Lehigh University Athletics
Top seed Lehigh set for action at Virginia Duals
1/7/2009 4:30:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh seeks its best start in school history as the Mountain Hawks will compete in one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious dual meet tournaments, the Virginia Duals, Friday and Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum. The Mountain Hawks opened 2009 by moving to 12-0 overall with wins at West Virginia and Penn State last weekend and at No. 8 in the national polls, Lehigh earned the top seed in the 16-team field for this two-day dual tournament. Lehigh is making its eighth appearance at the Virginia Duals, having won the tournament in 2003. The Mountain Hawks will open the tournament Friday morning against Ohio University and will face either No. 8 seed Kent State or EIWA rival Bucknell in its second dual of the tournament.
Last time out against Penn State, the Mountain Hawks received a 9-5 win by decision by junior Mike Galante at over Mark Friend at 165 as Lehigh rallied from a two-point deficit to win 17-16. Each team won five bouts on the afternoon but major decisions by junior David Craig and freshman Joe Kennedy provided key bonus points to the Lehigh effort.
Despite its record tying 12-0 start, Lehigh has just three wrestlers ranked in InterMat’s latest rankings. Senior Trevor Chinn and Alex Caruso are the only Mountain Hawks to be ranked in all three major polls. Three Lehigh grapplers: juniors Seth Ciasulli, Craig and freshman Zach Rey are not rated by the NWCA but are ranked by W.I.N. Magazine and the Amateur Wrestling News.
The Mountain Hawks’ first round opponent, Ohio University, is 4-2-1 in duals this season. The Bobcats, who are unbeaten in their last five duals, are led by junior Jacob Ison, who is ranked 19th at 174. Lehigh and Ohio have met twice before with the Mountain Hawks winning duals in December of 2000 and 2001.
Lehigh’s 12-0 start to the dual season matches the best start to a season in the program’s illustrious 100 year history. With a win in its first dual against Ohio on Friday, Lehigh can establish a new school record for most dual wins to start the season. Not only is Lehigh off to a 12-0 start this season, but counting last year’s season finale at Drexel, the Mountain Hawks have won 13 straight duals. One more dual victory for the Brown and White would match the fifth longest dual meet winning streak in school annals.
Lehigh is making its eighth appearance at the Virginia Duals, with the previous seven coming under Greg Strobel. The Mountain Hawks are 13-11 all-time in the duals, including a 2-2 showing at last year’s duals. Lehigh captured its only Virginia Duals title in 2003.
Lehigh has faced 10 of the other 15 schools in the field in its history. The Mountain Hawks are 109-79-2 all-time versus the teams in the field. This season, Lehigh has already wrestled Rider and Oklahoma State, while the Mountain Hawks have upcoming meets scheduled against Bucknell, Navy and Penn.
Action at the Virginia Duals gets underway at 9 a.m. Friday from the Hampton Coliseum, with Lehigh’s opening round match against Ohio University and three other first round duals. The Mountain Hawks’ second dual of the day, versus either Kent State or Bucknell will get underway at 1 p.m. All of Lehigh’s Virginia Duals action will be broadcast live online at Lehighsports.com, with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.
Virginia Duals Pairings
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1. LEHIGH |
vs. |
Ohio |
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8. Kent State |
vs. |
Bucknell |
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5. Penn |
vs. |
North Dakota St. |
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4. Edinboro |
vs. |
Rider |
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6. Old Dominion |
vs. |
Northern Colorado |
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3. Central Michigan |
vs. |
Liberty |
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7. Virginia |
vs. |
Navy |
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2. Oklahoma State |
vs. |
Clarion |
