Lehigh’s Luke Stanich announced his arrival on the college wrestling scene in a major way two years ago. 

Now, after deferring eligibility for a year and then taking the proper time this season to recover from a summer injury, Stanich has once again declared his presence as a national championship contender. 

Stanich was the #65 overall recruit on FloWrestling’s Big Board coming out of Roxbury, N.J., but by his own admission was only a ‘decent’ recruit.

But once the NCAA Championships wrapped up, concluding Stanich’s freshman season in 2024, college wrestling fans learned of a name to watch for many more seasons to come.

“Obviously, as the season went on, my dream of becoming an NCAA champion was becoming more and more real,” Stanich said. “I evolved from high school, but nobody really had any expectations for me. Then I got to Lehigh and improved every single day in the room and just seeing the growth on the mat built my confidence.

“I know that season sparked my trajectory up until now. I’m very grateful for that first season.”

That freshman season, Stanich entered the Lehigh lineup at 125 pounds. Although his action was limited during the entire year because of the weight cut, the results paid off.

He captured a Midlands Championship in late December, then rolled to the EIWA title. Then in Kansas City, he placed fifth in his NCAA bracket, including a win over returning national finalist Matt Ramos of Purdue to secure the podium finish and All-American honors.

“That weight cut was brutal,” Stanich said. “I hope I never go back down in weight like that ever again. Despite that cut, that season will probably always be one of my favorite years of wrestling.”

Stanich and the coaches knew, even before his freshman season, that 125 pounds was not going to be his weight moving forward, despite the All-American season. They used the strategy of only weighing in for “probably less than half of the duals” and going to tournaments to get matches.

“As soon as that first weight cut, we knew,” Stanich said. “But I fully committed to it that freshman season. I knew that if I was going to do it, it was going to be a one-year thing.

“I was a little chubby going into that freshman season, so I had the body fat to get down, but just barely. It was brutal, and I was definitely counting down the days to the end of the season, but it just made me even more hungry to get to the top of that podium.”

After that season, they devised a plan for Stanich, which included deferring a year of eligibility last year to properly make his way up to 141 pounds. He did not get to put on the Lehigh singlet last season but knew the patience would pay off while adjusting to the new weight properly.

“I think a lot of times when people go up a weight class, they have to bulk up and sometimes it's hard to adjust for them,” Stanich said. “But for me, I spent that summer lifting and within a few months I was a good-sized 141-pounder. I think it was just like a natural transition for me.

“And honestly, I feel better not cutting as much weight. Once I step on the mat, I feel more energized and stronger.”

Despite the natural transition to the new weight class, it had a different feel for Stanich.

“When I was 125, I was definitely a lot longer than my opponents, so I wasn't really taking a lot of committed attacks,” Stanich said. “At 141, I was challenged to learn to move my hands a little better and set shots better.”

The year spent away from collegiate competition provided one of the best opportunities for Stanich. He was able to train full-time and focus solely on freestyle for the U20 World Championships this past August.

Stanich went to Bulgaria and brought home a gold medal, going 5-0 at 65 kg. The run started with one of the best comebacks you will see. He trailed 8-0 in the first period, just a takedown away from losing by a tech, but stormed back before he closed the match, winning by his own tech.

In the final, he edged Japan’s Reiji Uchida, 4-3, and draped the U.S. flag around his back in celebration as he took his victory lap.

“Being a World Champion was never one of my goals before I came to Lehigh, but after this experience, I want to be a Senior-level (champion) and Olympic champion,” Stanich said. “I’ll have that memory for the rest of my life. I can always look back and cherish those moments.

“Hearing the National Anthem play when you are on top of that podium, that is just a one-of-a-kind experience. That built my confidence knowing that I was doing right in that absence.”

Unfortunately, Stanich came out of the U20s banged up, and that forced him to miss the first few weeks of the collegiate season. He did not make his season debut until Jan. 10 versus rival Cornell.

“That was tough, going to practice and watching everybody else and not being able to be out there in the middle of that grind,” he said. “But sitting on the sidelines for duals was a whole different story. That definitely hurt.

“But I just knew I had to do what was right, and that was to take the necessary time to recover. When I got back full-time, I felt a little less mobile and not the best version of myself. But I feel myself getting better each week and getting back to full form now.”

In a loaded 141-pound weight class, Stanich sits at a perfect 9-0 as the dual season is nearing an end. His remaining slate features three ranked wrestlers among the four dual matchups left on the Lehigh schedule, before he goes for a second EIWA conference title.

“I’m very excited for the rest of this season because I know what I’m capable of,” Stanich said. “I feel like in my absence, the first half of the season, a lot of people kind of forgot about me. I'm seeing a lot of chat about who everybody thinks is going to be the national finals match. And in my head, I just know that that's me. I'm that guy.

“I think about wrestling, getting my hands on those top guys every single day. It just gives me something to push myself towards.”