MIKE WEILAMANN
Mugs Media
PHILADELPHIA – Lehigh University junior Zach Rey, moments after his greatest victory as a wrestler, still seemed in awe of what he had just accomplished in the finale of the NCAA Wrestling Championships before a record crowd at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.
A hard-fought 2-1 win over American’s Ryan Flores gave Rey his first national title at 285 pounds. After going 9-17 as a freshman at Hopatcong High School, Rey said he never could have envisioned standing atop the podium at this level.
“I never thought I’d be winning on a national (stage) like this,” said Rey, who finished third as a redshirt sophomore last season. “(Last year) third was good at the time. I worked hard (to win this year) and it paid off.”
Joining Rey as national champions, all from New Jersey, were former Blair Academy star Kellen Russell of Michigan (141) and Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs (165). Frank Molinaro of Penn State finished second at 149. New Jersey had a tournament-best four wrestlers in the finals.
Rey, who is Lehigh’s first champ since 2004 and its first at heavyweight since Howell Scobey in 1936, is the fifth wrestler from Sussex County to win a Division I title – joining two-time winners Matt Valenti of Kittatinny (2006-07 at Penn) and Mike Frick of Pope John (1975-76 at Lehigh), along with Harry Lanzi of Newton (1952 at Toledo) and David Zabriskie of High Point (2010 at Iowa State).
Rey’s victory keeps the 285-pound title in Sussex County for the second straight year after Zabriskie claimed it in 2010.
Rey (34-1) won three of four meetings with Flores (26-6) this season, avenging his only loss of the season, 6-2, to Flores in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association finals. Rey beat Flores 5-3 and 5-2 earlier this season.
In this one, Rey escaped in the second period for a 1-0 lead heading into the third. After five relatively quiet minutes, things heated up in the third period. Flores took bottom and was nearly out several times before being returned to the mat by Rey with several loud thuds.
Rey was caught out of position with 35 seconds left, and Flores nearly reversed Rey to his back, but Rey was able to grab Flores’ right leg and funk rolled out of trouble.
Rey had secured riding time 12 seconds earlier and was able to ride Flores out the rest of the way to preserve the championship.
“We got into a funky position, where I was on my back for a little bit,” Rey said. “But I knew just to hold onto that leg and roll through and try to get to my stomach. What it turned out to be, he was just giving me a lot of riding time and killing a lot of the clock in the third period.”
Flores said on Saturday that he was going to “bag the national championship” on Saturday. It was a comment that Rey most certainly took to heart.
“It was good to get revenge,” Rey said. “I’d much rather have an NCAA championship (than an EIWA title).”
Many of Rey’s family and friends were on hand in Philly, including Hopatcong wrestling coach Eric Fajerman and former Hopatcong football coach Paul Reduzzi. Both coaches have had a profound impact on Rey’s career. It was Reduzzi who helped Fajerman convince Rey, a football player, to come out for wrestling as a freshman.
“I had a lot of friends up in the stands (in Philly),” Rey said. “it’s good to have a lot of people rooting for you, makes you want to work harder to earn the championship.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Rey finished fourth as a sophomore before capturing two NJSIAA titles at 285 his junior and senior years, amassing a career record of 123-21. In his final three seasons, Rey went 114-4 overall.
At Lehigh, Rey has become the top heavyweight in the nation through more hard work. And his workload got a lot heavier this season when former NCAA champ and Blair Academy star, Steve Mocco, joined the Lehigh coaching staff.
Rey said Mocco has made all the difference for him in becoming a national champion.
“He’s such a good workout partner,” Rey said. “He constantly keeps going. He brought a whole ‘nother level to my conditioning and just my confidence. Nobody else in the country works out with a guy as good as I do every day. He’s one of the best in the world. Day-in and day-out, I couldn’t ask for a better staff and workout partner.”
COUNTY PRIDE: Joining Rey as an All-American this year was former Kittatinny state champ Derek Valenti, a junior at Virginia, who placed eighth at 149.
Valenti was joined by his brother, Matt, during the Parade of Champions prior to the finals that recognizes the eight All-Americans in each of the 10 weight classes. Matt Valenti, now an assistant coach at Penn, marched onto the mat with the 157-pound medal winners.
ALL-AMERICA BY THE NUMBERS: Pennsylvania produced the most All-Americans this year with 10, followed by New Jersey and Iowa, each with six. California, Michigan and Minnesota all had five. Colorado, Ohio, Oregon and Utah were next in line with four. Illinois, Missouri and New York all had three, followed by Florida, Indiana, Idaho, Maryland and Oklahoma with two. Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Virginia all had one.
All-Americans by state are determined using the wrestler’s listed hometown.
CROWDED HOUSE: Fans put their good money down and helped Philadelphia shatter attendance records. The three-day total of 104,260 surpassed the old record for 97,336 for the 2009 tournament in St. Louis. The single-session attendance record almost fell as 17,687 jammed into Wells Fargo Center for the finals. The record is 17,780 set in 2007 at Auburn Hills. Mich.
The Scottrade Center in St. Louis will host next year’s tournament, followed by the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa (2013) and the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (2014).
Sussex County All-American list
Joe Scalzo-Newton (second in 1939 for Penn State)
Roger Snook-Newton (second-1947, fourth-1949, fourth-1950 at Cornell Iowa)
Harry Lanzi-Newton (third-1951, first-1952 at Toledo)
Don Frey-Newton (second-1951, third-1953 at Penn State)
Emil Perona-Newton (fourth-1952 at Rutgers)
Robert Carlin-Newton (fourth-1952 at Indiana)
Ed Lanzi-Newton (fourth-1953 at Toledo)
Mike Frick-Pope John (fourth-1974, first-1975, first-1976 at Lehigh)
Craig Blackman-Sparta (fifth-1981 at Franklin and Marshall)
Jan Michaels-Vernon (eighth-1981, eighth-1982, third-1983 at North Carolina)
Chris Ayres-Newton (sixth-1999 at Lehigh)
Roman Fleszar-Kittatinny (seventh-2000, fifth-2001 at Hofstra)
Chris Skretkowicz-Wallkill Valley (sixth-2003, fifth-2004 at Hofstra)
Matt Valenti-Kittatinny (fifth-2004, first-2006, first-2007)
David Zabriskie-High Point (fifth-2009, first-2010 at Iowa State)
Zach Rey-Hopatcong (third-2010, first-2011 at Lehigh)
Derek Valenti-Kittatinny (eighth-2011 at Virginia)
