11th Heaven: Two Lehigh Valley Wrestlers to Meet for NCAA Title

ST. LOUIS – Pennsylvania is guaranteed to have a national champion at 125 pounds.

So is District 11.

Darian Cruz of Lehigh had the Scottrade Center rocking on Friday night with his 4-2 win over previously unbeaten Thomas Gilman of Iowa in sudden victory.

Ethan Lizak of Minnesota’s path to the final was much less dramatic, as he cruised to a 7-0 victory over Virginia’s Jack Mueller.

“It’s going to be a VEWL Finals,” Lizak said. “I wrestled him in elementary school like five times. He won most of the time, but it will be nice wrestling him just right down the road – just like club practices back in the day.”

Cruz also remembered those elementary school matches.

“We have wrestled each other since we were peanuts in the wrestling league and K-6, and I actually beat him up when we were little,” he said. “We were both tiny kids, as you can imagine. We got to college and didn’t really see each other until this year. Actually he kinda beat me up on the mat. He got really tall and I didn’t.”

Cruz, a Bethlehem Catholic grad, looked like he was going to beat Gilman in regulation. Trailing 1-0 late in the third, he took down Gilman, only to see the Iowa wrestler escape and tie the match at 2.

The second takedown, which came off a Gilman shot, brought the huge crowd to its feet.

“I think he saw his opportunity and tried to take it and I’m – my counters are – I’ve been working on them all year and my short offense, and that’s what I used and he played into my hands,’ Cruz said. “I wouldn’t say he let up. I think he just tried to do what we were all trying to do, trying to score.”

Lizak did plenty of scoring in his victory, starting with a first-period takedown, and he added a set of backpoints to make it 4-0 after one period.

The Parkland graduate has been a terror on top this season and this weekend.

“Basically it’s huge advantage because every time I get a takedown, I know I can ride ’em out if not get some backpoints with it, so pretty much if I get a couple takedowns every match I can pretty much seal the deal,” Lizak said. “Especially when I was in elementary school, me and my dad worked on top wrestling a lot in the basement because we knew a lot of guys, their weakness was bottom. So if you can use that to your advantage you can come up big in a lot of matches.”

Lizak added another takedown and a riding-time point to seal the 7-0 victory and a spot in the finals.