Mountain Hawks return to mats at 48th Midlands Championships
12/28/2010 6:44:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - No. 10 Lehigh returns to the mats following a two-and-a-half week layoff as the Mountain Hawks will compete at the prestigious Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Mountain Hawks were last in action on December 12 when they defeated Central Michigan in a dual meet at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh brings a contingent of 12 wrestlers to one of the nation's premier in-season tournaments, led by top-ranked heavyweight Zach Rey. Six Mountain Hawks are ranked in the latest Amateur Wrestling News poll, with junior Joe Kennedy and sophomore Robert Hamlin both having a good chance to join Rey as top-8 seeds.
The Midlands is a national invitational/open event for outstanding college teams, clubs and individuals. It is one of the premier wrestling events in the nation, annually drawing 350 of the country's best wrestlers. The Midlands is in its 48th year, with Lehigh sending a contingent of wrestlers to Evanston for the second straight year after previously not sending wrestlers since 2004 and not sending a full squad since 2002. More than 30 colleges will send wrestlers to this year's Midlands. Nine of the top ten teams from last year's Midlands return, including defending champion Iowa, and Lehigh, which placed sixth.
It is believed to be the 30th time in 48 tournaments that Lehigh will have at least one wrestler entered in the Midlands. Lehigh undergraduates have won three Midlands titles, with Jon Trenge capturing titles in 2002 and 2004 and Darryl Burley winning as an undergrad in 1981. Burley was also a three-time finalist. Tihamer Toth-Fejel '76 was a five-time Midlands placer as a post-graduate competitor and also won a Midlands title.
While the Midlands Championships will mark the first time this season Lehigh's starting lineup will compete in a tournament setting, the Mountain Hawks have had wrestlers compete in six open tournaments this year. Seven different wrestlers have won a total of 14 places in open tournament competition. Seniors Kadeem Samuels and Kyle Rosser have both placed in opens this year and will compete this week at the Midlands. Samuels won the UB Open in November at 184. Freshman Anthony Salupo won the Mat Town Invitational and Cleveland State Opens and is expected to compete unattached at the Midlands.
Rey is off to a 9-0 start as the nation's No. 1 ranked heavyweight. Rey captured an EIWA title last season and finished third at the NCAA Championships to earn Lehigh's 128th All-American medal and the Mountain Hawks' first since 2006. Rey also won the Penn State Open and placed fifth at the Midlands in 2009. He finished with a 33-4 record last season and owns a 65-10 mark for his career. In October, Rey competed in freestyle at the University World Championships in Turin, Italy.
Seeds and brackets for the 48th Midlands Championships are expected to be announced Tuesday evening. Competition begins Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Central time from Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Action continues all day Wednesday and Thursday with the finals slated for a 7 p.m. start Thursday night. The Midlands finals will be televised by the Big Ten Network, Saturday, January 8 at 3 p.m. Central and will re-air on Friday, January 14 at 6 p.m. Central.
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