Friday, January 13
Annapolis, Md.
7:30:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
Navy
Photo by: Rich Warnke
Mountain Hawks return to dual competition with weekend visits to Navy, American
1/11/2017 3:56:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Match Notes | Video (Both Duals) | Navy Audio | American Audio
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In its first dual action of 2017, No. 8 Lehigh takes to the road for EIWA duals at Navy Friday and American on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are 5-1 in dual action, rebounding from their lone loss at Penn State on Dec. 4 with home wins over Princeton and Drexel the following weekend. Lehigh opened 2017 with a strong showing at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Mountain Hawks posted a third place team finish, netting 124.5 points and had seven place winners, led by freshman Jordan Kutler, who went 4-0 to claim the title at 157.
Kutler went 4-0 across the two-day tournament, knocking off the top two seeds at 157 to claim the title. As a team, Lehigh scored 124.5 points to finish in third place for the second straight year, surpassing Lehigh's 2016 point total by 20 points. Seven of Lehigh's 16 entrants placed, with four others finishing one win shy of placement. Sophomore Scott Parker joined Kutler as a finalist but had to default with an injury in the third period of his finals bout at 133. The Mountain Hawks had a pair of third place finishers, with Darian Cruz going 6-1 to take third at 125 and Ryan Preisch went 5-1 to finish third at 174. Senior Laike Gardner finished fifth at 149. Two Mountain Hawks placed at 165, with freshman Cole Walter taking fifth and junior Drew Longo finishing eighth. A third Lehigh 165-pounder, senior Mitch Minotti, medically forfeited to Longo in the placement round.
Fifteen of the 16 Lehigh wrestlers to compete at the Southern Scuffle won at least one bout. Bonus points had the Mountain Hawks in the hunt in the team race as Lehigh finished with nine falls and 26 bonus wins over the two days.
Eight Mountain Hawks appear in the latest rankings by both InterMat and FloWrestling, led by freshman Jordan Kutler, who moved into the top five at 157 following his win at the Southern Scuffle. Sophomore Ryan Preisch was also a big mover, rising to No. 6 across the board following his third place finish at the Scuffle. Seven Mountain Hawks appear in the polls by the Open Mat and Amateur Wrestling News. In addition to Kutler and Preisch, seniors Randy Cruz, Laike Gardner and Doug Vollaro, junior Darian Cruz and sophomore Scott Parker are ranked across the board. At 165, senior Mitch Minotti is ranked by InterMat and FloWrestling, but does not appear in the AWN or Open Mat polls.
On the second day of the Southern Scuffle, Kutler posted wins over the top two seeds, Joey Lavallee of Missouri and then Joe Smith of Oklahoma State to become Lehigh's second-ever Southern Scuffle champion, joining another former Blair Academy product in Cory Cooperman, who won at 141 in Dec. 2005. The Southern Scuffle was Kutler's first competition since November. He improved to 9-1 in his deferred freshman season and vaulted into the top five in the national rankings.
Navy enters Friday's match unbeaten in six duals. Of note, the Mids own a 24-17 win over American last month and come in following a 23-16 victory at Maryland on Sunday. The Midshipmen have also been busy on the tournament circuit, hosting the Navy Classic in November and also competing in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and most recently, the Southern Scuffle. Navy finished 19th at the Southern Scuffle, led by an eighth place finish from Jadaen Bernstein at 174. Bernstein is the lone Midshipman rated by InterMat as he comes in at No. 18. Senior Corey Wilding (149) and freshmen Jared Prince (141) and Zack Elvin (157) all finished one win shy of placing at the Southern Scuffle, with Wilding giving up four late points to Lehigh's Laike Gardner to drop a 5-3 decision. Joel Sharratt is in his third season as Navy's head coach.
American sports a 3-3 dual record. The Eagles hosted the AU Duals last weekend where they upset Wyoming 19-14 before dropping duals against Army West Point and North Carolina. American's other two dual wins came against Campbell and Clarion in early November. The Eagles have also been busy on the tournament circuit, competing at the Las Vegas Invitational and the Midlands Championships. Sophomore Josh Terao placed third at 125 at the Midlands and is the lone ranked Eagle, coming in at No. 16. At 133, senior Esteban Gomez-Rivera is having a strong campaign with a 15-2 record. Gomez-Rivera was injured the night before Lehigh's dual win over the Eagles last season. Teague Moore is in his sixth season as American's head coach.
Navy is Lehigh's second-most wrestled opponent behind Penn State. These teams will meet for the 97th time with Lehigh having won the last five duals to take the lead in the all-time series for the first time. The Mountain Hawks have won all six previous duals with American by an average score of 29.2-13.3. Lehigh visits American for the third time (Jan. '13 and Dec. '07).
Friday's Lehigh-Navy dual begins at 7:30 p.m. from Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md., while Saturday's dual at American will begin at 7 p.m. from Bender Arena in Washington D.C. Live video for both duals will be available via the Patriot League Network. Lehigh will offer radio and audio broadcasts for both duals with the Navy match airing on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) and ESPNLV.com, and the American dual airing on WLVR (91.3 FM) and WLVR.org.
Live video for that dual will be available on the Patriot League Network. Sunday's Lehigh-Maryland match is set for 5 p.m. from XFINITY Pavilion in College Park. There will be no video coverage for that dual but audio will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) as well as wlvr.org.
Lehigh opens up a three-dual home stand by hosting two longtime EIWA rivals next weekend inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks will host Penn Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming No. 8 Cornell on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the annual Sheridan Dual. The home stand concludes when No. 6 Virginia Tech visits on Jan. 27. Tickets are available for all three duals, with the Cornell match rapidly approaching a sellout. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In its first dual action of 2017, No. 8 Lehigh takes to the road for EIWA duals at Navy Friday and American on Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are 5-1 in dual action, rebounding from their lone loss at Penn State on Dec. 4 with home wins over Princeton and Drexel the following weekend. Lehigh opened 2017 with a strong showing at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Mountain Hawks posted a third place team finish, netting 124.5 points and had seven place winners, led by freshman Jordan Kutler, who went 4-0 to claim the title at 157.
Kutler went 4-0 across the two-day tournament, knocking off the top two seeds at 157 to claim the title. As a team, Lehigh scored 124.5 points to finish in third place for the second straight year, surpassing Lehigh's 2016 point total by 20 points. Seven of Lehigh's 16 entrants placed, with four others finishing one win shy of placement. Sophomore Scott Parker joined Kutler as a finalist but had to default with an injury in the third period of his finals bout at 133. The Mountain Hawks had a pair of third place finishers, with Darian Cruz going 6-1 to take third at 125 and Ryan Preisch went 5-1 to finish third at 174. Senior Laike Gardner finished fifth at 149. Two Mountain Hawks placed at 165, with freshman Cole Walter taking fifth and junior Drew Longo finishing eighth. A third Lehigh 165-pounder, senior Mitch Minotti, medically forfeited to Longo in the placement round.
Fifteen of the 16 Lehigh wrestlers to compete at the Southern Scuffle won at least one bout. Bonus points had the Mountain Hawks in the hunt in the team race as Lehigh finished with nine falls and 26 bonus wins over the two days.
Eight Mountain Hawks appear in the latest rankings by both InterMat and FloWrestling, led by freshman Jordan Kutler, who moved into the top five at 157 following his win at the Southern Scuffle. Sophomore Ryan Preisch was also a big mover, rising to No. 6 across the board following his third place finish at the Scuffle. Seven Mountain Hawks appear in the polls by the Open Mat and Amateur Wrestling News. In addition to Kutler and Preisch, seniors Randy Cruz, Laike Gardner and Doug Vollaro, junior Darian Cruz and sophomore Scott Parker are ranked across the board. At 165, senior Mitch Minotti is ranked by InterMat and FloWrestling, but does not appear in the AWN or Open Mat polls.
On the second day of the Southern Scuffle, Kutler posted wins over the top two seeds, Joey Lavallee of Missouri and then Joe Smith of Oklahoma State to become Lehigh's second-ever Southern Scuffle champion, joining another former Blair Academy product in Cory Cooperman, who won at 141 in Dec. 2005. The Southern Scuffle was Kutler's first competition since November. He improved to 9-1 in his deferred freshman season and vaulted into the top five in the national rankings.
Navy enters Friday's match unbeaten in six duals. Of note, the Mids own a 24-17 win over American last month and come in following a 23-16 victory at Maryland on Sunday. The Midshipmen have also been busy on the tournament circuit, hosting the Navy Classic in November and also competing in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and most recently, the Southern Scuffle. Navy finished 19th at the Southern Scuffle, led by an eighth place finish from Jadaen Bernstein at 174. Bernstein is the lone Midshipman rated by InterMat as he comes in at No. 18. Senior Corey Wilding (149) and freshmen Jared Prince (141) and Zack Elvin (157) all finished one win shy of placing at the Southern Scuffle, with Wilding giving up four late points to Lehigh's Laike Gardner to drop a 5-3 decision. Joel Sharratt is in his third season as Navy's head coach.
American sports a 3-3 dual record. The Eagles hosted the AU Duals last weekend where they upset Wyoming 19-14 before dropping duals against Army West Point and North Carolina. American's other two dual wins came against Campbell and Clarion in early November. The Eagles have also been busy on the tournament circuit, competing at the Las Vegas Invitational and the Midlands Championships. Sophomore Josh Terao placed third at 125 at the Midlands and is the lone ranked Eagle, coming in at No. 16. At 133, senior Esteban Gomez-Rivera is having a strong campaign with a 15-2 record. Gomez-Rivera was injured the night before Lehigh's dual win over the Eagles last season. Teague Moore is in his sixth season as American's head coach.
Navy is Lehigh's second-most wrestled opponent behind Penn State. These teams will meet for the 97th time with Lehigh having won the last five duals to take the lead in the all-time series for the first time. The Mountain Hawks have won all six previous duals with American by an average score of 29.2-13.3. Lehigh visits American for the third time (Jan. '13 and Dec. '07).
Friday's Lehigh-Navy dual begins at 7:30 p.m. from Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md., while Saturday's dual at American will begin at 7 p.m. from Bender Arena in Washington D.C. Live video for both duals will be available via the Patriot League Network. Lehigh will offer radio and audio broadcasts for both duals with the Navy match airing on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) and ESPNLV.com, and the American dual airing on WLVR (91.3 FM) and WLVR.org.
Live video for that dual will be available on the Patriot League Network. Sunday's Lehigh-Maryland match is set for 5 p.m. from XFINITY Pavilion in College Park. There will be no video coverage for that dual but audio will be available on WLVR-FM (91.3) as well as wlvr.org.
Lehigh opens up a three-dual home stand by hosting two longtime EIWA rivals next weekend inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks will host Penn Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming No. 8 Cornell on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the annual Sheridan Dual. The home stand concludes when No. 6 Virginia Tech visits on Jan. 27. Tickets are available for all three duals, with the Cornell match rapidly approaching a sellout. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
| Date: | January 13, 2017 |
| Opponent: | Navy Midshipmen |
| First match: | 7:35 p.m. |
| Arena: | Alumni Hall (5,710) |
| Location: | Annapolis, Md. |
| Lehigh's record: | 5-1 overall, 3-0 EIWA |
| Navy's record: | 6-0 overall, 1-0 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 49-47 |
| Streak: | Lehigh has won the last five duals |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) beginning at 7:15 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: | Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at ESPNLV.com |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.navysports.com |
| Date: | January 14, 2017 |
| Opponent: | American Eagles |
| First match: | 7:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Bender Arena (4,500) |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Lehigh's record: | 5-1 overall, 3-0 EIWA |
| American's record: | 3-3 overall, 0-2 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 6-0 |
| Streak: | Lehigh has won all six duals |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | WLVR (91.3 FM) beginning at 6:45 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: | Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at WLVR.org |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.aueagles.com |
Players Mentioned
125
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
157/165
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
165/174
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
157/165
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