HAMPTON, Va. – Lehigh makes its first visit to the Virginia Duals in four years this weekend, to take part in the 28th edition of one of the nation’s largest dual meet tournaments. The Mountain Hawks come to Virginia after holding off Stanford 21-16 last Friday. Lehigh has placed in its last three trips to the Virginia Duals, including its lone championship in 2003 and a second place finish last time the Mountain Hawks were here in 2004. The Mountain Hawks enter the tournament unseeded, and will open with No. 2 seed Illinois, the 17th-ranked team in the country. Lehigh will face either No. 7 seed Kent State or EIWA rival Bucknell in its second dual of the tournament.
Sophomore heavyweight Justin Allen’s late heroics helped propel the Brown and White to a 21-16 win over Stanford last time out. The Mountain Hawks led the Cardinal by two points heading into the final bout of the dual, but Allen delivered an 8-2 win over Phil Doerner to clinch the dual for Lehigh, and spoil Stanford coach Kerry McCoy’s return to Bethlehem. Allen’s win marked the second time this year the North Carolina native cemented a Lehigh dual win with a victory in the final bout (Clarion). With 12 wins this season, Allen is one behind Trevor Chinn for the team lead.
First round opponent Illinois is ranked 17th nationally, despite having eight individuals ranked nationally. Leading the way for the Fighting Illini is junior Mike Poeta, who is the nation’s top ranked grappler at 157. Sophomore Jimmy Kennedy (No. 9 at 133) is Illinois’ only other wrestler ranked in the top ten, and is scheduled to face Lehigh sophomore Seth Ciasulli in a rematch from last year’s NCAA Championships, a first round match won by Kennedy. The Fighting Illini are 2-0 in duals and have wrestlers ranked at every weight except for 149 and 184.
Lehigh has faced 12 of the other 15 schools in the field in its history. The Mountain Hawks are 83-30-2 all-time versus the teams in the field. This season, Lehigh has already wrestled Virginia, while the Mountain Hawks have upcoming meets scheduled against Drexel, Penn and Rider next month. Lehigh is making its seventh appearance at the Virginia Duals, all under Greg Strobel. The Mountain Hawks are 11-9 all-time in the duals, and placed in the event in each of their last three trips. Lehigh captured its only Virginia Duals title in 2003.
Action at the Virginia Duals gets underway Friday morning at the Hampton Coliseum. The Lehigh-Illinois match will begin at 11 a.m., with the Mountain Hawks second dual, against either Kent State or Bucknell getting underway at 3 p.m. All of Lehigh’s Virginia Duals action will be broadcast live online at Lehighsports.com, with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports.
Virginia Duals Pairings
|
1. Oklahoma State |
vs. |
Drexel |
|
8. Rider |
vs. |
Duquesne |
|
|
|
|
|
5. Virginia |
vs. |
Ohio |
|
4. Penn |
vs. |
North Dakota St. |
|
|
|
|
|
6. Oregon State |
vs. |
Virginia Tech |
|
3. Old Dominion |
vs. |
Lock Haven |
|
|
|
|
|
7. Kent State |
vs. |
Bucknell |
|
2. Illinois |
vs. |
LEHIGH |
