Lehigh University Athletics
Four Mountain Hawks earn seeds for NCAA Championships
3/7/2012 10:49:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Four Lehigh wrestlers earned top-12 seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament as the seeds and brackets for the championships, set for March 15-17 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, were announced Wednesday. Junior Robert Hamlin earned the highest seed for the Mountain Hawks, who qualified nine men and will send a total of eight to nationals.
Hamlin captured his second consecutive EIWA championship last Sunday and drew the No. 2 seed at 184 for the second straight year and will open against Casey Newburg of Kent State. A national finalist a year ago, Hamlin enters the NCAA tournament with a sparkling 27-1 record.
Last year's NCAA heavyweight champion, senior Zach Rey, was given the No. 4 seed at 285. Rey enters the national tournament at 22-2 overall but an overtime loss to Ryan Flores of American apparently dropped him down the seeding ladder. Rey will face Adam Chalfant of Indiana in the first round.Fresh off his EIWA Championship at 165, senior Brandon Hatchett is seeded 11th. He will open up against James Brundage of Rider.
Lehigh's fourth and final seed is senior Joe Kennedy who earned the No. 12 slot at 197. Kennedy's first round opponent is Richard Perry of Bloomsburg.
Three other Mountain Hawks enter the tournament unseeded, but will face seeded wrestlers in first round matches. Freshman Mason Beckman has the toughest test, drawing No. 2 seed Logan Stieber of Ohio State in the first round at 133. EIWA Champion Shane Welsh drew the No. 7 seed at 149, Minnesota's Dylan Ness, while senior Brian Tanen drew the No. 11 seed at 157, James Green of Nebraska.
Sophomore Steve Dutton is the one unseeded Mountain Hawk who drew an unseeded opponent as he will meet Mitchell Port of Edinboro. The winner of that bout will likely face No. 3 seed Montell Marion of Iowa in the second round.
Lehigh's ninth qualifier, freshman Nathaniel Brown, will be unable to compete at the NCAA Championships due to a head injury suffered in the consolation semifinals at the EIWA Championships when he was flagrantly kneed in the head by Cornell's Billy George.
Action at the 82nd NCAA Championships begins Thursday March 15 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis and runs through Saturday March 17. All of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com, while most of the tournament will be televised and/or streamed online by the ESPN family of networks.
|
Weight
|
Wrestler
|
Seed
|
First Round Opponent
|
|
133
|
-------
|
No. 2 Logan Stieber, Ohio State
|
|
|
141
|
Steve Dutton
|
-------
|
Mitchell Port, Edinboro
|
|
149
|
-------
|
No. 7 Dylan Ness, Minnesota
|
|
|
157
|
-------
|
No. 11 James Green, Nebraska
|
|
|
165
|
11
|
James Brundage, Rider
|
|
|
184
|
2
|
Casey Newburg, Kent State
|
|
|
197
|
12
|
Richard Perry, Bloomsburg
|
|
|
285
|
4
|
Adam Chalfant, Indiana
|
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