quakerstown, Pa./Pottstown), 9-5, in the 149- and 157-pound divisions, respectively. Pittsburgh got on the board in the third match when sophomore Carl Fronhofer (Salem, N.Y./Salem) defeated Chris Vitale, 705 at 165 pounds. Lehigh claimed victories in each of the next four matches, before junior Shawn Amistade (Washington, Pa./Trinity) defeated Terrance Clendenin at 125 pounds, 4-3. Freshman Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) was impressive in his first dual-meet competition, dropping a 2-1 decision to heavyweight Shawn Laughlin, who is ranked as high as 16th nationally in the division.
