Mountain Hawks return to mats Saturday at Northeast Duals
11/23/2011 3:06:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – For the fifth consecutive year, No. 8 Lehigh returns from the Thanksgiving holiday to compete at the Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals on Saturday. After two tough losses to nationally-ranked Pittsburgh and Illinois, the Mountain Hawks picked up their first dual meet win on Sunday, downing Clarion 27-12 as Lehigh won seven bouts including a pin from freshman Anthony Salupo and a major decision by junior Robert Hamlin. The Mountain Hawks are bringing 15 wrestlers to New York's capital region to compete in duals against Arizona State, Purdue and North Carolina.
Five Mountain Hawks are ranked in the latest polls conducted by Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat. All five ranked Lehigh wrestlers are in the top ten at their respective weight classes. A loss by defending national champion Quentin Wright allowed Robert Hamlin to vault into the top spot at 184, giving Lehigh two No. 1 ranked wrestlers for the first time since 2005 (Troy Letters and Jon Trenge)Arizona State is rebuilding following a 2010-11 season where the Sun Devils crowned a pair of National Champions and finished sixth at the NCAA Championships. Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins are gone, so head coach Shawn Charles brings a predominantly freshman-based lineup to the Northeast Duals, where the Sun Devils will face Army, Lehigh, Binghamton and Penn. Arizona State is 2-0 on the dual season after downing Embry-Riddle and Grand Canyon on November 13. The Sun Devils also hosted the NWCA All-Star Classic, with freshman Joel Smith filling in a 149 and 12th ranked heavyweight Levi Cooper competing in an exhibition bout.
Purdue is the second of three Big Ten schools that Lehigh will wrestle this season. The Boilermakers are 1-1 on the dual season and will face a busy Saturday with duals against Binghamton, Rutgers, Lehigh and American. Purdue dropped a tight 21-15 dual meet at Missouri on November 13 and is coming off its first dual win of the season, over Indianapolis last Friday. The Boilermakers feature three ranked wrestlers, but only one of the three is listed among Purdue's probable starters, sixth-ranked Ivan Lopouchanski at 149, who joined the Boilermaker program after UNC-Greensboro discontinued its program. Cashe Quiroga (133) and A.J. Kissel (197) are both ranked in the top ten, but not included among Purdue probable starters.
North Carolina owns a 0-4 dual record on the young season and will wrestle three duals against EIWA opponents on Saturday. The Tar Heels will open with Rutgers and Penn before wrapping up the day against Lehigh. North Carolina opened its dual season at the Wrestle for a Cure duals in Harrisburg, where the Tar Heels fell to Illinois, Boston University, Nebraska and Ohio State. Injuries have forced coach C.D. Mock to juggle his lineup. North Carolina has one ranked wrestler in freshman Evan Henderson at 141. The Tar Heels also picked up Virginia Tech transfer Brock LiVorio at 133. Former Lehigh captain Trevor Chinn '09 is in his third season as a Tar Heel assistant coach.
Lehigh has a relatively limited history against the three teams it will face on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are 3-2 versus Arizona State and haven't met the Sun Devils since 2007. Lehigh and Purdue have wrestled just once before, a 20-18 Lehigh win at Arizona State in November. 1999. The Mountain Hawks are 4-2 against North Carolina all-time, with the last meeting coming two years ago at the Northeast Duals.
Action gets underway at 11:15 a.m. Saturday when Lehigh meets Arizona State at the McDonough Sports Complex at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will face Purdue at 1:40 p.m. before wrapping-up the day against North Carolina at 3:30. All three of Lehigh's matches at the Northeast Duals can be heard live at Lehighsports.com.
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