100th season opener pits Lehigh vs. Maryland
11/6/2008 2:00:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 100th season of Lehigh wrestling officially gets underway on Sunday afternoon as the Mountain Hawks host No. 17 Maryland. Pat Santoro returns home for his first match as Lehigh’s head coach and will do so against the program he rebuilt and guided over the last five seasons. Lehigh will be looking to bounce back from a 12-14 dual campaign last year and 41st place finish at the NCAA Championships. Maryland comes into the dual ranked 17th in the nation and is off to a 1-1-1 start to the season after opening last weekend at the Fighting Scot Duals. Former Lehigh assistant coach Kerry McCoy is in his first year guiding a Terrapin squad that has five nationally ranked grapplers, led by Hudson Taylor, who is ranked No. 2 at 197.
After 99 seasons, Lehigh’s all-time dual meet record stands at 785-379-22, which ranks seventh among all Division I wrestling programs. The Mountain Hawks have won at least 12 duals in each of the last nine seasons.
It’s likely that four Mountain Hawks will make their varsity dual debuts in Sunday’s match. Three deferred freshmen, John McDonald (125), Sean Bilodeau (157) and Zach Rey (285) all won their respective wrestle-offs and should earn the starting nod at their respective weight classes. In addition, true freshman Joe Kennedy beat junior Alex Iacocca in their wrestle-off at 197 and could receive a starting nod as well.
Maryland brings one of its strongest teams in recent memory into Sunday’s dual. The Terrapins opened their season last week by going 1-1-1 at the Fighting Scot Duals in Edinboro, Pa. Maryland picked up a win over Division II Findlay 37-12, tied Army 19-19 and fell to the host Fighting Scots 23-14. The Terrapins feature five nationally-ranked grapplers, led by Hudson Taylor who is ranked second at 197 and last year became Maryland’s first All-American since 1997 with a third place finish. Juniors Steve Bell (133) and Mike Letts (174) and sophomores Eric Medina (149) and Brian Letters (157) round out the stable of ranked wrestlers for first year head coach Kerry McCoy.
Lehigh leads the all-time series against Maryland, having won 12 of the previous 16 meetings. Maryland’s three victories came in 1969, 1993 and last December. The teams wrestled to a 16-16 tie in December 1971. Lehigh is a perfect 7-0 against Maryland in duals contested in Bethlehem.
Sunday’s dual marks the season opener for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh has dropped its last two season openers, losing at Rider 24-14 in 2006 and falling at home to Pittsburgh 24-9 last year. The Mountain Hawks will try to avoid losing three straight season openers for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Pat Santoro was 3-2 in season-opening dual meets during his five years as head coach at Maryland.
The Lehigh-Maryland match gets underway at 1 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME, by visiting the link above or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office, located in Grace Hall.
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Date: |
November 9, 2008 |
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Opponent: |
No. 17 Maryland Terrapins |
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First match: |
1:05 p.m. |
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Arena: |
Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall |
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Location: |
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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Lehigh’s 2007-08 record: |
12-14 overall, 6-2 EIWA |
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Pittsburgh’s record: |
1-1-1 overall, 0-0 ACC |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 12-3-1 |
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Streak: |
Maryland won last year’s dual. |
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Television: |
Service Electric 2 Sports live with Doug Heater and Kyle Berger |
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Radio: |
WLVR-FM (91.3) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 12:45 p.m. |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live video at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
