Mountain Hawks return to mats Saturday in N.J.
12/17/2008 1:15:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With final exams now complete, Lehigh returns to the mats for the first time in two weeks on Saturday with a pair of duals against Garden State foes Rutgers and Rider. The Mountain Hawks enter their final two duals of 2008 looking to start the dual season with a 10-0 record for the first time in 41 years. Lehigh’s last action was at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 5-6, where the Mountain Hawks finished 16th with three place winners: Trevor Chinn, Joe Kennedy and Mike Galante.
On Saturday, the Mountain Hawks will be challenged by a vastly improved Rutgers team that is turning the corner under second-year head coach Scott Goodale, and an always tough Rider squad, led by longtime head coach Gary Taylor.
The Mountain Hawks are off to their best dual meet start since the 1999-2000 season, when they opened with eight consecutive dual wins. Lehigh has not started a dual season 10-0 since the 1966-67 campaign.
Lehigh remained at No. 9 in the latest national rankings, the program’s highest ranking since December 2005.
Senior Trevor Chinn went 6-2 en route to fifth place at 149, leading a group of three Mountain Hawks who placed at the Las Vegas Invitational. Freshman Joe Kennedy placed sixth at 197, while junior Mike Galante took seventh at 165. As a team, Lehigh finished in 16th place with 54.5 points, despite having just eight wrestlers compete in the tournament. The eight Lehigh wrestlers totaled a 26-16 record with 10 bonus wins. Nebraska captured the team title, followed by Cornell and Minnesota.
Rutgers has been a busy team in the early season, as the Scarlet Knights have already wrestled 14 duals and sent wrestlers to five open tournaments. The Scarlet Knights have been packing multiple duals into every competition day, en route to an 11-3 record. Rutgers wrestled four duals at the Journeymen/Brute Sprawl & Brawl, four matches at the Hoosier Duals, and most recently three matches at the Lock Haven Duals, where Rutgers beat Lock Haven, Drexel and East Stroudsburg.
Scott Goodale is in his second season at Rutgers, where he is working to turn the program into a contender within the EIWA. The Scarlet Knights’ top wrestlers have been sophomore David Greenwald, who has 17 wins and 15 falls at 141, sophomore heavyweight Dominick Russo, and freshman Scott Winston (157), who was one of the nation’s top recruits a year ago.
Unlike Rutgers, Rider has had a very low-key start to its season, wrestling just one dual meet, a 27-16 win over Lock Haven at Alumni Gym on November 21. The Broncs have been active in open tournaments, sending wrestlers to the East Stroudsburg and Penn State Nittany Lion Opens, as well as the Keystone Classic, where they placed fourth out of ten teams.
Head coach Gary Taylor is in his 31st season, and holds the third most career victories (339) among active NCAA coaches. Rider’s top returning wrestler is senior Doug Umbehauer, but the 184-pounder has yet to compete for the Broncs this season. Senior Jason Lapham (165) won the East Stroudsburg Open last month, while junior Michael Kessler (157) finished in second place.
Lehigh leads the all-time series against both schools it will face on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks have been dominant against Rutgers, winning 37 of 38 meetings, including the last 34 matches with the Scarlet Knights. Lehigh is making just its second visit to Rutgers since 1976. The Mountain Hawks defeated Rider twice last season, to improve their record versus the Broncs to 12-5. Lehigh and Rider are meeting for the 12th straight season, with Lehigh having won 11 of the last 12 duals in the series.
Action gets underway at 2 p.m. Saturday with the Lehigh-Rutgers match from the College Avenue Gymnasium in New Brunswick, N.J. After that match, Lehigh will make the trek to Lawrenceville to face Rider at 8 p.m. Both matches can be heard live on Lehighsports.com, with the Rutgers match also scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 beginning at 1:45.
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Date: |
December 20, 2008 |
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Opponent: |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
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First match: |
2:00 p.m. |
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Arena: |
College Avenue Gymnasium (1,200) |
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Location: |
New Brunswick, N.J. |
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Lehigh’s record: |
8-0 overall, 1-0 EIWA |
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Rutgers’ record: |
11-3 overall, 4-0 EIWA |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 37-1 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh has won the last 34 meetings |
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Television: |
None |
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Radio: |
ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell, beginning at 1:45 |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live audio at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
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Date: |
December 20, 2008 |
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Opponent: |
Rider Broncs |
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First match: |
8:00 p.m. |
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Arena: |
Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) |
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Location: |
Lawrenceville, N.J. |
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Rider’s record: |
1-0 overall, 0-0 CAA |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 12-5 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh has won the last two duals |
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Television: |
None |
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Radio: |
None |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live audio at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
