Logan Rozynski takes home EIWA Freshman of the Year honors

After posting a 19-7 regular season record in his first collegiate wrestling season, true first-year Logan Rozynski was named the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Freshman of the Year earlier this month. 

Rozynski secured the EIWA title for the 157-lbs weight class after defeating Luke Richter, Drexel University redshirt senior, by a 10-2 major decision and earning an automatic bid to compete at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia last month.

In his first appearance on the big stage, Rozynski went 1-2. He defeated Christopher Hamblin, Oregon State University redshirt sophomore, and fell to Oklahoma State senior Caleb Fish and Ryder Downey, University of Northern Iowa redshirt sophomore. His two losses were decided by three combined points.

The Sparta, New Jersey native said he wants to ensure he gets further next season than he did this season by having a similar offseason to last year.

“I made a huge jump coming from high school, and that summer we made a lot of adjustments for getting ready for the collegiate season,” Rozynski said. “If we do that again, then it’s going to be shooting for the stars and trying to win a national championship next year.”

He said aiming to win a national championship is what earned him the award. 

With offseason training approaching, he couldn’t celebrate winning his awards for too long. But he said it felt great to be a part of Lehigh’s wrestling history, becoming the program’s eighth first-year to win the award since 1994.

“It’s pretty cool to have your name in a category with some of the greats,” Rozynski said. “It was awesome to pick that up, but I definitely got to get back to work.” 

Matty Lopes, another first-year wrestler for Lehigh, said Rozynski’s performance this past season can be attributed to his consistency on the mat.

“We talk about that a lot with the coaches,” Lopes said. “He was pretty consistent since the later dual season came along.” 

He also said Rozynski is a great teammate to everyone and stepped up as a leader who was willing to make sacrifices for his team. This included meeting a certain weight the coaches asked him to come in at.

Lehigh junior wrestler Ryan Crookham, who won the EIWA Freshman of the Year award last year, said he knew Rozynski was going to be a special part of the team after his performance at a tournament in the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29 and 30, 2024.

Against top programs in the country, Rozynski finished fourth place in the 157-lb bracket, advancing to the semifinals before falling to DJ McGee, George Mason University redshirt sophomore, in a tiebreaker. 

Crookham also said Rozynski’s confidence was key to his success.

“He had confidence that he could perform before getting to the show,” he said. “Sometimes you have to believe before the results. (Rozynski) definitely is a product of belief and hard work.”

Coach Pat Santoro said Rozynski handled his first year as a Mountain Hawk well and learned a lot of technical skills throughout the season.

“I think he learned at the NCAA tournament he was in every single match he could’ve won,” Santoro said. “Just some small fundamental things — finishing shots, getting off bottom — those are things you talk about on a regular basis until you see it at the highest level.” 

He also said Rozynski has the opportunity to have a large impact on the program moving forward — both on his current teammates and future recruits — by being the team player Santoro thinks he is.

“When possible recruits are seeing the way he wrestles and how hard he competes, then that’s attractive for athletes to come in,” Santoro said.  “They want to be a part of that.”

For Rozynski, this has been the standard all season. He said staying disciplined in his life, and being both a great person and teammate is what led to his success this season.

“You have to live the right way on and off the mat,” Rozynski said. “It’s very important along with staying focused.”