Lehigh University’s wrestling team saw strong performances at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, held Sunday at Freedom High School in Bethlehem. Six wrestlers from Lehigh participated, with five finishing first or second in their respective brackets.
Sophomore Matty Lopes, competing unattached at 133 pounds, secured the Hammer Award by winning the top black bracket. Lopes went undefeated, posting a 1-0 decision over Columbia’s Evin Gursoy and a 7-2 win against Mason Leiphart of Franklin & Marshall. In the final match, he defeated Evan Mougalian of Penn with a score of 3-2.
First-year wrestler Anthony Evanitsky also won his bracket in the 149 Red division, making his debut with four consecutive wins. Evanitsky began with a technical fall over Columbia’s Tyler Barrett and followed up with a major decision against Army’s Shane Percelay. He then pinned Joey Butler of Indiana in just over one minute before closing out with an 11-7 victory over Aidan O’Shea of Franklin & Marshall.
Three other Lehigh wrestlers finished as runners-up. At 141 Blue, Seamus Mack won his initial two bouts—including a technical fall—but lost in the finals to Harvard’s Sidney Tildsley. Graduate student Zac Martin took second place at 157 Tan after early wins but was defeated by Josh Hilliard of Franklin & Marshall in his last match. Junior Remy Brancato-Roed placed second at 197 Green, going 3-0 before falling to Army’s Reid Schroeder.
Sophomore Jared Schoppe competed in the 184 Black bracket and finished fifth after dropping his first two matches and securing a win against Virginia’s Dylan Newsome.
Lehigh will next compete at the National Duals Invitational in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 15-16. The Mountain Hawks are scheduled to face No. 2 seed Nebraska in their opening dual meet on Saturday.
The university noted that its men’s wrestling season is presented by Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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