Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh wraps up road swing at Navy Saturday
1/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh takes to the road for the final time during the regular season, as the Mountain Hawks visit one of their oldest rivals, the Navy Midshipmen Saturday night at Halsey Field House. The Mountain Hawks have enjoyed a record-setting start to this season, winning their first 15 duals before falling 21-12 to Central Michigan in the finals of the Virginia Duals last weekend. Navy was also at the Virginia Duals last weekend, as the Midshipmen captured seventh place at the tournament winning three duals and beating two ranked opponents in the process. Lehigh and Navy are meeting for the 89th time tonight, as the Brown and White has only wrestled against Penn State more often then they have the Midshipmen.
With wins in its first three matches at the Virginia Duals, Lehigh matched the second longest dual winning streak in school history. The Mountain Hawks won last year’s regular season finale and began this season with 15 straight dual wins, becoming the fourth Lehigh team to win 16 straight duals. The school record is a 24 dual meet winning streak from 1932-35. Lehigh’s win over Edinboro was the 800th dual victory in school annals. Celebrating its 100th season of wrestling, Lehigh’s all-time dual meet record now stands at 800-380-22, which ranks sixth among all Division I wrestling programs.
The Mountain Hawks held steady at No.8 in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat polls. Lehigh has three individuals ranked by InterMat as senior Trevor Chinn, junior Mike Galante and sophomore Alex Caruso are ranked 14th at their respective weight classes. In addition, juniors Seth Ciasulli and David Craig and freshman Zach Rey are rated by W.I.N. Magazine and the Amateur Wrestling News.
Navy carries a 5-3 overall record and 2-0 mark in EIWA duals into this weekend. The Midshipmen will host American on Friday night before the Mountain Hawks visit on Saturday. Like Lehigh, Navy spent last weekend at the Virginia Duals, where the Mids racked up a 3-2 record en route to a seventh place team finish. Navy upset Virginia in the opening round and added wins over EIWA foes Bucknell and Penn along the way. After opening the season with three duals in California, Navy moved onto the tournament circuit, where the Midshipmen won their own Navy Classic then placed fifth at the Reno Tournament of Champions and sixth at the Southern Scuffle.
Individually, the Mids have four wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat rankings, but Navy has been hit hard by the injury bug in recent weeks. Eighth-ranked heavyweight Scott Steele, and senior All-American Joe Baker, ranked tenth at 133, missed the Virginia Duals because of injury. The top-ranked Navy grappler is sophomore Bryce Saddoris, who is ranked fifth at 149. Freshman Luke Robertus comes in at No. 19 at 174.
Lehigh has wrestled Navy more often than any school other than Penn State. Lehigh first squared off with the Midshipmen in 1910, the first season of Lehigh wrestling. Navy won that inaugural dual 5-2 and has won 46 of the 88 meetings in the series, which continues for the 58th consecutive season. The Mountain Hawks had won ten straight in the series before losing in Annapolis in 2007. Last season Lehigh made it 11 wins in 12 years by upsetting the favored Mids 22-19 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
Saturday’s match gets underway at 7 p.m. from Halsey Field House. The match will be broadcast on WLVR-FM (91.3) as well as Lehighsports.com beginning at 6:45.
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Date: |
January 17, 2009 |
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Opponent: |
Navy Midshipmen |
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First match: |
7:00 pm |
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Arena: |
Halsey Field House (5,000) |
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Location: |
Annapolis, Md. |
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Lehigh’s record: |
15-1 overall, 2-0 EIWA |
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Navy’s record: |
5-3 overall, 2-0 EIWA |
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Series: |
Navy leads 46-42 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh won last year’s meeting and has won 11 of the last 12 overall |
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Television: |
None |
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Radio: |
WLVR-FM (91.3) beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live audio at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
