Mountain Hawks welcome No. 16 Michigan to Stabler Arena Friday
11/18/2010 6:26:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Lehigh wrestling team returns home to face its third straight ranked opponent as the Mountain Hawks welcome No. 16 Michigan to Stabler Arena for a top-25 showdown Friday night. The Mountain Hawks are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season last Sunday at Penn State, in a dual that saw the teams split ten bouts. Two Penn State pins carried the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions to a 21-17 win. Michigan enters Friday's match at 1-0 after defeating Pittsburgh last Sunday. The Wolverines had a tough season last year while rebuilding but have bounced back with a wealth of young talent.
Lehigh has trotted out the same ten-man lineup in each of its first three duals this season. Of those ten wrestlers, four have emerged unscathed through three matches. Freshman Frank Cagnina not only is 3-0, but has produced 12 dual points for the Mountain Hawks with three major decisions. Joining Cagnina at 3-0 are sophomore Joey Napoli (149), sophomore Robert Hamlin (184) and junior Zach Rey (285). Hamlin owns a win over returning All-American Quentin Wright of Penn State, while Rey is coming off back-to-back overtime wins over top-10 ranked adversaries from Pittsburgh and Penn State.Since the start of the 2003-04 season, Lehigh has wrestled 11 duals inside Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks are 7-4 in those duals and have won three in a row at Stabler, including a 20-12 win over Michigan in 2008. Lehigh will also wrestle EIWA rival and top-ranked Cornell at Stabler Arena on Thursday, January 20.
Michigan knocked off Pittsburgh 17-15 Sunday at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines are in a rebuilding mode after a 4-15 dual season last year and low finishes at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Michigan and Pittsburgh split ten bouts in their match, but the Wolverines opened the dual with a major decision by No. 3 Kellen Russell at 141 and closed it with another major by Zac Stevens at 133. Those two bonus points proved to be the difference in the match. Just three Wolverines are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News, Russell, junior Justin Zeerip (No. 18 at 174) and senior Anthony Biondo (No. 8 at 197) but a number of younger Wolverines including Big Ten co-Wrestler of the Week Sean Boyle (125) are on the cusp of the national rankings as well.
Lehigh and Michigan are wrestling in a dual meet for the 34th straight season and the 37th time overall. The Wolverines lead the series versus Lehigh 23-13, but the Mountain Hawks have won the last two meetings. Friday's dual marks the seventh time in the last nine years that Lehigh and Michigan have wrestled on a Lehigh-Lafayette football weekend.
Friday's match gets underway at 7 p.m. from Stabler Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME, by logging on to Lehighsports.com, or by visiting the Stabler Arena box office on Friday night.
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Date:
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November 20, 2010
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Opponent:
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No. 16 Michigan Wolverines
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First match:
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7:05 p.m.
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Arena:
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Stabler Arena (5,600)
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Location:
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Bethlehem, Pa.
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Lehigh's Record:
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2-1 overall, 0-0 EIWA
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Michigan's Record:
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1-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten
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Series:
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Michigan leads 23-13
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Streak:
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Lehigh has won the last two meetings
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Television:
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None
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Radio:
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WLVR-FM (91.3) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 6:45 p.m.
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Internet broadcast:
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Lehighsports.com
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Behind enemy lines:
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Lehigh Sports Central: Wrestling
Wednesday, March 12
Lehigh Sports Central: Wrestling
Thursday, February 20
Lehigh Sports Central: Wrestling
Wednesday, December 04
Season Preview: Wrestling
Wednesday, October 30
