On we go .....

Talk about the champions, or the Top 25 nationally-ranked team!
Oracle
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On we go .....

Post by Oracle » Sat Apr 16, 2022 3:50 pm

...... or maybe more appropriately "Tally Ho"

Most agree Lehigh faces some pretty significant challenges moving forward. This year coming up will likely tell us more. The Covid season caused a major disruption for us and affected this year as well. 21/22 wasn't all bleak. In fact, there were glimpses of some really positive developments.

Recruiting will continue to be a struggle for the reasons that are well known and we mostly agree on. However, with so few D1 programs , LU will still sign top talent. There is A+/A/A-/B/C talent. Coach Santoro and his staff do a better than average job of developing what I see as the A-/B talent. BTW, Ryan Crookham is A+ talent. If coach continues to be successful developing the A-/B talent. LU will be a top 15 team with the potential to blip into the top 10 from time to time. IMO, that is a realistic goal for the program albeit a daunting task as well.

The program has done a great job of selling the private education benefit. How else do we have such a large room with some nice depth at several weights?

So maybe it's time to, as coach John Wooden once said " don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can do," Time to come together and promote what we do right. And there's a lot.

Here's Ten Positive Things
Tradition Not everyone has it. Maybe 10 programs -- we're one of them.
National Champs Still in the top 10 -- you can win an NCAA title at Lehigh
Facilities The Caruso Complex has it all, including The Snake Pit -- a virtual stand-alone facility on an ancient campus.
Proximity Ideally situated in maybe the top area for high school talent and drive-able to NJ, NY and Ohio -- other hot recruiting areas.
Coaching No one at any top program will dispute our staff is top-notch.
Networking Post graduate opportunities are a thing. The degree has value and the alums are supportive in hiring wrestlers after they graduate.
EIWA Tournament The oldest conference and conference tournament -- again, offers wrestlers a sense of tradition they don't get everywhere. Lehigh standing with the Ivy League and 2 service academies is prestige on steroids. Let's use our Ivy, Army, Navy association as a positive, not a negative. The EIWA *started* college wrestling!
Fan Base The level of support from Lehigh's alums has been off the charts. Lehigh fans give generously and they travel well and attend away meets and tournaments like no other EIWA team.
LUWN Publication A paid subscriber on-line journal sent out to over 500 keeping fans engaged and current on the team's state of affairs.
Lehigh Sports Form/Wrestling A dedicated site where fans can exchange opinions.It has been in existence since the advent of the internet and while it gets testy at times, it shows just how passionate Lehigh fans are.

As Allen Brown would say "On we go"


mookie
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Re: On we go .....

Post by mookie » Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:21 pm

Oracle!
Last edited by mookie on Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:46 am, edited 2 times in total.
TMH
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Re: On we go .....

Post by TMH » Sat Apr 16, 2022 6:38 pm

Yes. I agree. Great post.
drd5748
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Re: On we go .....

Post by drd5748 » Sat Apr 16, 2022 11:00 pm

A little heavy on the positives, O, but terrific job. ;)
JAD77
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Re: On we go .....

Post by JAD77 » Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:19 am

The “Networking” positive carries a lot of weight, and hopefully is used by the coaches to counter the assumption by a lot of kids that an Ivy degree carries some sort of magic.
Lehigh consistently ranks higher than most of the Ivies in career earning potential, and the Lehigh alumni network excels at hiring Lehigh grads. And as Oracle pointed out, Wrestling grads in particular are held in much higher esteem by Lehigh alumni than by alumni of almost all other Universities.
LUEngineer
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Re: On we go .....

Post by LUEngineer » Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:23 pm

We are the only school where wrestling reigns in terms of winter sports & therefore wrestlers are king of the hill athletes at Lehigh. Big recruiting advantage for us to market vs all other eastern schools except Penn State.
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Re: On we go .....

Post by TMH » Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:19 pm

LUEngineer wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:23 pm We are the only school where wrestling reigns in terms of winter sports & therefore wrestlers are king of the hill athletes at Lehigh. Big recruiting advantage for us to market vs all other eastern schools except Penn State.
Honest question Are they really? I'm honestly not sure of the answer.

So few students actually attend meets now.
JAD77
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Re: On we go .....

Post by JAD77 » Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:35 pm

TMH wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:19 pm
LUEngineer wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:23 pm We are the only school where wrestling reigns in terms of winter sports & therefore wrestlers are king of the hill athletes at Lehigh. Big recruiting advantage for us to market vs all other eastern schools except Penn State.
Honest question Are they really? I'm honestly not sure of the answer.

So few students actually attend meets now.
My guess would be that a lot more students go to basketball games than wrestling matches.
TMH
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Re: On we go .....

Post by TMH » Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:49 pm

JAD77 wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:35 pm
TMH wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 10:19 pm
LUEngineer wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 8:23 pm We are the only school where wrestling reigns in terms of winter sports & therefore wrestlers are king of the hill athletes at Lehigh. Big recruiting advantage for us to market vs all other eastern schools except Penn State.
Honest question Are they really? I'm honestly not sure of the answer.

So few students actually attend meets now.
My guess would be that a lot more students go to basketball games than wrestling matches.
I've attended a whole lot of both and frankly the only students that show up at either are other athletes who often do a good job supporting each other. Everything has changed from 40-50 years ago.
Richb-3
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Re: On we go .....

Post by Richb-3 » Mon Apr 18, 2022 8:07 am

Students do seem to show up at Stabler duals, and there seemed thousands at PPL.

Contra intuitive.
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