Mountain Hawks return home to host Princeton, Drexel this weekend

Friday, December 9

Bethlehem, Pa.

7:00:00 PM

Lehigh University

Princeton

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Mountain Hawks return home to host Princeton, Drexel this weekend

12/7/2016 4:24:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

Match Notes | Tickets | Video | Audio

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – To close out the fall semester, No. 11 Lehigh returns to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for a pair of duals against EIWA opponents. The Mountain Hawks will host Princeton Friday night before welcoming Drexel Sunday in their final competition of 2016. Lehigh is looking to rebound from its first dual loss of the season 30-10 Sunday at Penn State. The Mountain Hawks took three bouts off the second-ranked defending national champions but the Nittany Lions won six of the final seven bouts with four bonus point wins along the way. Sophomore Scott Parker had the most impressive Lehigh win with his major decision of Penn State's Jered Cortez, while senior Randy Cruz and sophomore Ryan Preisch both improved to 7-0 on the season. Princeton and Drexel both spent last weekend at the Nebraska Duals, with the Dragons winning the head-to-head dual 19-17.

Eight Mountain Hawks appear in the latest InterMat rankings, led by senior Randy Cruz, who is ranked third at 141 following a 7-0 start to the season. Sophomores Scott Parker and Ryan Preisch were big movers this week following their wins over ranked opponents from Penn State. Eight Lehigh wrestlers also appear in FloWrestling's latest rankings, while seven appear in the latest polls from Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. In addition to Cruz, Parker and Preisch, seniors Laike Gardner and Doug Vollaro, junior Darian Cruz and freshman Jordan Kutler are ranked across the board. Senior Mitch Minotti has been removed from the AWN and The Open Mat poll since he has yet to compete this season.

A crowd of 15,424, the largest dual meet crowd Lehigh has ever wrestled in front of, saw the Mountain Hawks drop a 30-10 decision to No. 2 and defending national champion Penn State, Dec. 4 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Mountain Hawks won two of the first three bouts against the Nittany Lions to lead 7-3 early on before Penn State came back to win six of the last seven bouts, scoring bonus points in four of those games. Sophomore Scott Parker led the way for Lehigh with a major decision win at 133, while senior Randy Cruz and sophomore Ryan Preisch also posted victories for the Mountain Hawks. Penn State's visit to Stabler Arena last February set a Lehigh home dual meet attendance record as the eventual national champs posted a 28-9 win.

Lehigh is 1-0 in EIWA duals this season, with its opening-night win over Bucknell. The Mountain Hawks have always done well against EIWA foes under Pat Santoro. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, the Mountain Hawks are 53-10-1 (.836) in duals against EIWA opponents. Five of the 10 losses and the tie came at the hands of Cornell. No other EIWA program has beaten Lehigh more than once in that time frame. Lehigh went 7-0 in EIWA duals last season and represented the conference in the NWCA National Duals Championship Series.

When Lehigh meets Princeton, the Mountain Hawks will get re-acquainted with Tiger head coach Chris Ayres '99, a former EIWA Champion, All-American and assistant coach at Lehigh. Ayres, wrestled for the Brown and White from 1995-1999 and coached on Greg Strobel's staff for five seasons, before moving on to Princeton. He won an EIWA title at 150 in 1998 and earned All-American honors with a sixth place finish at 157 in 1999. Ayres wrestled under and then coached alongside Pat Santoro and succeeded him as Lehigh's Harmon-Rauch Assistant Coach in 2003.

Princeton brings a 3-3 dual record into Friday's dual. A close loss to Rutgers and victories over Buffalo and Maryland vaulted Princeton into the top 25 but the Tigers went just 1-2 last weekend at the Nebraska Duals, defeating Michigan State but losing to Drexel and the host Cornhuskers. Six Tigers appear in the latest InterMat rankings, led by freshman Matthew Kolodzik, who comes in at No. 4 at 141, one spot behind Lehigh's Randy Cruz. Brett Harner won an EIWA title and earned All-America honors at 197 last season and comes in at No. 9 at the moment. Other ranked Tigers include Jordan Laster (149), Ian Baker (184), Jonathan Schleifer (174) and Ray O'Donnell (285).

With a 6-1 overall record, the Drexel Dragons are off to a strong start in 2016-17. The Dragons are coming off a 2-1 showing at the Nebraska Duals, highlighted by a 19-17 win over then-No. 25 Princeton, that vaulted Drexel into the top 25 for the first time in program history. The Dragons also own EIWA wins over Sacred Heart and Army West Point. Drexel also competed at Penn's Keystone Classic on Nov. 20, finishing fifth out of 12 teams. Despite their early-season success, the Dragons have just two wrestlers ranked in the latest InterMat poll. Kevin Devoy, the 2015 EIWA Champion at 133 is ranked 13th. Devoy split EIWA final bouts with Mason Beckman in 2014 and 2015 before moving up to 141 for the 2015-16 season. Returning EIWA Champion Matt Cimato is ranked 18th at 149. Matt Azevedo is in his sixth season as Drexel's head coach. The Dragons will host Columbia Saturday night prior to their visit to Lehigh.

Lehigh and Princeton meet for the 59th time overall but just the seventh time in the last 40 years. The Mountain Hawks have won 12 straight against the Tigers and are 4-0 against Princeton under Pat Santoro. Lehigh is 16-0 against Drexel in a series that dates back to 1992. Sunday's dual will be the first between the Mountain Hawks and Dragons since Drexel joined the EIWA for the 2013-14 season.

Friday's match with Princeton gets underway at 7 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, while Sunday's Lehigh-Drexel dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Tickets for both duals are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com, by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours, or at Grace Hall prior to the match.

Following this weekend's duals, Lehigh will break for final exams and the holidays. The Mountain Hawks will return to action at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Lehigh finished a solid third at last year's Scuffle. The Mountain Hawks next dual meet will be at EIWA rival Navy on Friday, Jan. 13.

Date:	December 9, 2016
Opponent:	Princeton Tigers
First match:	7:05 p.m.
Arena:	Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130)
Location:	Bethlehem, Pa.
Lehigh's record:	3-1 overall, 1-0 EIWA
Princeton's record:	3-3 overall, 0-0 EIWA
Series:	Lehigh leads 52-5-1
Streak:	Lehigh has won the last 12 duals
Television:	None
Radio:	ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Internet broadcast:	Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at ESPNLV.com
Behind enemy lines:	http://www.goprincetontigers.com

Date:	December 11, 2016
Opponent:	No. 24 Drexel Dragons
First match:	2:05 p.m.
Arena:	Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130)
Location:	Bethlehem, Pa.
Lehigh's record:	3-1 overall, 1-0 EIWA
Drexel's record:	6-1 overall, 3-0 EIWA
Series:	Lehigh leads 16-0
Streak:	Lehigh has won all 16 meetings
Television:	None
Radio:	ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Internet broadcast:	Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at ESPNLV.com
Behind enemy lines:	http://www.drexeldragons.com