Mountain Hawks to battle two ranked foes at Northeast Duals
11/24/2010 4:58:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 11 Lehigh returns from the Thanksgiving holiday with three tough matches Saturday at the Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals. The Mountain Hawks are coming off an impressive 25-6 win over Michigan last Friday at Stabler Arena in which Lehigh won eight bouts and its only two losses by were one point. Lehigh is in the midst of a stretch of five consecutive duals against nationally ranked opponents that will continue Saturday against No. 23 Virginia and No. 16 Missouri before the Mountain Hawks close out the day against George Mason.
Lehigh is making its fourth trip in as many years to the Northeast Duals, which is now in its fifth year of existence overall. The Mountain Hawks went 2-1 last year, with wins over North Carolina and Nebraska and a loss to Maryland. Lehigh is now 8-3 all-time at the Northeast Duals. Saturday's duals also serve as a homecoming for Lehigh freshman Austin Meys who hails from Clifton Park, in New York's Capital region.Virginia brings a 6-0 dual mark into the Northeast Duals, where the Cavaliers will face Columbia, Lehigh and Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers were last in action on November 13, going 3-0 at The Duals at Hershey, where they defeated The Citadel, Kent State and Edinboro. Virginia opened its season with a dominating performance with three dual wins against Anderson, Rider and Gardner-Webb. Steve Garland is in his fifth season at Virginia and boasts three four nationally ranked wrestlers, led by No. 2 Chris Henrich at 174. In addition Matt Snyder (125), Nick Nelson (141) and Mike Salopek (197) are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News.
Missouri enters the Northeast Duals at 2-2 on the dual season and faces a busy day on Saturday with four duals on the slate. Lehigh will be the third of those four duals after the Tigers face American and Rutgers and before they face Maryland. Missouri wrestled three duals last weekend, defeating Lindenwood and Hofstra before falling 19-13 to Oregon State. The Tigers also dropped a dual meet to Illinois and crowned ten champions at the Central Missouri State Open. Brian Smith is in his 13th season at Missouri and is coming off a year where he coached his third national champion in Max Askren. Missouri boasts four nationally ranked wrestlers who are listed among the probable starters, plus Brent Haynes, who is ranked at 197. Freshman Alan Waters is already 14-0 on the season, while second-ranked Dom Bradley is off to an 8-0 start at heavyweight.
George Mason owns an 0-4 dual record on the young season and will wrestle three duals on Saturday. The Patriots will open with Bloomsburg and Columbia before wrapping up the day against Lehigh. George Mason opened its dual season at the Hershey Duals where the Patriots went 0-4, falling to Edinboro, Lock Haven, Virginia Tech and the Citadel. The lone bright spot for the Patriots has been junior Cayle Byers, who is ranked fourth in the country at 197. Byers won the Navy Classic last weekend as George Mason finished fifth as a team. Heavyweight Hunter Manspile also placed at the tournament.
Lehigh has a limited history with the first two teams it will face on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks have wrestled Virginia six times, but have not done so since the 2007-08 season when the teams met twice, including a match here at the Northeast Duals. Lehigh's only meeting with Missouri was at the historic New York Athletic Club in 2005. The Mountain Hawks have never faced George Mason.
Action gets underway at 11:15 a.m. Saturday when Lehigh meets Virginia at the McDonough Sports Complex at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will then face Missouri at 3:00 p.m. and George Mason at at 4:45 p.m. There will be no Lehigh audio coverage for the duals, but fans are encouraged to call Lehigh's sports results hotline at 610-758-5858 for updates after each dual.
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