Sunday, December 21
New York, N.Y.
10:00 AM
Lehigh University
vs
Princeton
Mountain Hawks return to NYC Sunday for Grapple at the Garden
12/18/2014 11:50:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
Match Notes | Grapple at the Garden | FloWrestling | @LehighWrestling on Twitter
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a two week break for final exams, No. 12 Lehigh will close out 2014 with two duals inside the World's Most Famous Arena. The Mountain Hawks will take on EIWA rival Princeton and No. 13 Edinboro in their first-ever appearance at Grapple at the Garden Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lehigh last competed on December 6-7 as the Mountain Hawks routed EIWA rival Penn 31-6 before falling to Rider 17-16 on the third criteria (total match points). The loss to the Broncs snapped Lehigh's five dual winning streak.
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Lehigh now has six wrestlers ranked by The Open Mat while four men are ranked by WIN Magazine and FloWrestling and three are rated by InterMat. Junior Nathaniel Brown leads the way for the Mountain Hawks, as he is ranked in the top five at 184 in all four polls. Freshman Scott Parker recently entered The Open Mat rankings at No. 15 at 125, while Ryan Preisch is ranked 20th at 165 despite not wrestling any varsity matches so far this season. Junior Mason Beckman and sophomores Randy Cruz and Elliot Riddick are Lehigh's other ranked wrestlers.
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It took nearly four years, but junior Nathaniel Brown finally recorded his first official pin in a Lehigh singlet against Penn, decking Dan McDevitt in just 2:32. Brown was an accomplished pinner in high school with 95 falls but had not previously recorded a pin in varsity competition for the Mountain Hawks. He did record three wins by fall in his deferral year. Fifteen of Brown's 45 career Lehigh wins have produced bonus points, including four out of seven this season.
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Lehigh returns to the Big Apple after defeating Columbia at the New York Athletic Club on November 21. The Mountain Hawks are making thier first appearance at Grapple at the Garden, which is in its third year of existence and will be wrestling in the World's Most Famous Arena for the first time. Lehigh should try and get familiar with the arena as the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at Madison Square Garden.
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Princeton carries a 3-2 dual record into Grapple at the Garden. The Tigers went 3-1 at the Windy City Duals, and are coming off a close 20-16 home loss to Binghamton last weekend. Princeton owns wins over Eastern Michigan, Davidson and Cal Poly and also lost at nationally-ranked Northwestern. The Tigers opened their season with three tournaments, including a second place finish at the Navy Classic on November 22. Princeton has three wrestlers ranked in the latest rankings from The Open Mat. Senior Adam Krop is ninth at 149, junior Abe Ayala is tenth at 197 and freshman Jonathan Schleifer comes in at No. 17 at 165. Ayala is Princeton's lone returning NCAA qualifier. The Tigers are coached by former Lehigh All-American and assistant coach Chris Ayres '99, who is now in his ninth season in New Jersey.
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Coming off an impressive fifth place finish at last year's NCAA Championships, Edinboro has picked up where it left off this season. The Fighting Scots are 5-1 in duals, having won five straight following a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh. Edinboro also crowned four champions at the Clarion Open and recently dominated the field at the PSAC Championships, where the Fighting Scots crowned nine champions and had one third place finisher as they lost just one match in the entire tournament. The Fighting Scots' lineup features top five-ranked wrestlers at four of the first five weight classes. A.J. Schopp is ranked No. 1 at 133, Mitchell Port comes in at No. 2 at 141 and Dave Habat is ranked No. 3 at 149 by The Open Mat. Austin Matthews is ranked fifth at 157 but is not listed among Edinboro's probables for this weekend. Tim Flynn, last year's NWCA Coach of the Year, is in his 18th season at Edinboro.
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Lehigh has a limited recent dual history against both teams it will face on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks have faced Princeton 56 previous times and has won 50 of those duals. Lehigh is just 4-8 against Edinboro. The Mountain Hawks are 2-0 against both Princeton and Edinboro under Pat Santoro. Lehigh has never met Princeton at a neutral site, while the last five Lehigh-Edinboro duals have been contested at a neutral site, with four of those five meetings coming at the Virginia Duals.
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Lehigh's Grapple at the Garden action begins Sunday at 10 a.m. when the Mountain Hawks face Princeton at Madison Square Garden. The Lehigh-Edinboro dual will follow at noon.
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After a short break for the holidays, Lehigh will ring in 2015 in Chattanooga, Tenn. as the Mountain Hawks compete in the Southern Scuffle January 1-2 at McKenzie Arena. After competing at the Midlands Championships in each of the last five years, Lehigh will switch over to the other major holiday tournament as the Mountain Hawks make their third Scuffle appearance and their first since 2006-07 when the tournament was held in Greensboro, N.C. Lehigh will resume dual competition with matches at Navy and Maryland January 9-10.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a two week break for final exams, No. 12 Lehigh will close out 2014 with two duals inside the World's Most Famous Arena. The Mountain Hawks will take on EIWA rival Princeton and No. 13 Edinboro in their first-ever appearance at Grapple at the Garden Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lehigh last competed on December 6-7 as the Mountain Hawks routed EIWA rival Penn 31-6 before falling to Rider 17-16 on the third criteria (total match points). The loss to the Broncs snapped Lehigh's five dual winning streak.
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Lehigh now has six wrestlers ranked by The Open Mat while four men are ranked by WIN Magazine and FloWrestling and three are rated by InterMat. Junior Nathaniel Brown leads the way for the Mountain Hawks, as he is ranked in the top five at 184 in all four polls. Freshman Scott Parker recently entered The Open Mat rankings at No. 15 at 125, while Ryan Preisch is ranked 20th at 165 despite not wrestling any varsity matches so far this season. Junior Mason Beckman and sophomores Randy Cruz and Elliot Riddick are Lehigh's other ranked wrestlers.
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It took nearly four years, but junior Nathaniel Brown finally recorded his first official pin in a Lehigh singlet against Penn, decking Dan McDevitt in just 2:32. Brown was an accomplished pinner in high school with 95 falls but had not previously recorded a pin in varsity competition for the Mountain Hawks. He did record three wins by fall in his deferral year. Fifteen of Brown's 45 career Lehigh wins have produced bonus points, including four out of seven this season.
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Lehigh returns to the Big Apple after defeating Columbia at the New York Athletic Club on November 21. The Mountain Hawks are making thier first appearance at Grapple at the Garden, which is in its third year of existence and will be wrestling in the World's Most Famous Arena for the first time. Lehigh should try and get familiar with the arena as the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at Madison Square Garden.
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Princeton carries a 3-2 dual record into Grapple at the Garden. The Tigers went 3-1 at the Windy City Duals, and are coming off a close 20-16 home loss to Binghamton last weekend. Princeton owns wins over Eastern Michigan, Davidson and Cal Poly and also lost at nationally-ranked Northwestern. The Tigers opened their season with three tournaments, including a second place finish at the Navy Classic on November 22. Princeton has three wrestlers ranked in the latest rankings from The Open Mat. Senior Adam Krop is ninth at 149, junior Abe Ayala is tenth at 197 and freshman Jonathan Schleifer comes in at No. 17 at 165. Ayala is Princeton's lone returning NCAA qualifier. The Tigers are coached by former Lehigh All-American and assistant coach Chris Ayres '99, who is now in his ninth season in New Jersey.
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Coming off an impressive fifth place finish at last year's NCAA Championships, Edinboro has picked up where it left off this season. The Fighting Scots are 5-1 in duals, having won five straight following a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh. Edinboro also crowned four champions at the Clarion Open and recently dominated the field at the PSAC Championships, where the Fighting Scots crowned nine champions and had one third place finisher as they lost just one match in the entire tournament. The Fighting Scots' lineup features top five-ranked wrestlers at four of the first five weight classes. A.J. Schopp is ranked No. 1 at 133, Mitchell Port comes in at No. 2 at 141 and Dave Habat is ranked No. 3 at 149 by The Open Mat. Austin Matthews is ranked fifth at 157 but is not listed among Edinboro's probables for this weekend. Tim Flynn, last year's NWCA Coach of the Year, is in his 18th season at Edinboro.
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Lehigh has a limited recent dual history against both teams it will face on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks have faced Princeton 56 previous times and has won 50 of those duals. Lehigh is just 4-8 against Edinboro. The Mountain Hawks are 2-0 against both Princeton and Edinboro under Pat Santoro. Lehigh has never met Princeton at a neutral site, while the last five Lehigh-Edinboro duals have been contested at a neutral site, with four of those five meetings coming at the Virginia Duals.
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Lehigh's Grapple at the Garden action begins Sunday at 10 a.m. when the Mountain Hawks face Princeton at Madison Square Garden. The Lehigh-Edinboro dual will follow at noon.
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After a short break for the holidays, Lehigh will ring in 2015 in Chattanooga, Tenn. as the Mountain Hawks compete in the Southern Scuffle January 1-2 at McKenzie Arena. After competing at the Midlands Championships in each of the last five years, Lehigh will switch over to the other major holiday tournament as the Mountain Hawks make their third Scuffle appearance and their first since 2006-07 when the tournament was held in Greensboro, N.C. Lehigh will resume dual competition with matches at Navy and Maryland January 9-10.
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| Date: | December 21, 2014 |
| Opponents: | Princeton Tigers and No. 13 Edinboro Fighting Scots |
| Match Times: | Princeton: 10 a.m., Edinboro: 12 p.m. |
| Arena: | Madison Square Garden |
| Location: | New York, N.Y. |
| Lehigh's Record: | 6-2 overall, 3-0 EIWA |
| Princeton's Record: | 3-2 overall, 0-1 EIWA |
| Edinboro's Record: | 5-1 overall, 0-2 EWL |
| Lehigh-Princeton Series: | Lehigh leads 50-5-1 |
| Lehigh-Princeton Streak: | Lehigh has won the last 10 duals |
| Lehigh-Edinboro Series: | Edinboro leads 8-4 |
| Lehigh-Edinboro Streak: | Lehigh has won the last two duals |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | None |
| Internet broadcast: | Video at FloWrestling.org |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ |
| Â | http://www.gofightingscots.com/ |
Players Mentioned
133
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's WrestlingLehigh Sports Central: Wrestling
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