Lehigh rises in polls; readies for No. 9 Michigan
11/18/2008 4:00:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On the heels of its first 2-0 start in three years, the Lehigh wrestling team is beginning to gain national recognition in the polls. The Mountain Hawks entered the InterMat/NWCA rankings last week after upsetting then-No.17 Maryland in their season opener. Saturday night’s 27-9 road win at Pittsburgh propelled the Brown and White to No. 22 in the newest polls, released on Tuesday. Five Mountain Hawk wrestlers earned individual rankings, as the team shifts its focus to the annual Sheridan Dual, when Lehigh hosts No. 9 Michigan Friday night at Stabler Arena.
Four Lehigh grapplers escaped the first two weekends unscathed and all four are currently ranked nationally. Sophomore Alex Caruso leads the way, coming in at No. 13 at 174. Senior Trevor Chinn is rated No. 14 at 149, while junior David Craig is up to No. 15 at 184, as back-to-back wins by fall have propelled him into national rankings. New to the rankings this week is junior Mike Galante, who benefitted from a win over No. 20 Ethan Headlee of Pittsburgh on Saturday, as he joins the top 20 at No. 17 at 165. Rounding out Lehigh’s stable of ranked wrestlers is junior Matt Fisk, who holds steady at No. 19 at 133.
Also on Tuesday, W.I.N. Magazine unveiled its first regular season rankings. Lehigh entered the team rankings at No. 19, with Fisk, Chinn, Caruso and Craig all earning individual rankings as well.
Next up for Lehigh is Friday night’s showdown with No. 9 Michigan. As part of its 100th season of wrestling celebration, Lehigh will be welcoming back all former wrestlers and coaches for a pre-match reception and a wrestling alumni parade.
At the intermission of Friday’s Lehigh-Michigan dual, USA Wrestling will hold a pair of women’s freestyle exhibition matches pitting two members of the 2008 U.S. Women’s World Team, Deanna Rix and Elena Pirozkhov will compete against top young stars from Team Canada.
At 59 kg/130 lbs., Rix will face Amanda Gerhardt of Canada. Rix faced fifth in the 2008 World Championships, and competed on the 2007 U.S. Junior World Team. Gerhardt was second in the 2008 Pan American Championships.
At 67 kg/147.5 lbs., Pirozkhov will battle Megan Buydens of Canada. Pirozkhov was eighth at the 2008 World Championships and was a 2008 University World champion. Buydens was third in the 2008 Pan American Championships.
Friday’s match gets underway at 7 p.m. from Stabler Arena. Tickets can be purchased by logging on to Lehighsports.com or by visiting the Stabler Arena box office on match night.
