The Lehman Brothers Q & A




ERIC S. LEHMAN BIO
 Eric Lehman... graduated from West York High School in 1996 and York College (PA)
(with a BS in marketing) in 2000.  Eric worked for Cooper Industries from 2000 - 2002, was
in pharmaceutical sales with various companies from 2002 - 2009, and currently works as
VP of Sales & Marketing for Total Identity Solutions.  Eric helped out both Chip Fissel and
Jim Costello as a coach @ West York... and, served as West York Wrestling Booster Club
President for one year.  Eric and wife Kim have two children (Connor & Taylor) and currently
live in Clarksville, Tennessee... about 5 minutes from West York Wrestling Alum - Rod Stough!
Eric, Kim and the kids previously lived in El Paso, TX and San Antonio, TX from 2005 - 2010.
▪ Dr. Kim is a West Point graduate (1996), Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (2005),
a Major in the US Army, board certified in Dermatology... and is currently Chief of Dermatology,
Neurology, Pain Management & Chiropractics @ Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at
Fort Campbell, Kentucky... home of the 101st Airborne (that carried the Navy Seals that killed
Bin Laden).  Kim also was deployed and served in Iraq - 2010 @ Camp Victory.  Eric's interests
include Politics, NASCAR, Baltimore Ravens Football, attending Grand Ole Opry performances,
and is a life member of VFW Post 4895.  Eric is currently enrolled in the Nashville School of Law.
Take the Last Train to Clarksville - REST IN PEACE... DAVY JONES!


∙ 8/11/10 - (L-R) Dr. Kim Lehman, Carol Stough,
Rod Stough '78 & Eric Lehman '96 in Tennessee.




TODD M. LEHMAN BIO
 Todd Lehman... graduated from West York High School in 2004 and Millersville University
in 2008 (BS - Business Management w/minor in Athletic Coaching).  Todd is currently living in
San Antonio, Texas and is a Territory Sales Manager for Swisher International, Inc.  Todd is
engaged to Kelli Donnelly - and Todd and Kelli will be getting married in San Antonio, Texas in
May, 2012.  Kelli, has a BS in Psychology from Le Tourneau University in Longview, Texas and
a Master of Arts in School Psychology from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas after
completing her internship.  Kelli is currently working on an internship at Floresville Independent
School District in Floresville, Texas.  Todd, when not on the road w/Swisher Cigars, enjoys lifting
weights and working out at a local San Antonio health club.
▪ Todd wrestled briefly @ Millersville University in 2005 and 2006.


(L-R) Todd Lehman and wife... Kelli Donnelly Lehman.



WEST YORK HS VARSITY WRESTLING '96

▪ 1995-96 West York Wrestling Team
1st Row (L-R) Ryan Wagaman, Jake Kotzman, Casey Brenner, Kevin Scheivert.
2nd Row (L-R) Rob Ludwig, Josh Klinedinst, Chad Luckenbaugh, Todd Platts.
3rd Row (L-R) Brandon Luckenbaugh, Justin Wilkins, Matt Sheridan,
Eric Lehman, Jon Knotwell, Jason Chamberlain.
4th Row (L-R) Coach Jerry Mathison, Coach Bill Luckenbaugh, Coach Kim Wilkins.
photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
'96 PIAA State Tournament Qualifiers (above):
▪ Brandon Luckenbaugh, Chad Luckenbaugh & Eric Lehman.
__________________________________________________

WEST YORK HS VARSITY WRESTLING '04

▪ 2003-04 West York Wrestling Team
Front (L-R) Mathias Smyser, Jordan Brouillette, Felix Vasquez, Cody Martin.
Middle (L-R) John Mrenna, Jerry Brown, Cody Boyers, Garrett Smith, Jason Seager.
Back (L-R) Luke Brodbeck, Todd Lehman, Jack Smith, Head Coach Jeremy Jones,
Asst. Coach Eric Johnson, Keith Miller, Alfred Deardorff, Alex Huntsberry.
photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images




▪ 1/3/09 (L-R) Eric Lehman and Todd Lehman...

The Lehman Brothers Interview...
by Don Lehman


Don Lehman
 Don Lehman
 Webmaster, Archivist & Owner of westyorkwrestlingalumni.com

   ▪ "DL" - Interviewer Don Lehman with "EL" - Eric Lehman & "TL" - Todd Lehman.

DL - Thanks... Eric and Todd, for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share some
thoughts and catch the alumni up on what you are doing these days.  At West York, you both
wrestled and played football.  Which sport was your favorite and why?


WY's Eric Lehman @ DIII Regionals (right).

EL - I would have to say that hands down my favorite was wrestling.  I'm not sure I can pin it down to a single reason, but I enjoyed the teammates that I had a chance to wrestle with at the 3 scholastic levels - Elementary, Jr. High, and Sr. High.  I always had good coaches, and had a fair amount of success - so that made it fun, too.  We also had great fans and supporters in the 90's that were a lot of fun to be around and were extremely loyal.  There was a core group of fans and parents that would travel to all the matches and tournaments and sit together.

Football, I have to say, I truly disliked during the time I played....and I regret that.  I never watched football as a kid or in high school, and never took it that seriously.  I really enjoy watching NFL football now, and I understand the game a lot more than I used to.  Back then, I just did what I was responsible for and only learned that position.  I was selected for a York Daily Record All-Star honor and the War of the Roses game, but I couldn't play due to getting hernia surgery.


WY Football's Todd Lehman (back #59).
photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images

TL - I enjoyed both sports greatly, but I think I would have to say football was my favorite sport.  I loved being on a team and playing as a team.  I liked being out on the field with my friends and teammates in front of a huge crowd in battle against the opposing team.  I just really enjoyed going out there and hitting people.  As a captain my senior year at West York, I would always tell my teammates as we were in the huddle... to just go out and hit someone and put a show on for our fans who would show up every Friday night no matter if it was raining or a clear night.  We didn't have the best team, but I would always tell them it didn't matter what the score was, just play your hardest and put on a show for the crowd.
Wrestling definitely made me a better football player.  As a guard on offense, I wasn't the biggest at 180lbs., but with strength and balance and knowing how to move people from wrestling, not too many defensive linemen could get through me and I made the all-county offense and defensive teams at guard and linebacker - and also the Lancaster/York War of the Roses Team.  But, at the same time, I loved being on the mat in front of everyone where it is just you against your opponent.  Everyone would see who the better, stronger and smarter wrestler was that night.
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DL - You both had many coaches and mentors as you were growing up and participating in
athletics at West York.  Who was the one coach that really helped you grow and become
successful?  What key components stood out to you with that particular coach?
EL - Hands down, my Sr. High assistant coach, Jerry Mathison, was the most influential coach during my career.  Though he had tremendous responsibility with his job, a wife, and three kids of his own - he gave me all the time and support I needed to be successful.  He would do things like stay extra to help me practice, or work out with me in the weight room.  The thing that I remember as the most kind thing he did, was that he would go with me to other schools to practice whether it be Dallastown or Red Lion, in order for me to get a good workout and not have to go there by myself.  I'll never forget what he did for me, and I'll always appreciate that.  I was also privileged to have a NCAA DII National Champion as my head coach  - Bill Luckenbaugh, who was a lot of fun to be around.  John Sprenkle was a PIAA Hwt. State Champion and the only other Hwt. besides me to wrestle at the State Tournament.  At WY Junior High,
my coach was Jeff Meckley...a PIAA State Runner-up.  A lot of wrestlers don't have an opportunity to
have that type of talent and experience in the wrestling room!
TL - I would have to say my WY Junior High Coach - Jeff Meckley.  Pretty much every signature move I used all the way up to my senior year at West York and into college, I learned from Coach Meckley.
In 7th grade, Coach Meckley taught me the ankle pick and "turk" ride, and I used those moves right up to college.  I guess I was kind of known for the ankle pick my senior year in high school.  I can remember
quite a few matches that year where I was wrestling on my feet and I could hear my opponents coach yelling "watch out for the ankle pick!"... but, I was always able to bait them into giving me that ankle.  Unfortunately, we never really learned any new or more complicated moves as I went through high school.  We would always have such a small team and most of the kids didn't know how to wrestle, so the coaches would have to start with the simple basics... so I would just practice and try to perfect my three main moves (ankle pick, turk and arm bars).  Coach Chip Fissel was another great coach that I had.  Coach Fissel was my WY coach during my sophomore and junior years.  I guess I could say he was my freshman coach also, since I worked out with the senior high that year.  Coach Fissel would always push me hard in the wrestling room and he would always jump in to wrestle me when we wrestled "live."  Unfortunately for me, he did not coach me my senior year.
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DL - Was there a teammate (who you worked out with) that helped in your development in
the wrestling room?  What was a typical West York practice like when you wrestled?


ERIC LEHMAN
∙ Photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images

EL - I enjoyed working out with Matt Sheridan, who wrestled 189.  He was a year younger than me.  A couple of guys who were older than me that I worked out with were Chad Gardner and Jeff Wolfe.  In the 90's, West York had strong upper weight wrestlers, so there was always good competition.  Coach Jerry Mathison and I were always partners, so I think he was the best at making me better.  I was also very fortunate to have had many outside folks come in to practice, which I think were very helpful.  I remember you coming in several times over the years...no one liked that because you were good.  Some notable folks that I remember were Eric Platts when he wrestled for Thaddeus Stevens and at York College, Jeff Wolfe from ESU, Chad Gardner from Thaddeus Stevens, Jared Goodman from York College, and Phil Stambaugh from St. Pius X would come in for Christmas practices.  Tom Toggas came in several times.  After we wrestled our dual meet for the regular season, I would travel to Red Lion and wrestle Matt Meisenhelter, who was a 3rd place PIAA State AAA place-winner.  "You will never become better unless you wrestle with competition better than you."  Wade Schalles came to Dover one time to do a clinic for our West York and Dover teams.  He said that phrase and I always believed it to be very good advice.  Looking back, I was very fortunate to have so many talented people with whom to wrestle.  It definitely made me better.

As far as practices, ours were not very strong or structured.  That's all I care to say.  Maybe someone else can elaborate.  They were fun, but if you were looking to get along with anything but natural talent - that wasn't the place to do it.  That's why we had others come in to practice with me.  That's why some of us stayed extra, and that's why some of us went to other schools to practice.  But, it is what we had to do. They were fun, though, and we got very good at wall-ball and basketball.


TODD LEHMAN
∙ Photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images

TL - I guess I would say that during my freshman and sophomore years - wrestling against guys like Wade Ginter and Troy Finkenbiner made me a much better wrestler.  It definitely helped me during my freshman year - wrestling them and then going against junior high competition.  Wrestling against very good practice partners gives you an advantage in matches... and, Wade and Troy were so much stronger and mature than I was, and that makes you better!  But, after Wade, Troy, Garrett Wise and a few others graduated or moved on, I didn't have anyone to practice with my senior year.  Everyone on our small 2004 WY team was really new to wrestling in the upper weights.  That wasn't my teammates fault,
though.  They were great teammates, but just not experienced in wrestling.  I would wrestle my two coaches during most practices or they would ship me off to other schools around the county like Spring Grove or Bermudian Springs a couple of times.
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DL - What stands out to you as your most satisfying win in your wrestling career... and, what
stands out to you as your most disappointing loss?  Did you take anything away from that win
and loss that stays with you to this day?


Eric Lehman (middle).

EL - My most gratifying win was at the 1995 District III consolation finals facing Beau Kint of Biglerville for 3rd/4th place.  The winner qualified for the PIAA State Tournament and the loser went home.  He had pinned me the week before at Sectionals, and I went on to tech-fall him 16-1, with a series of tilts.  I never gave much thought about the possibility of qualifying for the PIAA State Tournament, and I am sure no one else did, either.

The most disappointing loss was to Tim Jordan of Pequea Valley in the '96 District III SC tournament.  The Harrisburg Patriot (Rod Frisco) newspaper had me ranked #1 in District III the entire year, and I lost that match in overtime.  I had a bad call where I should have gotten more back points in the 2nd period, and did not receive them...but, what wrestler doesn't have a "should have" story about a bad call?  I "should have" never put myself in that position for the match to be close.  I ended up getting 3rd and qualifying for states, but it put me in a very difficult tournament bracket.  I regret and am embarrassed to not have been a District Champion, and placing in the PIAA State Tournament....that bothers me to this day.  3rd place really doesn't mean much to me.  I was out the first 5 weeks of the season, which were most of the opening practices and a couple of matches, recovering from hernia surgery.  They would not clear me to wrestle until I had the surgery, so it put me behind not being able to not practice or lift a lot of weight for a while.  I don't think I ever peaked that season.  I regret that, also.


Todd Lehman against Hanover (top).

TL - Both the most satisfying and the most disappointing happened one right after the other my senior year.  Actually, they were my last two matches (other than an all-star event) my senior year.  I was up at Hersheypark Arena for the 2004 AAA SC Regionals... and I was about to wrestle Neil Bretz (143-26) from Cumberland Valley in the consolation semi-finals.  This was already my 5th match of the 2-day tourney and I was pretty nervous about this one.  I didn't remember wrestling Neil Bretz before, but I knew that he was REALLY good.  Bretz was ranked as the #1 wrestler in Pennsylvania most of the 2003-04 season @ the AAA level, and was also ranked #4 in the country.  He had signed on to wrestle at Penn State in the middle of the season.  Bretz was upset in the championship semi-finals, losing in overtime to Sean Darras of Conestoga Valley, so I knew he was down.  I knew that I had to wrestle a perfect match to beat him.
I had to wrestle like I never wrestled before and try to not make a single mistake.  Luckily, one of my best friends, Lynn Anderson, who I played football with at West York... came up to Hersheypark Arena to support me.  Just hanging out and talking to him helped calm me down.  I prepared myself mentally and knew that I needed to go out and give everything I had.  And, I did.  I took him down with an ankle-pick right off the whistle and put him in an arm bar... and, for a split second, thought I was going to turn him for back points, but I didn't.  I did go on to beat him 3-2 and it took him out of the medal round and another trip to the PIAA State Tournament - which he had medaled at in the past.  I remember talking to my friend and college teammate @ Millersville, Cody Becker, at a practice the following year, and Cody told me that when I was out there wrestling Bretz, half of the arena was focusing on the match!  Spring Grove's Cody Becker was also one of the first guys to run onto the arena floor after the match to congratulate me after the win.

The most disappointing match was the contest right after my big win over CV's Bretz.  I was wrestling for 3rd place at the SC Regionals and a slot in the '04 PIAA State Tournament.  My opponent was an excellent wrestler from Gettysburg High School (Colby Haller)... that I had beaten the week before in the Sectional IV Tournament finals.  I thought I had it in the bag.  I didn't even get ready for the match.  We had a big break before that match, so the coaches & I went out to eat and were just having some fun and laughs.  When the match finally came around it was just a big blur the whole time.  I definitely was not wrestling like I had earlier against Bretz.  I lost 4-0... giving up an escape, takedown and a penalty point for a strong "crossface".  I couldn't believe it.  But, you live and learn.  Take every match seriously.
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DL - Do you still follow the sport of wrestling in Tennessee and Texas?  Is wrestling a focus
sport where you live?
EL - I do not follow wrestling here, but I understand the school district we are in (Clarksville High School) has several state team championships and the state record for most appearances at the state team tournament.  I'm not sure what that means compared to Pennsylvania Wrestling, though.  I never really heard of any Tennessee schools really being powerhouse wrestling programs.  Maybe I can get Rod Stough to go to a match with me before he moves to Florida, and he can help me decide.
TL - I follow what's happening in the NCAA - by going to the InterMat & FLO Wrestling websites - and I follow West York Wrestling by going to the westyorkwrestlingalumni.com website.  Texas really doesn't have or focus on wrestling.  There are some wrestling clubs, but that's about it.  FOOTBALL is the BIG sport down here in Texas!
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DL - Do you still keep in contact with any of your former wrestling and football teammates
and friends?  Why is the bond in athletics so strong after graduation?
EL - With wrestling, I really do not, but there are a few people that I think about from time to time.  I did enjoy seeing some old faces at the Alumni Reunion last month.  I drove 770 miles to come to that event.
In football, two of my best friends are Butch Seiders and Jeff Nachtigall.  I talk to Butch probably 5 days a week and Jeff at least twice.  We always plan a trip every year.  Jeff has been to El Paso and San Antonio, when I lived in Texas, and Butch came to San Antonio a bunch of times, and also came to visit us in Tennessee last summer.  He and Jeff actually drove the whole way to Texas with Todd when he moved to San Antonio.  We are planning for all of us to be in Tennessee this summer.  We've also been to Jeff's place in Myrtle Beach, SC a few times.  We started to include Todd in a few of the trips, but he's been too busy selling cigars on the Mexican border these days to make it :)
TL - Not so much with wrestling.  I am still in contact with some of my teammates from West York Football, who happen to be some of my best friends.  A few of their names are Lynn Anderson, Nate Sprenkle, Kyle Chronister and Shawn Wiley.  For me, wrestling was just a solitary independent sport.  I knew I was on a team, but my focus was me winning my match.  I felt that I needed to be alone and
away from everyone to really focus my mind and prepare myself for the match.  So, I really don't have any close bonds with anyone from wrestling.  It is much different when it comes to football.  You are out there hitting and getting hit... and, you look for your teammates and friends.  You go through the hot summer practices and hard days of football camp together.  I just think it's different since you are out there practicing and playing games together.  You go through everything together as a team.  That's my experience, though.
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DL - Wrestling runs deep in your family... as I wrestled at West York and East Stroudsburg,
your Uncle Fred wrestled at West York and University of Maryland, your cousin Steve Elicker
wrestled at South Western and East Stroudsburg.  Did you both feel like you "had" to wrestle,
or... was it something you liked and wanted to do from your early years?


Eric Lehman @ Sectionals...

EL - Yeah, we had to wrestle...ha ha, but I am glad we did.  I enjoyed it and got everything out of it I needed to in order to be successful in life and also to have a good high school experience.  We had a lot of faculty support that followed the program, and it was definitely nice to have teachers that were interested in  the athletic programs.

I liked the fact that you wrestled and were very good.  You understood what it took to wrestle at a high level and could analyze my tapes to see what I did correctly and what needed changed.  You knew how critical strength and proper eating were to the development of a wrestler.  Having Uncle Fred come to my matches was nice.  I was very lucky to always have family and friends in the stands when I wrestled, if fact, I don't ever remember a time where I didn't have anyone there.


WY's Todd Lehman @ Governor Mifflin Tourney (2nd from left).

TL - Oh, I didn't know we had a choice? Ha ha, I'm just kidding.  Knowing that our whole family wrestled definitely played a big part.  I just thought that it was the coolest sport.  Just knowing that I was part of a sport that a lot of people couldn't do or handle made it that much better.  I always wanted to beat Eric and one-up him at everything he did.  I always wanted to try and win more trophies and medals than Eric and dad.  They both had tons of them.  After I got my first trophy in wrestling, I was hooked.  Of course, Eric went to states, twice!!
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DL - You both wrestled briefly in college... tell me about that big step into the world of
NCAA Wrestling?
EL - I had a terrible experience.  Even though I tried, I was not good enough to wrestle NCAA Division I... and was ill-prepared @ ESU.  It definitely turned me off to the sport for a while.  My only success was that I pinned an NCAA Division III All-American during a dual meet against Montclair State.  Maybe it would have been better if I wrestled Division III...who knows.  The biggest change - I will say - is that EVERYONE IS REALLY GOOD in the wrestling room, and you yourself are not as good as you think you are.  I hated every minute of it, I just never fit in.  A couple of years later I won the York College Alumni Tournament (beating YC's John Klingaman by tech. fall).  I wanted to leave the sport a winner, and that was my redemption.
TL - Well, if was definitely a BIG step!  I was pretty cocky going into my freshman year at Millersville University.  I looked at their website, and saw their college records the year before... a lot of them around .500.  I just finished my West York senior year @ 33-5, and thought that it would be an easy transition to NCAA Division I @ Millersville.  It was actually the OTHER way around.  I remember the first couple of practices... and I was being tossed around like a rag doll!!  I couldn't keep up with them.  Mark Knock, our team captain, & one of the guys who I looked up to the most... pulled me aside at the end of a
practice one day and told me not to worry.  Mark said that I was wrestling like I was still in high school.  College wrestling is MUCH more fast paced and physical, and he said by the middle of the year, I would adjust and get to the same page as the others.  He was right.  By the middle of the year, I was hanging in there with the upper classmen.  It helped me that I was practicing everyday with a VERY tough wrestler - Curtis Yeager, who was a 4-time NCAA DI qualifier.  But, college wrestling was just a whole different ballgame.  All the guys on the team who I was close to and learned so much from that year, graduated, so I lost interest going into my sophomore year.  It was just a little strange my sophomore year.  I was also getting jealous of my other college friends always having fun and going out and eating!  I just wanted to enjoy college, so I gave it up to concentrate on getting a degree.  (Cody Becker had a great career, though @ Millersville!)
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DL - If you both could do it all over again with regards to your sports careers, what would you
do differently?  And, if you could speak to today's youth, what advice would you give them?
EL - I wish I would have started playing "football" at a younger age, and taken it more seriously. Wrestling...well most people would say that if they would have worked harder, but I don't have many regrets in that respect.  I did what I think I needed to in order to be successful.  Maybe instead of always going for the pin, even when it wasn't there, I could have been more strategic about a few of my opponents and that might have changed the outcome in a few of my key matches.

I would tell kids, and more importantly parents, to lighten up with he extreme pressures that are placed on student athletic programs, today.  This is especially true with elementary and junior high sports.  I see many kids have tremendous amounts of pressure and their entire sport "careers" mapped out as a kid.  I think people should relax, because I have yet to see any more star athletes come out of situations like this, than others.  It is true that you need to work hard and do the proper things to excel at your sport, but the cream will always rise to the top.  There are a lot of year-round one sport athletes, and that is detrimental to wrestling because it takes away kids (soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, and football) that would have otherwise gone out, but their fall, winter, spring and summer seasons are all booked playing different leagues or variations of a single sport.  Ray Lewis is arguably one of the greatest NFL players of all time, and he played 3 sports, including wrestling (1993 Florida State AAAA Champ).
TL - If I could do it all over again, I would have definitely stuck out wrestling at Millersville University my time there.  I do regret ending my wrestling career early, I often think about that.  If I could speak to today's youth, I would tell them to do whatever makes them happy.  It doesn't have to be sports, but if it is, just work hard and have fun with it... and, try not to put too much pressure on themselves.  Too much pressure ruins any sport.
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DL - Tell me a little bit more about what you are doing now and what your future plans hold?
EL - I am currently the Vice President of Total Identity Solutions, a manufacturer of vehicle graphics and wraps, embroidery, and screen printing for businesses and organizations.  I also am in my first year of law school at the Nashville School of Law.  My wife, Kimberly, is a Major in the U.S. Army, a physician, and is the Clinic Chief of Dermatology, Neurology, and Pain Management at the Blanchfield Army Hospital at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.  We live in Clarksville, Tennessee, with our children Connor and Taylor, 2 dogs and 2 cats.  We have decided to stay in Clarksville upon the completion of Kim's Army commitment, which is up in June of 2013.  There are some interesting private practice opportunities for her in this area that we are currently exploring.  I am obtaining my law degree with the hopes of entering Tennessee politics.  I have a mentor, Fmr. Sen. Rosalind Kurita,  that is helping me network and position myself for a possible run for state office.  I am learning as much as I can and meeting as many people as I can that are involved with this field.
TL - Right now I am living in San Antonio, Texas... working as a Territory Sales Manager for Swisher International, Inc. (Swisher Sweet Cigars).  I'm engaged and getting married in May.  I still work out a lot and I'm trying to get involved with one of the local wrestling clubs as a coach.
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DL - What sports event do enjoy watching most on TV these days?  Do you get to any sports
events in Tennessee and Texas these days?


Eric Lehman

EL - I watch Baltimore Ravens football and NASCAR racing - mostly Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series.  I have been to two Tennessee Titans games (one with Rod Stough), and one Nationwide and one Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway - which they closed down at the end of last year.  I'm only 4 hours from Atlanta, so maybe I'll go to a race there, this year.  When I lived in Texas, Todd and I went to the Alamo Bowl once and the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.  We got to meet Pete Geren, who was the Secretary of the Army at the time.  I was also a San Antonio Spurs partial season ticket holder, so I went to a bunch of those games, and also went to the NBA Finals in 2007.  Also, I want to say that some of the toughest athletes I have ever been around are bull-riders, so I have been to both the San Antonio and Houston Rodeos to see them compete.


Kelli & Todd Lehman in San Antonio, TX.

TL - I love NCAA Football.  I don't really care for the NFL that much, but I love watching NCAA College Football.  I've been to a couple San Antonio Spurs games, a Rampage Hockey game, an Alamo Bowl Game with Penn State/Texas A&M... and the ARMY All-American High School Football game.  I went to all of
those contests when my brother Eric still lived in San Antonio.
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DL - Thank you both for sharing your stories and thoughts with the westyorkwrestlingalumni.com
readers and fans.  See you both in May... in San Antonio, Texas!
EL - Thanks for the interview....I'll see you there!
TL - Sounds good.  Kelli and I can't wait for you guys to come down!
                                                                           



∙ You can e-mail Eric Lehman HERE!, Todd Lehman HERE! & Don Lehman HERE!
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2003 West York Football

∙ 1995 West York Varsity Football - Eric Lehman (Center/DE).
photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images
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1996 SC AA Regionals @ Conestoga Valley

∙ 1996 PIAA District III Regionals AA Hwt. Podium.
West York's Eric Lehman - 3rd from left...finishes 3rd
and qualifies for the 1996 PIAA State Wrestling Championships.
∙ Eric Lehman lost to Pequea Valley's Tim Jordan (left) in
the Regional semi-finals ... 2-0 - in sudden death overtime.
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PIAA's @ Hersheypark Arena

1996 PIAA State Tourney... Hwt. - (1st Round)
3/7/96 @ Hersheypark Arena.
∙ West York's Eric Lehman 25-3 (top) wins by 4-1 decision
over Todd Proper 31-8 of Maplewood High School... in the
1st round (match 104) of the 1996 PIAA State Tournament.
T. Proper went on to become a 3-time NCAA DII All-American
at Gannon University - with NCAA DII places of 3rd, 5th & 6th.
__________________________________________________

2003 West York HS Football

▪ West York's Todd Lehman (#59) makes a tackle
against rival York Catholic High School in 2003.
photo by Kevin Drawbaugh of JK Images
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2004 PIAA District III Section IV
AAA Wrestling Championships
@ South Western, PA High School

2004 Section IV AAA 171lbs. Championship Podium
∙ (L-R) Justin Seitz (Dallastown), Todd Lehman (West York),
Colby Haller (Gettysburg) & Shawn Holtzapple (Dover).
∙ 171lb. Finals: Todd Lehman, West York dec. Colby Haller, Gettysburg 6-5.
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DIII SC AAA Regionals @ Hersheypark Arena

2004 - PIAA South Central AAA Regional Championships
▪ 3rd/4th Place Consolation Finals @ 171lbs.
∙ West York's Todd Lehman (top) applies head pressure
to Gettysburg's Colby Haller.  Haller used a second period escape and
takedown... and a third period penalty point to win by decision, 4-0,
to secure a 3rd place medal and a trip to the PIAA's.  Todd Lehman gets
4th, just missing out on the '04 PIAA AAA State selection.
photo by Keith Warehime
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Annapolis, MD

∙ 2011 - (L-R) Todd Lehman (WY '04), Eric Lehman (WY '96) with...
cousin Steve Elicker (South Western '89 & ESU '94).
photo by Karen Elicker Gardner
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   Eric & Todd Lehman are listed on an all-time team...
 ▪ West York Wrestling Alumni.com All-Time Team
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 ▪ West York's Outstanding Wrestlers
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 ▪ West York's George Sterner Award
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∙ 1996 - West York 2-time PIAA State Qualifier - Eric Lehman. (PIAA photo)
West York's PIAA All-State Wrestlers/Qualifiers:
(77 on WY All-State List) - CLICK HERE!