Mountain Hawks qualify eight for NCAAs as brackets unveiled Wednesday
3/11/2015 6:39:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Brackets | NCAA Release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh will send a total of eight wrestlers to next week's NCAA Championships as the NCAA announced its at-large qualifiers Wednesday afternoon before unveiling the brackets for the three-day national tournament in St. Louis Wednesday evening. Freshman Scott Parker became Lehigh's eighth NCAA qualifier Wednesday afternoon when he earned an at-large berth at 125.
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Seven of Lehigh's eight qualifiers will compete in St. Louis. Sophomore Doug Vollaro earned an automatic berth at heavyweight with his fourth place finish at the EIWA Championships, but Vollaro will be unable to compete at NCAAs due to an injury suffered in Saturday's third place match against Cornell's Jacob Aiken-Phillips.
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All seven Lehigh automatic qualifiers that will compete at the NCAA Championships earned top 16 seeds. Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks is junior Nathaniel Brown, who earned the No. 7 seed at 184. Brown carries an impressive 25-5 record and has been ranked in the top five of most polls all season long. Of his five losses, three are to top seeded Gabe Dean of Cornell and two are to the No. 2 seed Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh. Brown will open against Andrew Romanchik of Ohio.
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Lehigh's next highest seed is junior Mason Beckman, who is seeded tenth at 133. Beckman, a returning All-American who finished sixth last year, drew Jade Rauser of Lehigh Valley in his first match.
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EIWA Champion Randy Cruz earned the No. 13 seed at 141. Cruz will meet Dante Rodriguez of Iowa State in the round of 32.
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Returning All-American Mitch Minotti earned the No. 12 seed at 157 after finishing sixth at 149 last year. Minotti's first round opponent will be Andrew Atkinson of Virginia.
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After making a run to the EIWA finals at 174, senior Santiago Martinez claimed the No. 15 seed. Martinez is 13-3 since moving up from 165 after the Southern Scuffle. He will face Raymond Waters of Arizona State in his first match at the NCAA Tournament.
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Sophomore Elliot Riddick is the No. 16 seed at 197 and will face Jeff Koepke of Illinois in round one. Riddick is the only Mountain Hawk to draw a first round match against a wrestler from a team Lehigh faced during the dual season, but John Bolich wrestled (and beat Koepke) in the Mountain Hawks' win over the Fighting Illini on November 29.
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As the only unseeded Mountain Hawk wrestler in the tournament, Parker drew the No. 5 seed Sean Boyle of Chattanooga in the round of 32 at 125.
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Action at the 85th NCAA Championships begins Thursday March 19 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis and runs through Saturday March 21. Live audio for all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com, while for the second straight year the entire tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks (Sessions 1-3, 5 on ESPNU, sessions 4 and 6 on ESPN) and streaming coverage of every mat will be available online via ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh will send a total of eight wrestlers to next week's NCAA Championships as the NCAA announced its at-large qualifiers Wednesday afternoon before unveiling the brackets for the three-day national tournament in St. Louis Wednesday evening. Freshman Scott Parker became Lehigh's eighth NCAA qualifier Wednesday afternoon when he earned an at-large berth at 125.
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Seven of Lehigh's eight qualifiers will compete in St. Louis. Sophomore Doug Vollaro earned an automatic berth at heavyweight with his fourth place finish at the EIWA Championships, but Vollaro will be unable to compete at NCAAs due to an injury suffered in Saturday's third place match against Cornell's Jacob Aiken-Phillips.
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All seven Lehigh automatic qualifiers that will compete at the NCAA Championships earned top 16 seeds. Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks is junior Nathaniel Brown, who earned the No. 7 seed at 184. Brown carries an impressive 25-5 record and has been ranked in the top five of most polls all season long. Of his five losses, three are to top seeded Gabe Dean of Cornell and two are to the No. 2 seed Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh. Brown will open against Andrew Romanchik of Ohio.
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Lehigh's next highest seed is junior Mason Beckman, who is seeded tenth at 133. Beckman, a returning All-American who finished sixth last year, drew Jade Rauser of Lehigh Valley in his first match.
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EIWA Champion Randy Cruz earned the No. 13 seed at 141. Cruz will meet Dante Rodriguez of Iowa State in the round of 32.
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Returning All-American Mitch Minotti earned the No. 12 seed at 157 after finishing sixth at 149 last year. Minotti's first round opponent will be Andrew Atkinson of Virginia.
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After making a run to the EIWA finals at 174, senior Santiago Martinez claimed the No. 15 seed. Martinez is 13-3 since moving up from 165 after the Southern Scuffle. He will face Raymond Waters of Arizona State in his first match at the NCAA Tournament.
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Sophomore Elliot Riddick is the No. 16 seed at 197 and will face Jeff Koepke of Illinois in round one. Riddick is the only Mountain Hawk to draw a first round match against a wrestler from a team Lehigh faced during the dual season, but John Bolich wrestled (and beat Koepke) in the Mountain Hawks' win over the Fighting Illini on November 29.
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As the only unseeded Mountain Hawk wrestler in the tournament, Parker drew the No. 5 seed Sean Boyle of Chattanooga in the round of 32 at 125.
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Action at the 85th NCAA Championships begins Thursday March 19 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis and runs through Saturday March 21. Live audio for all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com, while for the second straight year the entire tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks (Sessions 1-3, 5 on ESPNU, sessions 4 and 6 on ESPN) and streaming coverage of every mat will be available online via ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
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| Weight | Wrestler | Seed | First Round Opponent |
| 125 | Scott Parker | ----- | No. 5 Sean Boyle, Chattanooga |
| 133 | Mason Beckman | 10 | Jade Rauser, Utah Valley |
| 141 | Randy Cruz | 13 | Dante Rodriguez, Iowa State |
| 157 | Mitch Minotti | 12 | Andrew Atkinson, Virginia |
| 174 | Santiago Martinez | 15 | Raymond Waters, Arizona State |
| 184 | Nathaniel Brown | 7 | Andrew Romanchik, Ohio |
| 197 | Elliot Riddick | 16 | Jeff Koepke, Illinois |
Players Mentioned
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184
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141
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