Santoro announces 2013-14 Lehigh wrestling schedule
9/24/2013 2:04:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Lehigh Wrestling Schedule | Lehigh Wrestling Tickets
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Seven home duals and visits by Penn State and Iowa highlight the 2013-2014 Lehigh wrestling schedule, announced Tuesday by head coach Pat Santoro. In all, the Mountain Hawks will face three of the top five finishers from last year's NCAA Championships and seven schools that finished in the top 25 last March in Des Moines, Iowa.
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"We're always going to have a challenging schedule," said Santoro, who enters his sixth season. "We want to wrestle the best. We're fortunate this year to have some great teams coming in and we're looking forward to having some big crowds for these home matches. We're excited because we have a young team, but one that's fun to watch. They're going to be tested a lot this year and they're going to get a lot better from this experience."
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Penn State's visit to Stabler Arena on Sunday November 17 will mark the 102nd meeting between the two eastern wrestling rivals. The Nittany Lions have won the last three national team championships and own a 64-34-3 lead against Lehigh in the all-time series. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to end a three-match slide against the Nittany Lions and will look to beat Penn State for the first time since November 2009.
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Valentine's Day brings another historical matchup to Stabler Arena as Iowa will make its first visit to Bethlehem in 24 years on Friday February 14. The Hawkeyes preceded Penn State's three titles with three team championships of their own from 2008-2010. Iowa finished fourth at last year's NCAA Championships. The Mountain Hawks traveled to Iowa last year for the first dual between the schools in ten years. The Hawkeyes' last visit to Bethlehem was for Lehigh's 1990-91 season opener.
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"Iowa is always a standard program," explained Santoro. "Wrestling them is a great opportunity for our team as we head into the postseason because we will see them later in the year. It's about three weeks before the conference tournament and could have seeding implications for the national tournament. "
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The 105th season of Lehigh wrestling kicks-off with the annual Brown and White Wrestle-Offs, Thursday, October 24 inside Leeman-Turner Grace Hall. The annual intrasquad competition returns after last year's public wrestle-offs were cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
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The Mountain Hawks will send a full squad to the Clarion Open on November before kicking off the dual season with four home duals in November. The Mountain Hawks begin with a match against Bucknell at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, Saturday November 9. The following weekend, Lehigh takes on Bloomsburg November 15 at Grace Hall before welcoming Penn State two days later to Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks close out the season-opening homestand on Friday, November 22 against a Pittsburgh team that finished 15th at NCAAs last season.
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"We're jumping right into it with four home matches in the month of November in front of four big crowds," Santoro said. "That's going to be a great experience for us and there's no substitute for that."
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Lehigh returns to Troy, N.Y. over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to face Central Michigan, Virginia and Columbia at the Northeast Duals on Saturday, November 30. The Mountain Hawks close out the fall semester on Sunday December 8 when they visit Penn.
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Following a break for final exams and the holidays, Lehigh will close out 2013 at the Midlands Championships, December 29-30 in Evanston, Ill. This will be Lehigh's fifth straight full squad appearance at the Midlands, a tournament which has proven consistently to be one of the nation's in-season toughest.
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Lehigh will kick off 2014 with a road match against EIWA rival Cornell on January 12. The Big Red have won seven straight EIWA team titles and defeated the Mountain Hawks 20-13 last year in Bethlehem. The match at Cornell will be the 91st between the rivals with Lehigh leading the series 59-28-3.
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Following the match with Cornell, the Mountain Hawks will return home to host Navy at Grace Hall on January 17. They close out January with an away match at Oregon State on January 24, followed by a match two days later at Boise State. Lehigh will visit the Pacific Northwest for the first time since the 1995-96 season and will wrestle Boise State in Boise for the first time ever.
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The final month of the regular season begins on Saturday February 8 when Lehigh hosts Rutgers inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Six days later Iowa makes its visit to Stabler Arena for Lehigh's final home dual. The Mountain Hawks will close out the regular season with road duals at Brown (February 22) and Harvard (February 23).
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"Every match counts," Santoro said. "Every match is big. Every one can get you to the national tournament or get you that seed. The whole idea of this schedule is to get us ready for that postseason.
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From there, the Mountain hawks will shift focus to the postseason, which begins with the 109th EIWA Championships, hosted by Penn at the Palestra, March 8-9.
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The NCAA Championships are slated for March 20-22 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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"I know our guys are really excited about the opportunities within this schedule," Santoro said. "It's going to be a fun season."
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Season and individual match tickets are currently on sale for the 2013-14 season. Tickets are selling quickly for all home matches, with lower and middle levels of Stabler Arena nearly sold out for the Penn State and Iowa duals. A capacity crowd is possible for Penn State and Iowa, so fans are advised to purchase tickets as soon as possible. For tickets call 610-7LU-GAME or visit LehighTickets.com.
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The Mountain Hawks will officially begin preseason practice in early October.
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Story by Connor Cackovic '15
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Seven home duals and visits by Penn State and Iowa highlight the 2013-2014 Lehigh wrestling schedule, announced Tuesday by head coach Pat Santoro. In all, the Mountain Hawks will face three of the top five finishers from last year's NCAA Championships and seven schools that finished in the top 25 last March in Des Moines, Iowa.
Â
"We're always going to have a challenging schedule," said Santoro, who enters his sixth season. "We want to wrestle the best. We're fortunate this year to have some great teams coming in and we're looking forward to having some big crowds for these home matches. We're excited because we have a young team, but one that's fun to watch. They're going to be tested a lot this year and they're going to get a lot better from this experience."
Â
Penn State's visit to Stabler Arena on Sunday November 17 will mark the 102nd meeting between the two eastern wrestling rivals. The Nittany Lions have won the last three national team championships and own a 64-34-3 lead against Lehigh in the all-time series. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to end a three-match slide against the Nittany Lions and will look to beat Penn State for the first time since November 2009.
Â
Valentine's Day brings another historical matchup to Stabler Arena as Iowa will make its first visit to Bethlehem in 24 years on Friday February 14. The Hawkeyes preceded Penn State's three titles with three team championships of their own from 2008-2010. Iowa finished fourth at last year's NCAA Championships. The Mountain Hawks traveled to Iowa last year for the first dual between the schools in ten years. The Hawkeyes' last visit to Bethlehem was for Lehigh's 1990-91 season opener.
Â
"Iowa is always a standard program," explained Santoro. "Wrestling them is a great opportunity for our team as we head into the postseason because we will see them later in the year. It's about three weeks before the conference tournament and could have seeding implications for the national tournament. "
Â
The 105th season of Lehigh wrestling kicks-off with the annual Brown and White Wrestle-Offs, Thursday, October 24 inside Leeman-Turner Grace Hall. The annual intrasquad competition returns after last year's public wrestle-offs were cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Â
The Mountain Hawks will send a full squad to the Clarion Open on November before kicking off the dual season with four home duals in November. The Mountain Hawks begin with a match against Bucknell at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, Saturday November 9. The following weekend, Lehigh takes on Bloomsburg November 15 at Grace Hall before welcoming Penn State two days later to Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks close out the season-opening homestand on Friday, November 22 against a Pittsburgh team that finished 15th at NCAAs last season.
Â
"We're jumping right into it with four home matches in the month of November in front of four big crowds," Santoro said. "That's going to be a great experience for us and there's no substitute for that."
Â
Lehigh returns to Troy, N.Y. over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to face Central Michigan, Virginia and Columbia at the Northeast Duals on Saturday, November 30. The Mountain Hawks close out the fall semester on Sunday December 8 when they visit Penn.
Â
Following a break for final exams and the holidays, Lehigh will close out 2013 at the Midlands Championships, December 29-30 in Evanston, Ill. This will be Lehigh's fifth straight full squad appearance at the Midlands, a tournament which has proven consistently to be one of the nation's in-season toughest.
Â
Lehigh will kick off 2014 with a road match against EIWA rival Cornell on January 12. The Big Red have won seven straight EIWA team titles and defeated the Mountain Hawks 20-13 last year in Bethlehem. The match at Cornell will be the 91st between the rivals with Lehigh leading the series 59-28-3.
Â
Following the match with Cornell, the Mountain Hawks will return home to host Navy at Grace Hall on January 17. They close out January with an away match at Oregon State on January 24, followed by a match two days later at Boise State. Lehigh will visit the Pacific Northwest for the first time since the 1995-96 season and will wrestle Boise State in Boise for the first time ever.
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The final month of the regular season begins on Saturday February 8 when Lehigh hosts Rutgers inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Six days later Iowa makes its visit to Stabler Arena for Lehigh's final home dual. The Mountain Hawks will close out the regular season with road duals at Brown (February 22) and Harvard (February 23).
Â
"Every match counts," Santoro said. "Every match is big. Every one can get you to the national tournament or get you that seed. The whole idea of this schedule is to get us ready for that postseason.
Â
Â
From there, the Mountain hawks will shift focus to the postseason, which begins with the 109th EIWA Championships, hosted by Penn at the Palestra, March 8-9.
Â
The NCAA Championships are slated for March 20-22 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Â
"I know our guys are really excited about the opportunities within this schedule," Santoro said. "It's going to be a fun season."
Â
Season and individual match tickets are currently on sale for the 2013-14 season. Tickets are selling quickly for all home matches, with lower and middle levels of Stabler Arena nearly sold out for the Penn State and Iowa duals. A capacity crowd is possible for Penn State and Iowa, so fans are advised to purchase tickets as soon as possible. For tickets call 610-7LU-GAME or visit LehighTickets.com.
Â
The Mountain Hawks will officially begin preseason practice in early October.
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Story by Connor Cackovic '15
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