Lehigh at Penn
  Feb. 22, 2004  The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pa.
  Penn is wrestling in its last dual of the season before playing host to the 100th EIWA Championships. The Quakers are young at some weights, and inexperienced at others. Without 2003 NCAA qualifiers Matt Herrington (174) and Paul Velekei (184) in the lineup due to injury, this team has suffered in dual meets. Both wrestlers are expected back for the post-season, which will once again make this a strong lineup for the post-season.    Lehigh is coming off a loss to Oklahoma State, which snapped an eight-dual winning streak. The Mountainhawks are hungry for another win, and they hope to swoop into The Palestra to get it. With most of this lineup wrestling well, Lehigh will be looking for a strong performance to lead them into March.    125: Mario Stuart (Lehigh) vs. Matt Valenti (Penn)  Stuart has not been the same since he became an All-American three years ago. This year, he finally won the starting job back, and has been tough to beat since. Stuart does have slip-ups every now and then, but against top competition, he always brings his best match. Valenti would certainly be considered top competition. He only has four losses this season, none of them by more than three points. He has also won matches against two of the opponents who have defeated him. Valenti is not a great scorer, but he has very good defense, knows how to scramble and can wrestle on the mat well. This is an important match for Penn. The Quakers need to win the matches they are favored in. Last year, Valenti defeated Stuart twice. This year, look for the same result. If Valenti comes out hard and takes some shots early, he could be looking at a major decision. But Stuart is tough to score on. Valenti scoring early would mean that Stuart is having an off-night, which could pose trouble for the Mountainhawks.  TheMat.com Prediction: Valenti    133: Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh) vs. Matt Eveleth (Penn)  Ciasulli likes to score. He is good on his feet. When he gets beat, a lot of times it has to do with him taking bad shots, or making poor decisions. He also seems to struggle with his confidence during matches. If he gets scored on early, he has a tough time getting back into the match. This match with Eveleth will offer an interesting look for wrestling fans. Eveleth really struggles on his feet defensively, especially against top opponents. Ciasulli is going to come out fighting off the whistle. If Eveleth can hold off the initial charge and slow the pace of the match, this could be a dog fight until the end. Even though Eveleth is not as highly touted as Ciasulli, he can win this match. Look for Eveleth to use a lot of ties and underhooks to keep Ciasulli from firing away. Ciasulli has really only had four or five grinding matches this year. A couple of those, he has lost.  TheMat.com Prediction: Ciasulli    141: Cory Cooperman (Lehigh) vs. Doug McGraw (Penn)  Cooperman has struggled with his weight in past years, but the move up to 141 seems to be a good fit for him so far. He has only lost two matches this year, and both of those were close defeats to a pair of national title contenders. He is an explosive wrestler, both on his feet and on the mat. To make matters worse for his opponents, he is tough to score on. He has a very good counter defense. McGraw has not had many matches so far this season. While he is one of the more underrated competitors in the nation, his results from this year show his struggles. McGraw is a good defensive wrestler, which is perfect for the Quakers in this bout. He can keep the score low, but he also won't attempt many shots against a wrestler that is favored against him. This match should come down to one thing - who is better on their feet. The first takedown, possibly the only, will most likely dictate who will win this match.  TheMat.com Prediction: Cooperman    149: Matt Anderson (Lehigh) vs. Rob Hitschler (Penn)  A pleasant surprise for Lehigh this year has been the emergence of Anderson, a freshman. Coaches weren't sure what to expect from him at the start of the season, but he has won some big matches since diving into the lineup. But since the end of January, Anderson has posted a 1-6 record in dual meets. He may have hit the freshman wall. However, he is still good against wrestlers he is favored to beat. Hitschler is also a freshman who was thrown to the wolves this season. He is a talented wrestler, but began the year wrestling some really tough opponents. Hitschler never had a chance to gain confidence in his abilities this season, which has really hurt him this year. He is yet to win a match in a dual meet. Anderson is a good mat wrestler, and has the ability to turn his opponents. If Hitschler gets on bottom at any point, he will want to wrestle as smart as possible. Giving up a riding time point is a lot better than getting turned because he moved the wrong way.  TheMat.com Prediction: Anderson    157: Derek Zinck (Lehigh) vs. Brett Vanderveer (Penn)  After a promising freshman campaign, Zinck has struggled throughout this season. He has zero wins against ranked opponents, and six losses versus them. Zinck is a pinner, but he may be looking to get opponents on their backs too much instead of focusing on the fundamentals. Vanderveer is another highly underrated wrestler in the Penn lineup. He has lost some very close matches to some of the top wrestlers in the nation. However, he has also lost some close matches to some kids who may not even qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Vanderveer struggles with constant pressure throughout a match, both offensively and defensively. Competing against Zinck, Vanderveer will need to change that quickly. Zinck will look to score often in this match. He does get sloppy in his movements and shots, which is where Vanderveer needs to take advantage and score points. While most are expecting bonus points for Lehigh at this weight, look for Vanderveer to at least be able to keep this close.  TheMat.com Prediction: Zinck    165: Troy Letters (Lehigh) vs. Kyle Bernholz (Penn)  Letters is coming off a loss, which does not bode well for Bernholz. The sophomore with a He-Man build is one of the best wrestlers, pound-for-pound, in college wrestling right now. He is dominating on his feet, and on the mat as well. Coming off a loss where he was put to his back for the first time in a long time, expect Letters to want to dominate Bernholz, who only recently moved up to 165. In his first two seasons, Bernholz saw a lot of time at 141 and 149. In other words, there is going to be a major strength advantage for Letters in this match. Bernholz's best offense in this match will be his defense. He needs to keep Letters at a distance and make him take long shots across the mat. If Bernholz ties up with Letters, this match may not get far past the first period.  TheMat.com Prediction: Letters    174: Brad Dillon (Lehigh) vs. Greg Hallahan (Penn)  Dillon, like Letters, is coming off his first loss of the season. While Dillon may be hungry to get back in the winning column, he is not necessarily a dominant wrestler. He doesn't have much flash to his offense, and he primarily scores off of his defense. Hallahan has stepped in admirably for the injured Herrington, but he has still struggled to post wins. The good sign for Penn coaches is that Hallahan has wrestled some highly-ranked opponents and kept the matches close. This could be a low-scoring affair. Dillon is strong, but he doesn't shoot often. He likes to