Three Mountain Hawks teams ready to fight for titles

Bethlehem, PA – The regular seasons are over for Lehigh men’s and women’s basketball and for wrestling. Now, it’s time to see how all the hard work and preparation will pay off. This weekend, the quarter- and semifinals of the Patriot League Basketball Championships take place at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD, while the EIWA Wrestling Championships take place at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia, PA. Judging by the teams’ performances in the regular season, this could be one of the most successful collective postseasons in Lehigh history.

Recently, the Lehigh wrestling team completed the most successful regular season in school history, winning a record 22 dual matches against only 4 losses. Facing a brutal schedule that saw the team wrestle twelve teams ranked in the top-25, the Mountain Hawks have been battle tested. Lehigh comes in as the team to beat, as they are the two-time defending champs and have won three of the last four. The Mountain Hawks are looking for their first three-peat in the event since 1975-77. They will be heavily favored to do so as well, as they will enter nine wrestlers seeded in the top four of their weight class, including four top seeds.

Fresh off of it’s first-ever Patriot League regular season championship, the top-seeded men’s basketball team will take on eighth-seeded Navy. The Mountain Hawks have never won at The Show Place Arena after falling in the opening round each of the past two seasons. This year, Lehigh has recorded its first back to back winning seasons since the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons, and along the way, tied the school record for most Patriot League victories in a season with ten. With a win on Saturday afternoon, Lehigh can move into a tie for the third most overall victories in a season.

The women’s team hits the court for postseason action as the Mountain Hawks take on Army in the opening round Friday night. The Brown & White will look to keep the momentum going following last weekend’s victory at defending league champion Holy Cross. Senior Jana Ransom posted a career best 27, while junior Jessica DePalo chipped in with 26 in the victory.

Although Lehigh swept the regular season series for the third straight year, the Black Knights lead the all-time series between the two schools, winning 17 of the previous 31 meetings. Lehigh has captured the last six regular season meetings, but Army has eliminated Lehigh from the Patriot League tournament in each of the last two seasons.

The action at the EIWAs begins at 11:00am on Saturday, March 6, with the first round of preliminaries and quarterfinals. The championship bouts will begin at 5:30pm on Sunday, March 7.

The women’s game with Army gets underway at 7:35 on Friday night. The game can be heard live in the Lehigh Valley on 91.3 FM (WLVR), and worldwide on Lehigh’s web site at lehighsports.com beginning with pregame coverage at 7:15.

Saturday’s men’s tip-off is scheduled for 12:00. The game will be broadcast via radio in the Lehigh Valley, on Oldies 1470 WKAP and worldwide on the Internet at lehighsports.com.

Related Links

Lehigh University Athletics

Three Mountain Hawks teams ready to fight for titles

Related News

Related Videos