Sitting at a 9-9 record and outside of the latest top 25 rankings, Lehigh wrestling has not achieved a winning record at home for the first time since 2014.
The Mountain Hawks entered the season ranked 17th in the country and have consistently been a top wrestling program. So far this season, this year’s group hasn’t seen the same success.
Junior wrestler Tyler Sung said injuries have presented an obstacle that has contributed to the team’s collective unexpected performance.
He said two main contributors to the team, seniors Brian Meyer and Josh Humphreys, have missed significant time this year due to injuries, creating instability in starting lineups and cutting out key producers.
Both Meyer and Humphreys have been standouts for Lehigh. Wrestling at 157 pounds, Humphreys has a career record of 70-18 and was 10-0 when he was able to wrestle this season. Meyer, who wrestles at 165 pounds, has also been reliable, posting 28 wins in his first two seasons after red-shirting his freshman year.
Although Sung recognized the importance of the two going down with injuries, he said the team has full confidence in the guys replacing them.
“No disrespect to the guys that are filling those spots either,” Sung said. “They’re no slouches and are definitely putting in the work to make this team great.”
Aside from injuries, Sung also cited minor mistakes turning into larger problems as an area for improvement. He said once they solve those minor mistakes, results will begin to shift in their favor.
Senior Luca Frinzi and junior Caden Wright had different sentiments when it came to where the team could better themselves. Frinzi pointed to trying to stay consistent as a team, while Wright cited a lack of execution at the end of the third period.
“There’s a lot of matches where we stopped scoring, and that caused us to lose the match,” Wright said. “If we can continue to score points in the third period, we’re going to be a really, really, really tough team to beat.”
Despite these setbacks, the team is looking to finish their season strong. With the EIWA championships coming up in March, Sung, Frinzi and Wright stressed the importance of refining their performance going into the tail-end of the season.
In addition to physical development, Frinzi and Wright said boosting their mental game is key.
“It’s really easy to get distracted and feel down,” Frinzi said. “Staying positive and keeping a good mindset and always remembering to try to have fun is something that we can also improve on.”
With minor improvements in play and mindset, the Mountain Hawks are in a position to turn the season into a memorable one. The team finished the season on a three-game winning streak against Army, Bucknell and Princeton to salvage a .500 record for the year, giving Lehigh momentum heading into the EIWAs.
This is their first time winning consecutive matches since starting the season 2-0. The team is confident they can put out a strong performance at the EIWAs.
“We’re all super great wrestlers,” Frinzi said. “If we perform to the level that we’re capable of going into the postseason, we’re gonna have a really good postseason run.”
The Mountain Hawks head to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the EIWA Championships on March 4 and 5.
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