Friday, January 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
7:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Penn
No. 7 Lehigh returns home for big EIWA duals versus Penn, No. 10 Cornell
1/18/2017 2:35:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Match Notes | Tickets | Video | Audio
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 7 Lehigh opens up a three-dual home stand by welcoming a pair of longtime EIWA rivals to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle Penn Friday night before welcoming No. 10 Cornell Saturday in for the annual Billy Sheridan Memorial Dual. Lehigh extended its dual winning streak to four straight with a pair of road victories last weekend as the Mountain Hawks topped Navy 23-9 before downing American 31-3. Three Mountain Hawks: junior Darian Cruz and freshmen Jordan Kutler and Kyle Gentile, all went 2-0 last weekend. Kutler is riding an eight match winning streak, while Cruz and Gentile have both won six straight bouts.
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Last time out, Lehigh improved to 5-0 against EIWA opponents and 3-0 against members that compete in the Patriot League in other sports with road victories at Navy and American. The Mountain Hawks took seven of 10 bouts in a 23-9 win at Navy and then took nine bouts against the Eagles. This season marks just the second time that Lehigh will face all four of the Patriot League institutions that currently sponsor wrestling: American, Army West Point, Bucknell and Navy. The Mountain Hawks opened their season with a 33-7 win over Bucknell and will face Army West Point on Feb. 10. The last time Lehigh faced all four Patriot League schools was 2007-08 when the Mountain Hawks defeated American, Navy and Bucknell and lost to Army West Point. The top team among Patriot League schools and non-Ivy EIWA schools (Binghamton, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Hofstra and Sacred Heart) will represent the conference in the NWCA National Duals Championship Series in February.
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With sophomore Scott Parker likely sidelined until February due to injury, true freshman Joe Lobeck made his varsity debut on Lehigh's last road trip, going 1-1 in dual competition. Lobeck began the year by going 10-3, competing unattached in open competition. He competed at the East Stroudsburg Open, then took third at the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open. On Dec. 22, Lobeck went 4-0 to claim the 133-pound title at the Wilkes Open. In his varsity debut, Lobeck posted a 5-0 win over Navy's Cody Lambert. He was mere seconds away from a 2-0 dual showing but fell 7-6 to American's Esteban Gomez-Rivera after a takedown in the final seconds. A three-time Pennsylvania AA place winner (fourth, second, third) for Lancaster Catholic High School, Lobeck joins Kyle Gentile as true freshmen currently in the Lehigh lineup.
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All tournaments and most duals start at 125, and Lehigh has had a reliable performer at the lightest weight in junior Darian Cruz. In his third season as a starter, Cruz owns a 75-18 career record that included a 30-9 dual mark. In 2014, Cruz became Lehigh's first true freshman All-American since 1980 with a seventh place finish. After deferring his eligibility in 2014-15, Cruz returned to Lehigh's lineup to win an EIWA title last season and fell just one victory short of his second All-America honor. Following a third place finish at the Southern Scuffle, Cruz went 2-0 in Lehigh's duals at Navy and American and was the only Mountain Hawk to score a bonus point win against the Midshipmen. Cruz is 7-1 in duals this season, and 6-1 in duals that have started at 125. The only Lehigh dual to not start at the lightest weight so far this season was the Drexel dual, which started at 141.
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Penn enters Friday's dual with a 1-3 mark. The Quakers' lone victory was a quality 19-17 upset over No. 17 Stanford last weekend at the Palestra. Penn also dropped an 18-14 decision to Army West Point last Sunday and has also dropped duals against Rider and Princeton. In November, Penn hosted the Keystone Classic, where the Quakers finished ninth out of 12 teams. The Quakers also finished 17th at the Southern Scuffle to ring in the new year. Individually, Penn features a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers, led by returning All-American Casey Kent, who is currently ranked 10th at 174. Frank Mattiace is ranked 15th at 197 by InterMat. Kent and Mattiace along with Joe Oliva (149) and May Bethea (157) went 2-0 in last week's action against Stanford and Army. Alex Tirapelle is in his third season as Penn's head coach.
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The 10-time defending EIWA champions, Cornell brings a 5-2 dual mark into Saturday's match. The Big Red split a pair of home duals last weekend, using bonus points to defeat Drexel 24-18 before falling 25-11 to Missouri. The Big Red finished eighth at the Southern Scuffle and took fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. While Cornell's lineup has been in flux since the start of 2017, the Big Red do feature six wrestlers ranked by InterMat, led by two-time defending NCAA champion Gabe Dean, who is ranked first at 184. Seniors Dylan Palacio and Brian Realbuto are ranked fourth at 157 and 174, respectively, although Palacio's only official match this season came at 165. Seventeenth-ranked Owen Scott is not listed as the probable starter at 197 but both he and listed starter Ben Honis placed at the Southern Scuffle. Rob Koll is in his 23rd season at Cornell. His son Will is expected to start at 141.
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Saturday's match with Cornell marks the 13th consecutive season that Lehigh's legendary former coach, Billy Sheridan, is honored with a single dual meet against a high profile opponent. This year marks the seventh year in a row that the single Sheridan Dual pits Lehigh against an EIWA rival and the second time that rival is Cornell. It also marks the fifth straight year that the Sheridan Dual will be hosted inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Five of the first eight Sheridan Duals under the current format were hosted at Stabler Arena. From 2000-2003 Lehigh hosted the Sheridan Duals, a series of duals in which the Mountain Hawks faced three opponents on the first or second Saturday in December at Stabler Arena. Before that, Lehigh hosted the Sheridan Tournament, which began in 1979.
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Lehigh and Penn will meet for the 56th time. They have met in each of the last 21 seasons after not having wrestled between 1956 and 1996. Pat Santoro is 7-1 versus the Quakers. Cornell is Lehigh's third most-often wrestled opponent behind Penn State and Navy. Last year's Lehigh victory in Ithaca snapped a five-dual winning streak for the Big Red in the series. Lehigh is 2-5-1 against Cornell under Pat Santoro.
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Friday's match with Penn gets underway at 7 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, while Saturday's Cornell dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
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Tickets for the Penn dual are still available but only a limited number of tickets for the Cornell match remain. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
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Lehigh wraps up a three-dual home stand with a tough test as No. 5 Virginia Tech visits Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Friday, Jan. 27. The Hokies finished fourth at last year's NCAA Championships. Two days later, the Mountain Hawks will visit Michigan to face the Wolverines for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Lehigh and Michigan had met in 34 straight seasons from 1977-78 through 2010-11.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 7 Lehigh opens up a three-dual home stand by welcoming a pair of longtime EIWA rivals to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle Penn Friday night before welcoming No. 10 Cornell Saturday in for the annual Billy Sheridan Memorial Dual. Lehigh extended its dual winning streak to four straight with a pair of road victories last weekend as the Mountain Hawks topped Navy 23-9 before downing American 31-3. Three Mountain Hawks: junior Darian Cruz and freshmen Jordan Kutler and Kyle Gentile, all went 2-0 last weekend. Kutler is riding an eight match winning streak, while Cruz and Gentile have both won six straight bouts.
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Last time out, Lehigh improved to 5-0 against EIWA opponents and 3-0 against members that compete in the Patriot League in other sports with road victories at Navy and American. The Mountain Hawks took seven of 10 bouts in a 23-9 win at Navy and then took nine bouts against the Eagles. This season marks just the second time that Lehigh will face all four of the Patriot League institutions that currently sponsor wrestling: American, Army West Point, Bucknell and Navy. The Mountain Hawks opened their season with a 33-7 win over Bucknell and will face Army West Point on Feb. 10. The last time Lehigh faced all four Patriot League schools was 2007-08 when the Mountain Hawks defeated American, Navy and Bucknell and lost to Army West Point. The top team among Patriot League schools and non-Ivy EIWA schools (Binghamton, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Hofstra and Sacred Heart) will represent the conference in the NWCA National Duals Championship Series in February.
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With sophomore Scott Parker likely sidelined until February due to injury, true freshman Joe Lobeck made his varsity debut on Lehigh's last road trip, going 1-1 in dual competition. Lobeck began the year by going 10-3, competing unattached in open competition. He competed at the East Stroudsburg Open, then took third at the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open. On Dec. 22, Lobeck went 4-0 to claim the 133-pound title at the Wilkes Open. In his varsity debut, Lobeck posted a 5-0 win over Navy's Cody Lambert. He was mere seconds away from a 2-0 dual showing but fell 7-6 to American's Esteban Gomez-Rivera after a takedown in the final seconds. A three-time Pennsylvania AA place winner (fourth, second, third) for Lancaster Catholic High School, Lobeck joins Kyle Gentile as true freshmen currently in the Lehigh lineup.
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All tournaments and most duals start at 125, and Lehigh has had a reliable performer at the lightest weight in junior Darian Cruz. In his third season as a starter, Cruz owns a 75-18 career record that included a 30-9 dual mark. In 2014, Cruz became Lehigh's first true freshman All-American since 1980 with a seventh place finish. After deferring his eligibility in 2014-15, Cruz returned to Lehigh's lineup to win an EIWA title last season and fell just one victory short of his second All-America honor. Following a third place finish at the Southern Scuffle, Cruz went 2-0 in Lehigh's duals at Navy and American and was the only Mountain Hawk to score a bonus point win against the Midshipmen. Cruz is 7-1 in duals this season, and 6-1 in duals that have started at 125. The only Lehigh dual to not start at the lightest weight so far this season was the Drexel dual, which started at 141.
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Penn enters Friday's dual with a 1-3 mark. The Quakers' lone victory was a quality 19-17 upset over No. 17 Stanford last weekend at the Palestra. Penn also dropped an 18-14 decision to Army West Point last Sunday and has also dropped duals against Rider and Princeton. In November, Penn hosted the Keystone Classic, where the Quakers finished ninth out of 12 teams. The Quakers also finished 17th at the Southern Scuffle to ring in the new year. Individually, Penn features a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers, led by returning All-American Casey Kent, who is currently ranked 10th at 174. Frank Mattiace is ranked 15th at 197 by InterMat. Kent and Mattiace along with Joe Oliva (149) and May Bethea (157) went 2-0 in last week's action against Stanford and Army. Alex Tirapelle is in his third season as Penn's head coach.
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The 10-time defending EIWA champions, Cornell brings a 5-2 dual mark into Saturday's match. The Big Red split a pair of home duals last weekend, using bonus points to defeat Drexel 24-18 before falling 25-11 to Missouri. The Big Red finished eighth at the Southern Scuffle and took fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. While Cornell's lineup has been in flux since the start of 2017, the Big Red do feature six wrestlers ranked by InterMat, led by two-time defending NCAA champion Gabe Dean, who is ranked first at 184. Seniors Dylan Palacio and Brian Realbuto are ranked fourth at 157 and 174, respectively, although Palacio's only official match this season came at 165. Seventeenth-ranked Owen Scott is not listed as the probable starter at 197 but both he and listed starter Ben Honis placed at the Southern Scuffle. Rob Koll is in his 23rd season at Cornell. His son Will is expected to start at 141.
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Saturday's match with Cornell marks the 13th consecutive season that Lehigh's legendary former coach, Billy Sheridan, is honored with a single dual meet against a high profile opponent. This year marks the seventh year in a row that the single Sheridan Dual pits Lehigh against an EIWA rival and the second time that rival is Cornell. It also marks the fifth straight year that the Sheridan Dual will be hosted inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Five of the first eight Sheridan Duals under the current format were hosted at Stabler Arena. From 2000-2003 Lehigh hosted the Sheridan Duals, a series of duals in which the Mountain Hawks faced three opponents on the first or second Saturday in December at Stabler Arena. Before that, Lehigh hosted the Sheridan Tournament, which began in 1979.
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Lehigh and Penn will meet for the 56th time. They have met in each of the last 21 seasons after not having wrestled between 1956 and 1996. Pat Santoro is 7-1 versus the Quakers. Cornell is Lehigh's third most-often wrestled opponent behind Penn State and Navy. Last year's Lehigh victory in Ithaca snapped a five-dual winning streak for the Big Red in the series. Lehigh is 2-5-1 against Cornell under Pat Santoro.
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Friday's match with Penn gets underway at 7 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, while Saturday's Cornell dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
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Tickets for the Penn dual are still available but only a limited number of tickets for the Cornell match remain. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
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Lehigh wraps up a three-dual home stand with a tough test as No. 5 Virginia Tech visits Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Friday, Jan. 27. The Hokies finished fourth at last year's NCAA Championships. Two days later, the Mountain Hawks will visit Michigan to face the Wolverines for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Lehigh and Michigan had met in 34 straight seasons from 1977-78 through 2010-11.
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| Date: | January 20, 2017 |
| Opponent: | Penn Quakers |
| First match: | 7:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130) |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 7-1 overall, 5-0 EIWA |
| Penn's record: | 1-3 overall, 0-2 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 44-10-1 |
| Streak: | Lehigh has won the last three 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.pennathletics.com |
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| Date: | January 21, 2017 |
| Opponent: | No. 10 Cornell Big Red |
| First match: | 2:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall (2,130) |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 7-1 overall, 5-0 EIWA |
| Cornell's record: | 5-2 overall, 2-0 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 60-31-3 |
| Streak: | Lehigh won last year's dual |
| 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.cornellbigred.com |
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Players Mentioned
125
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
133
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