BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh head coach
Greg Strobel has announced the Mountain Hawks 2005-06 schedule, which should prove to be one of the toughest in the nation. Lehigh will face the four top team finishers at last year’s NCAA Championships in dual competition and the Brown and White welcome eight schools to
Bethlehem, culminating in March when Lehigh hosts the 102nd EIWA Championships at Stabler Arena.
Season ticket renewal forms have already been sent to 2004-05 season ticket holders. The deadline to renew season tickets is September 12. On September 14, season tickets will be available to the general public, with single match tickets going on sale on September 28.
“I take scheduling very seriously and I am very pleased with our schedule,” explains head coach Greg Strobel, who is entering his eleventh year at Lehigh. “I believe the schedule provides the fans with opportunities to see great wrestling while it provides our wrestlers with opportunities to wrestle the best while they prepare for the EIWA's and NCAA’s. This schedule certainly does all of the above. We wrestle the best and we have great home events with good teams coming to Grace Hall and Stabler Arena.”
The Mountain Hawks drive for a fifth consecutive EIWA crown begins on Tuesday, November 1, when Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall hosts the wrestle-offs. The regular season gets underway on Thursday, November 10 when Lehigh welcomes the Rider Broncs to Grace Hall.
Three days later, Lehigh will head to State College, Pa. looking to defend its title at the second annual Pennsylvania State Dual Championships. Last year the Mountain Hawks dominated York and Pitt-Johnstown in the early rounds before besting tournament host Penn State in the finals to claim the inaugural title in the event.
On Thursday, November 17, the Mountain Hawks will once again usher in the Lehigh-Lafayette football weekend with a home dual against a top flight opponent. Last year the Mountain Hawks held off Michigan 22-15 at Grace Hall. This season Lehigh will take on Arizona State in the first of two regular season duals scheduled for Stabler Arena. The Sun Devils finished 13th at the NCAA’s last year, but return enough talent and experience to be billed as a top-10 team in 2005-06. Lehigh will then get its first look at an EIWA opponent on Sunday, November 27, when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights visit Grace Hall.
In December, Lehigh will two-step through the state of Oklahoma as the Mountain Hawks will visit the defending national champion Cowboys of Oklahoma State on Friday December 2 and then tangle with the Oklahoma Sooners the next night in Norman. The Sooners placed third in the nation a year ago, but Lehigh did defeat Oklahoma at the national duals. The Mountain Hawks look to avenge a pair of losses to Oklahoma State, including a February loss in front of 5,828 fans at Stabler Arena.
After taking several weeks off for final exams and the holidays, Lehigh will wrap up 2005 by making its first trip to the Southern Scuffle, a tournament hosted by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
“The Southern Scuffle is a new event for us this year, replacing the Midlands tournament,” says Strobel. “I think the team will enjoy going to North Carolina in December instead of Chicago. With teams like Minnesota, Missouri and Cornell in the field the competition should be very good. We will take up to 20 wrestlers to this competition so it will allow us to develop our depth.”
The Mountain Hawks will kick off 2006 by renewing one of eastern wrestling’s oldest and most intense rivalries when Penn State visits Stabler Arena on January 6. With the possibility of these schools meeting at the Penn State Duals, this could very well be the fourth dual meet in two years between these longtime grappling rivals. Two days later, Lehigh will travel to Ann Arbor to face a Michigan team that finished second at the NCAA Championships in 2005.
The Brown and White return to Grace Hall on January 13 to take on Pittsburgh. Lehigh will spend the rest of January getting re-acquainted with EIWA foes. The Mountain Hawks welcome Navy to Grace Hall on January 14, then will visit Cornell on the 22nd and will take on Brown and Harvard in Cambridge Mass., on January 29. All eyes will be on the dual with the Big Red in Ithaca. Lehigh won last year’s dual at Grace Hall, then held off Cornell by a mere two and a half points to claim its fourth straight EIWA team title. Cornell was the surprise team at the NCAA’s finishing fourth in the team standings.
On February 4, the Mountain Hawks will host Hofstra and Maryland in the regular-season home finale. Lehigh looks to avenge last year’s upset loss to the Pride on Long Island, while the dual against the Terrapins marks the return of former Lehigh assistant coach Pat Santoro, who is now the head coach at Maryland.
The Mountain Hawks will hit the road to end the dual season. Lehigh will visit Army on February 12, then the following Sunday will head to Philadelphia to take on Penn and Drexel.
Lehigh will not have to travel far in its quest for a fifth straight EIWA title. The 102nd EIWA Championships will be hosted by the Mountain Hawks at Stabler Arena. Lehigh last hosted the event in 2002, which coincidentally marked the beginning of the Mountain Hawks’ four year run of championships.
The Mountain Hawks will open the 2005-06 season against Rider at Grace Hall on Thursday, November 10. For ticket information, visit the Lehigh ticket office located inside Grace Hall or call (610) 7LU-GAME during business hours.
