On Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, Quakertown seniors Calvin Lachman & Mason Ziegler were recognized for committing to continue their wrestling careers at Lehigh University.
“There have been so many people that played a part in these two young men’s success, and I believe their success actually started when their parents decided to sign them up for the Quakertown Youth Club Wrestling Program. If there’s any success, it comes from your youth program, and these two guys are the epitome of Quakertown wrestling. They started in our youth program, went through our middle school program and ended up here with us. They’ve been with us three years now, and they truly have been the backbone of Quakertown wrestling for three years.
“What these two have been able to accomplish from the team perspective the last three years – the teams these two have been on the past three years have never lost a league match. Their team won three consecutive league championships, their team has qualified for the state tournament the last three years. At the district tournament, their teams finished fourth, runner-up and fourth this past year. From an individual standpoint, they were district champs in 2022, which hasn’t happened in the early 2000s. They were two-time regional champions the past two seasons. To give perspective, Quakertown has only won it one other time, and that was in 1986. Their teams finished eighth in the individual tournament in 2022, and their teams placed sixth in 2023, the second highest the team has ever placed. It’s pretty impressive stats looking at both of them and their accomplishment since they’ve been part of the program.”
Calvin Lachman – Lehigh University (Wrestling)
Major: Finance
Final list of colleges: Lehigh, University of Pennsylvania, Davidson, Columbia
Reasons for choosing Lehigh: “Lehigh is an amazing university a great wrestling program. I also love the people that I will be with, and I see myself being happiest in this school.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in wrestling at the collegiate level? “I knew I wanted to pursue wrestling in college after my sophomore year of wrestling when I found my love for the work that is involved with being a successful wrestler. My recruitment process started the summer before my junior year with only one or two Division 1 schools reaching out before the season. As my recruitment process advanced, some other bigger schools reached out.”
Coach Kurt Handel says: “I reached out to coach Ziegler because he’s spent a lot of time with him traveling to tournaments, and he summed Calvin up very, very well. He said, ‘Cal is that determined guy that does what it takes on and off the mat to succeed. He is the big guy with an even bigger brain who is never without food. Calvin doesn’t usually end a conversation without telling you – ‘I’m hungry’ or ‘I’m eating.’” Calvin has a GPA of 4.1 and is ranked 40th out of 429, and he’s been a distinguished honor roll student since his sophomore year. Calvin took the more traditional path as a high school athlete. He came in as little Calvin freshman year. He was only 150 pounds, and he was 14-9 that year. His sophomore year he had a breakout year. He found that thing called a weight room over the summer. He went from 152 to 172. He was 38-11 and qualified for the state tournament, and then junior year he really found the weight room, and his eating really progressed. Last year he wrestled at 215 for us. He went 41-7 his junior year with a major jump in weight class. At states, he fell in the blood round, which means if you win you place in the tournament, so that’s been Calvin’s drive this offseason. Calvin is a team captain. He’s been a three-time league champ, he’s been a three-time all-league first team selection. He’s been a two-time district champ and a two-time regional place winner. The National Wrestling Tournament takes place each summer in Fargo, North Dakota, and out there this year, he was a Fargo All-American, which means he placed in the top eight, which means he’s one of the top eight wrestlers in the nation. That’s a huge accomplishment, and it has not happened too many times here at Quakertown. I love seeing the drive and determination. He had a heartbreaking moment at the state tournament, but he didn’t let it slow him down, and that’s part of that determination on and off the mat.”
About Calvin:
Favorite food: Street Tacos
Favorite movie: Shutter Island
Favorite artist: Bob Marley
Mason Ziegler – Lehigh University (Wrestling)
Major: Finance
Reasons for choosing Lehigh: “It’s a good school, it’s close to home, and I love the coaches and the wrestling program.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in wrestling at the collegiate level? “Ever since middle school, I started to love it more, and that’s when I knew I wanted to wrestle in college. I started the recruiting process June 15, 2022. It went really well in the beginning, but I did not get recruited by Lehigh until three
days after the first recruiting day.”
Coach Kurt Handel says: “Mason is one of the most relentless, determined, committed young men. He is the dog on the bone. The other day he was heading out to practice, and I said, ‘Yo, aren’t you hurt?’ He was like, ‘Coach, I was put on this earth to hurt every day. I’ll be just fine.’ That is this young man’s mentality. Nothing is going to slow him down, and it shows academically and athletically. Mason has a GPA of 3.5. He’s 120 out of 429. He’s been an honor roll student, he’s in a lot of clubs here at school. He’s an overall outstanding student. The athletic part is just the same. He is 117-15 in his career. He’s 11th on our all-time win board. He has 63 pins, which is eighth. He’s been chosen to be captain the last two years, which is unheard of. He’s a three-time all-league first team, three-time league tournament champ, three-time district champ, two-time regional champ. Freshman year he placed seventh at the state tournament. Sophomore year he fell a little short, but his junior year he became the eighth wrestler in Quakertown history to make the tournament finals. He lost in the final, but he placed second in the state tournament. We have only had eight wrestlers who were in the finals.”
About Mason:
Favorite food: Watermelon
Favorite movie: Step Brothers
Favorite artist: Kendrick Lamar
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