Lehigh University Athletics
No. 8 Lehigh returns home to host three duals
1/21/2009 3:15:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh returns home for the first time in two months for a busy weekend of action in which the eighth-ranked Mountain Hawks will host three duals in two days. The Mountain Hawks will open the weekend against Drexel on Friday night before welcoming EIWA rivals Harvard and Brown for a Saturday doubleheader. Lehigh bounced back from its first dual loss of the season with a 30-13 win at EIWA rival Navy on Saturday night, behind pins from juniors Seth Ciasulli and Mike Galante. The Mountain Hawks have not wrestled a home dual since beating Princeton on November 23, but all seven of Lehigh’s remaining duals will be contested inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
The Mountain Hawks 16-1 start to the dual season has finally garnered Lehigh wrestlers some individual recognition from the NWCA. Six Lehigh wrestlers are ranked in the latest InterMat poll, up from three a week ago. Juniors Matt Fisk and David Craig are new additions to the rankings along with freshman Zach Rey. All three were previously ranked by both W.I.N. Magazine and the Amateur Wrestling News.
One of the most pleasant surprises for Lehigh this season has been the performance of junior Mike Galante, who leads the team with 20 wins and is ranked 14th at 165. The sixth place finisher in the EIWA a year ago, Galante is currently 14-2 in duals, and leads all regulars with four falls, including a first-period pin of Navy’s Matt DeMichiel last weekend.
Drexel enters Friday night’s dual at 5-11-1 on the dual season. The Dragons are one of the few teams to have wrestled as many duals as the Mountain Hawks at this juncture of the season. Last weekend Drexel competed at the CAA duals in Fairfax, Virginia going 1-2, with a win over Sacred Heart and losses to Old Dominion and Binghamton. The win over Sacred Heart was the 400th career victory for longtime head coach Jack Childs at Drexel. The Dragons boast one nationally ranked grappler in senior Jon Oplinger, who is ranked 12th at 197. Oplinger is also one of five Lehigh Valley natives listed among the Drexel probable starters and one of three who attended Northampton High School. A fourth Northampton grappler, Steve Mytych, would be ranked at 125 but has been out of action with an injury.
Harvard returns to the mats for the first time in three weeks with duals this weekend at Lehigh and Army. The Crimson have been off since a 1-2 showing at the Lone Star Duals on January 3. It was there that Harvard picked up its first win of the dual season, 24-21, over Stanford. The Crimson also dropped duals to Cal Poly and Minnesota to fall to 1-5 on the dual season. Harvard also competed at the Las Vegas Invitational and the Midlands Championships. Allentown native Jay Weiss is in his 15th season as head coach of the Crimson. Individually, Harvard has three wrestlers ranked in the top ten nationally. J.P. O’Connor is ranked fourth at 157, while Louis Caputo comes in at No. 7 at 184. Sophomore Corey Jantzen is ranked No. 3 at 141 but is not expected to compete this weekend.
Brown comes into Saturday’s dual with a 2-6 dual record, including an 0-3 mark against EIWA opponents. Last weekend, the Bears fell, 20-12, at home to Bucknell. Like Harvard, Brown competed at both the Las Vegas Invitational and the Lone Star Duals. In Texas, longtime head coach Dave Amato picked up career win No. 350 in a 26-6 triumph over Air Force. Aside from Bucknell, the Bears have also dropped conference duals to American and Rutgers, and like Harvard, Brown will head to West Point, N.Y. to face Army on Sunday. The Bears have zero nationally ranked wrestlers, but Brown does have two men ranked by the EIWA: senior Matt Gevelinger at 184 and senior Branden Stearns at 197.
Lehigh will be wrestling Harvard and Brown on the same day in the last weekend in January for the eleventh straight year.
The Mountain Hawks have historically dominated all three teams they will face this weekend. Lehigh has never lost to Drexel, winning all 14 meetings against the Dragons. The Mountain Hawks also have a current 10-dual winning streak versus Harvard and an 11-dual streak versus Brown. Dating back to the 1997-98 season, Lehigh is a combined 29-1 in dual meets versus Drexel, Harvard and Brown.
Action gets underway on Friday night when Lehigh hosts Drexel at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Mountain Hawks will face Harvard at 1 p.m. followed by Brown at 3 p.m. In between duals on Saturday, Lehigh will be welcoming back its Olympic and National Champions in conjunction with the celebration of the 100th season of Lehigh wrestling. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office, located in Grace Hall.
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Date: |
January 23, 2009 |
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Opponent: |
Drexel Dragons |
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First match: |
7:05 p.m. |
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Arena: |
Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130) |
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Location: |
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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Lehigh’s record: |
16-1 overall, 3-0 EIWA |
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Drexel’s record: |
5-11-1 overall, 1-2 CAA |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 14-0 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh has won all 14 meetings |
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Television: |
Service Electric 2 Sports at 9:30 p.m. with Doug Heater and Kyle Berger |
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Radio: |
ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 beginning at 6:45 p.m. with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live video at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
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Date: |
January 24, 2009 |
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Opponent: |
Harvard Crimson |
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First match: |
1:00 p.m. |
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Arena: |
Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130) |
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Location: |
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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Harvard’s record |
1-5 overall, 0-0 EIWA |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 11-1 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh has won the last 10 meetings |
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Television: |
None |
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Radio: |
WLVR-FM (91.3) beginning at 12:45 p.m. with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live video at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
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Date: |
January 24, 2009 |
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Opponent: |
Brown Bears |
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First match: |
3:00 pm |
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Arena: |
Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130) |
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Location: |
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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Brown’s record: |
2-6 overall, 0-3 EIWA |
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Series: |
Lehigh leads 15-4 |
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Streak: |
Lehigh has won the last 11 meetings |
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Television: |
None |
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Radio: |
None |
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Internet broadcast: |
Live video at Lehighsports.com |
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Behind enemy lines: |
